This brand new musical is based around the life of the famous entertainer Charlie Chaplin, is set in the streets of Lambeth, and features a cast of talented young actors aged between 8 and 14 years old, all playing multiple roles.

Local wrtiter Val Hayward based the play on her grandparents, who were brought up in the same area and knew Charlie in his early years: the show captures the atmosphere of the London streets of the time, with their barrow boys, street urchins and music halls.

Val says: “I’ve always wanted to stage something in Niton and the idea of a smaller scale production using a script I wrote 13 years ago for the Winter Gardens stage came to me last summer.

“The stories of my grandparents’ childhoods and of living through the late Victorian era and into the Edwardian era and the tragedy that was the First World War caught my imagination. My great grandmother was a music hall and silent movie pianist. My grandparents went to school in Lambeth with the famous Charlie Chaplin. My grandmother’s experiences of life at this time are the stuff of family legend and it occurred to me that my own granddaughters could, along with their acting, singing, dancing friends, bring their ancestor’s story to life in this production of Smile.”

The song which gives the production its title may or may not have been written by Mr Chaplin, but family legend – and family history – provide the backbone of the plot, while a variety of songs from different eras are included to appeal to a wide range of tastes and ages (including that of the cast!) yet preserve the integrity of the period in which the play is set.

Not only are the actors young: the show is directed by 14 year old Ellen Careless, Val’s granddaughter. Ellen’s sister Polly is in the cast, and with Val’s daughter and son-in-law Rosie Hayward and Tony Careless providing the music and compering. It’s very much a family telling their ancestors’ stories – joined by a cast of incredibly talented young actors who are so looking forward to bringing ‘Smile’ to the stage.

Tickets at £10 per adult and £5 per child are available via PayPal  – go to thenitonplaybox@aol.com (Please leave name & date of performance you wish to attend as a booking reference).