The Women of UCL's Carrie: The Musical

Poster for Carrie: The Musical. Credit: Daniella Rattray

Telekinesis, pig’s blood, and girlbossing: what do they have in common? Carrie: The Musical is a coming-of-age tale exploring themes of sin, revenge and redemption, with just a hint of melodramatic horror. Directed and produced by Francesca Rattray and Bonnie McGhee respectively, the UCL Musical Theatre Society’s production boasts an impressive showcase of female talent, on and off stage.

“Carrie highlights, in a very dramatic way, the consequences of mistreating others,” explained Francesca and Bonnie. They described Carrie as a telekinetic girl who deals with issues such as a poor relationship with her mother and constant taunting from classmates, which has led to Carrie’s entrenched suppression of self. “She doesn’t find out a lot about puberty and sexuality until that’s released and tarnished as sin, which is acknowledged later in a scene with pig’s blood,” noted Francesca. “The ‘sin’ turns out to be a lot deeper than religion - it’s very metaphorical.”

As a director, Francesca acknowledged the difficulty of dealing with a show like Carrie. “I didn’t choose a very easy show to direct for the first time,” she admitted. The story deals with sensitive topics such as abuse, and Francesca added how she’s “proud of how we mitigated that: it’s not sensationalised, but not censored, either.” On choosing Carrie, the production duo emphasised on the need for musicals within artsUCL with strong female leads. As opposed to male-heavy casts and gender-bending in male-dominated musicals, “having a show like Carrie gives more opportunities to girls and caters to the pool of auditionees we have,” said Bonnie.

A common challenge with musical theatre is that, often, every show will fit every person, and the production duo explained the logic behind doing a show which gave more opportunities to girls. “We had a real emphasis in casting on trying to give different people opportunities,” Bonnie explained, with Francesca noting how a lot of people are performing in Carrie as their “first show this year, or their first show in Musical Theatre Society, which is great, because there’s a lot of talent to go around!”

The show will be held in UCL’s Jeremy Bentham Room, with a traverse audience setting where the crowd is split and sits on either side of the stage. “You’re forced to look at the other side of the audience,” revealed Francesca, who also touched on the social message of creating an audience experience where one feels like a real but passive bystander within the happenings of the musical, particularly when Carrie is being bullied.

In true girlboss energy, the producer and director duo did not shy away from crediting the entire production team’s efforts in bringing the show to life. Set-wise, the show has proved challenging in the scenes where fake blood is utilised and telekinesis is showcased on stage, and Carrie’s Lighting Designer, Krystelle Montanez, has worked heavily on recreating the iconic levitation scenes. Francesca described her process in building the team, which started during her time in a previous Musical Theatre production when she worked closely with Carrie’s Choreographer Aza Too, Musical Director Ronan Venkat and, of course, Bonnie, who was quick to agree to produce. 

She also emphasised how her Assistant Director, Victoria Lee, has provided immense creative support by finding nuances in the script which are easy to miss. Bonnie also showed deep appreciation for her assistant producers, Beth Sankey, Darcy Watson, and Becky Clear, who have done incredible behind-the-scenes work - often unnoticed by the audience - that would have otherwise made the show impossible.

The cast was given high praise by both producer and director, who explained how close-cut the audition process was and how working in a small show meant that each member of the cast, including the ensemble, had their moment to shine. “It’s nice having an ensemble that’s not a monolith,” said Francesca, “all the characters still have their own personalities”. The duo also expressed excitement about their lead actress, Elle Green, as Carrie. “When she’s running this place in a few years, we’re taking credit for discovering her,” they declared. “Her vocals are truly insane - she’s just phenomenal.” 

Finally, Francesca and Bonnie spoke fondly about their experience working together so far. “A lot of mine and Bonnie’s relationship is, when the rehearsals end, doing karaoke to the soundtrack,” Francesca confessed. She described how the intense preparations leading up to the show has brought the pair closer. “When you’re in the cast you think about the show 2 hours a day, but when you’re in the Production Team, you think about the show 28 hours a day. [Bonnie and I] are very good friends anyways, so it’s quite helpful to direct and produce with somebody that you can be honest with.” Bonnie, nodding in agreement, added, “Francesca put this group together; she thought of the show and wanted to bid the show. At the end of the day it’s us trying to work towards her vision as much as possible, and we’re learning as we go!”

With show day fast approaching, the duo feel a blend of both excitement and nerves. The pair have demonstrated the achievement of a perfect balance in a small show production between passion and lightheartedness, having brought together a talented cast and crew of UCL students driven predominantly by female talent. “Support women’s wrongs,” they joked when attempting to describe Carrie. “She kills everyone… but lowkey slay.”

Carrie: The Musical is showing from 9th-10th March in the Jeremy Bentham Room, UCL. Tickets can be purchased on the Musical Theatre Society’s page on Student Union UCL’s website.