Amara Okereke will play Polly in the Menier Chocolate Factory’s major revival of Sandy Wilson’s The Boy Friend running at the theatre over Christmas, directed by Matthew White.
Sandy Wilson’s all-singing all-dancing love letter to 1920s musical comedies returns for the first major London revival in over 10 years, the production opens on 3 December, with previews from 22 November, and runs until 7 March 2020.
You’re playing Polly in The Boy Friend what can you tell us about it?
The Boy Friend is a beautiful, light, funny and wonderfully delicate piece. It’s full of joy and sincerity and gives such a warm and happy feeling to an audience. I feel so proud and honoured to be a part of it.
How would you describe your character?
Polly Browne is a sweet and kind young girl, who is adored by her friends and the people around her. She glows with sincerity and a genuine warmth, but also holds a sense of loneliness and melancholy to her. She is a girl searching for love, she craves the opportunity to care for someone and for someone to care equally for her.
It first opened in 1953, and is set in the 1920’s, what do you think modern audiences will enjoy most about The Boy Friend?
The show first opened a few years after the Second World War. It is set a few years after the First World War. It is a piece created to bring joy and light to what can sometimes be a dark world. Regardless of when the show was written or when it was set, its purpose still remains, to take an audience away from whatever they might be going through and bring them in to a world of charm and warmth. I think a modern audience will enjoy the wonderful feeling it gives and leave feeling refreshed.
How would you describe the music, and do you have a favourite song yet?
The music is clever, fun and extremely catchy. I couldn’t possibly pick a favourite, they all beam with enthusiasm, delicacy and charm.
What are you looking forward to most about working with your fellow cast mates?
I am really looking forward to properly creating and developing the relationships between the characters in the show. Polly’s relationships with the people in her life are all quite different and very interesting so it will be very intriguing to look further in to that. The cast is so wonderfully talented and a lovely bunch of people so I have no doubt it will be enjoyable to work together on this.
What would you say to anyone thinking of coming to see The Boy Friend?
To anyone coming to see The Boy Friend I would like to say I hope you enjoy what we have created. I genuinely believe it’s a show that can take you so far away from any misery and woe of the real world. It isn’t often we get to do that so relax and enjoy the journey.
Main Image Credit: Amara Okereke (Polly) in Rehearsal for The Boy Friend, credit Manuel Harlan
