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The Camden Fringe Interviews
Imperial College Musical Theatre Society’s The Final Heist
If you love a good musical, then there’s plenty to keep you satisfied during this year’s Camden Fringe. There’s also no doubt some of the very best seem to be coming out of our fine eductaion establishments. And whilst Imperial College Musical Theatre Society doesn’t quite have the catchy acronym as CUMTS, we said we’d forgive them in exchange for a little chat.
Step forward Aleera Ewan, Solen Marqueste and Stephanie Hamilton-Brown who offered to tell us all about The Final Heist, which is coming to Hen and Chickens Theatre 2 – 4 August.
Thanks so much for giving up a little time to chat, so who’s who?
I’m Aleera Ewan and I’m the writer and director of The Final Heist.
I’m Solen Marqueste, I’ve been involved in The Final Heist since its first production as the musical director/orchestrator and in this production, I’m acting as Musical Director as well as performing in the role of Valentina.
Stephanie Hamilton-Brown, I’m a performer in the show.
What can audiences expect from the show?
Solen: Audiences can expect a thrilling high-stakes story about heists that also has a lot of heart because if focuses heavily on the crew’s interpersonal relationships.
Stephanie: A fast-paced show with amazing dances and catchy songs!
Where are you playing, and why that venue?
Aleera: We’ll be performing at the Hen and Chickens Theatre from the 2nd to the 4th August. It’s a beautifully intimate venue, which is perfect for a heist! Also, the support from the venue has been amazing and its great to be working with them.
What was the inspiration behind the show? How long have you been working on this play?
Aleera: I started writing the show in April 2023 –– I knew I wanted it to be a musical about a heist, but the other elements only started to come in later. From there it grew because I’d been grappling with what it meant to feel like you had to earn love or prove that you were deserving of it. I knew that I wanted it to be about siblings, and about families in different contexts (so we had the family connected by blood from the siblings, and then the chosen family of the crew). I also knew I wanted it to be about forgiveness and what it meant to forgive yourself. Yeah so this was created in April 2023 and we performed it first in October 2023 and that was the first iteration and from there its grown so much.
What was it that drew the rest of you to the show?
Solen: I think my favourite thing about this show is that it explores the interpersonal relationship between a group of people that have come together as a family of sorts but have now drifted away. I think Valentina’s initial reluctance to join in but acceptance of her role after she realises that it’s gonna go ahead regardless of her involvement and she wants to ensure everyone’s safety, really demonstrates how protective she feels of the group and specifically of Mia. As an older sister, that’s something that I can very much relate to and a dynamic I’m happy to see portrayed. One of the things I like most about Valentina is that she feels very grounded even when tensions arise within the group.
Stephanie: It’s a bit of a running joke within my musical theatre friends that I tend to get “typecasted” as a guard sort of role. But I think what draws me to those kind of roles is the opportunity to play someone who’s in a position of authority, which is a big contrast to how I am in real life. I in particular love my character Shane because underneath his position of authority as head of the guards he’s clearly very unsure and anxious to prove himself which is something I can relate to at times!
What is it you hope the audience think after watching the show?
Solen: I hope they feel moved by the show and think to themselves “hmmm I should call that friend or family member I haven’t spoken to in a while and tell them how much they mean to me”.
Aleera: I really hope that this show connects with people struggling with feelings of guilt and like they have to prove their worth.
You mentioned the show started in 2023, so what’s been it’s development from there?
Aleera: It was actually first performed in October 2023 at Imperial College. From there it’s grown so much! We really get to know the characters more. Although the core of the story has stayed the same it’s a lot more about the characters and their relationships with each other: though they all appear to be quite different maybe they are quite similar in their insecurities and their struggles.
Solen: It’s had a first life at Imperial College’s Union Concert Hall (and funnily enough some of the cast are reprising their roles this time around). I think having been able to have a first run has really allowed the directing team to realise what the heart of the show is and focus on that. There’s now an even greater focus on the crew member’s relationship with each other. Also, the orchestrations and songs have been reworked to become even better.
Are there any plans for what comes next after August – for you or the show?
Aleera: For the show, hopefully! Although there’s no set in stone plans I really do want to keep going with it. For me at least, I’m definitely going to keep writing musicals and I intend to keep directing. Hopefully I’ll be here again at Camden Fringe in another year!
Solen: I very much hope it gets to continue its life on increasingly bigger stages. As for me, I’m pursuing an MA in musical theatre performance starting in September, so nothing to announce yet, but hopefully I’ll be on many more stages in the future.
Stephanie: I love to write in my spare time so I’ve been considering writing a musical theatre play of my own. But I also definitely want to audition for more plays!
What made you decide to be part of Camden Fringe this year?
Stephanie: I think Aleera has written an amazing play which is accessible to all and I’m really happy it’s been given the chance to be shown to wider audiences. I just really wanted to be a part of that journey.
Aleera: We had such a great reception from the first performance in 2023, and a lot of people were saying that we should take it to Fringe. I thought about it and knew that the opportunity to perform at Camden Fringe, which is centred on new writing, and to share in this community is just a wonderful experience and an exciting moment.
If you had to describe your show as a colour, what would it be, and why?
Solen: At the risk of being obvious : red. It invokes both a sense of danger/tension and the deep familial love all of the crew feel for one another.
Stephanie: Red. Red can represent a lot of things such as danger which is definitely present during the heist. But it can also represent love like the love that the members of the crew all very clearly feel for each other, especially Mia for Dan.
If budget was not an issue, what’s the one piece of scenery/ set you’d love to have in your show?
Solen: It has to be the lasers. I mean how cool would it be if we had an actual laser grid to contort through?
Many thanks to Aleera, Solen and Stephanie for their time. The Final Heist plays at Hen and Chickens from 2 – 4 August. Further information and tickets are available here.
