City of Portsmouth College students are at the Pinnacle of their craft

In a powerful demonstration of what it means to be a woman, an all-female ensemble of City of Portsmouth College’s performing arts students showcased their own strengths, through the stories of others.

Pinnacle, a one-off show at the New Theatre Royal, told the story of a male artist, Adrian Hale, struggling to encapsulate in paint, what being a woman actually meant. Leaning on his assistant Maya Chen (June Creamer) – the thread tying the show together – the artist finally realises that he cannot achieve his goal, and hands his paintbrush to Maya in an emotional finale.

How does he reach this conclusion? By hearing the stories of powerful women through the ages, each performed brilliantly through prose and songs from famous musicals, like Come from Away, 9 to 5, Fun Home, Bye Bye Birdie, Ragtime, The Pirate Queen and Suffs.

We first meet Anne Lister (Sally Bray), who sang about love and being a lesbian in the 19th century, followed by a characterful performance from Lily Woods as Eleanor Roosevelt showcased her role as First Lady. Ruth Handler, the inventor of Barbie, was played by Evy Clements with a great American accent, while feminist pioneer Betty Friedan was brought to life by Rafaela Bolani Tomaz.

Maddison Woods brilliantly encapsulated the pizazz and gumption of Dolly Parton, and the determination and gravitas of airline pilot Beverley Bass was played by Evie Grant. Finally, world-renowned sailor Ellen MacArthur was played by Jessica Dalziel, while another famous feminist, Gloria Steinem was played by Maya Bull.

Maisy Neville, playing Emma Watson, recited the actress’ UN speech on feminism at the end.

All the main characters were played by second-year students, while first-year students – Poppy Campbell, Eva Cooke, Izzy Herridge, Tayla Holdaway, Immy Kureen, Angel Ogboh, Tano Osu-Bovi and Sophie Rendell – formed the ensemble.

David Lycett, Assistant Principal for Performing Arts, said: “It was an absolute delight to attend the Pinnacle show. It was a real pleasure to see the culmination of two years of the course. It was so lovely to see the students perform in the theatre and all the support they had from friends, family and the public. The show was brilliant – very clever and very contemporary.

“The collaboration between City of Portsmouth College and Portsmouth Theatres has created unbelievable experiences for our young people, rich in industry knowledge, skills and fantastic opportunities such as this.”