The English department took ninety KS3 students to the Bristol Old Vic to watch the new theatrical production of Wonder Boy.

Wonder Boy is the tale of 12-year-old Sonny, who invents a superhero, Captain Chatter, to help him with his stammer. Captain Chatter helps save him from having to speak in public but Sonny must ultimately learn to live without him when the headmistress decides to cast him as a guard in the school's production of Hamlet, after all, what good is a hero who stops you from speaking when you need to deliver the first line of the most iconic play in the English language.

The play also explores Sonny’s relationships with Roshi, the always-in-trouble girl from his estate, Miss Wainwright, the only teacher that truly understands what Sonny is going through, the hiss-worthy head-teacher, Miss Fish, and the trauma and sadness Sonny harbours now his mother has gone.

The production uses creative captioning projected onto the back wall, eye-popping, zingy neon, along with huge laugh-out-loud moments from the very first minute and  also tender, tear-jerking scenes, keeping the whole audience thoroughly engaged throughout.

Although there is darkness in the story, it is ultimately strength, and not sorrow, that shines out of from the lead character, culminating with the epic ending where Sonny manages to speak the first lines in his school production:

‘Stand and unfold yourself’