Chesterfield man's family-friendly climate change musical will be premiered at Buxton Fringe

Mountains Of The Moon is a contemporary story of courage and endeavour told by a group of animals determined to fight the effects of drought.

An African river is running dry. Monkey, Owl, Bat, Gecko and Camel search for the Honeybird in the Mountains of the Moon, whose sweet singing makes the rain god cry. The tears will replenish the water. But Honeybird is being held captive by Eagle.

The production will be premiered at the Lee Wood Hotel, Buxton, from July 21 to 23, 2023, before transferring to Nottingham Playhouse and onwards.

Mountains Of The Moon began life when Chesterfield based creator Martin was studying for an MA in writing musicals. He said: “I began writing it with my friend and co-writer Tom Briscombe as a writing project for an MA at Mountview Theatre Arts in 2016 with creators Jen Toksvig and Rob Hartmann.

“We wanted to create a piece about animals for all ages and were inspired by the many wonderful animal tales that already exist from fairy tales to screenplays by the likes of Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts and Linda Woolverton at Disney. Mountains of the Moon is based on a collection of animal fables as well as the legend of the source of the Nile in the Rwenzori Mountains of Uganda.”

After a year of exciting experiences and visits to some amazing theatre shows - the highlight was sitting in the pit with the orchestra at the Apollo Victoria for the show WICKED - the first draft of a one-hour family musical was complete. Initial workshops were held at Mountview followed by development workshops with the Yvonne Youth Theatre in Guildford and Mountains Of The Moon was due to be performed at Buxton Fringe in 2019 but had to be postponed.

Now audiences will have the opportunity to watch this thrilling adventure set to music.

Musical director Harry Style is among several members of Mountains Of The Moon’s creative team who worked on Ashgate Heritage Arts’ previous show The Crooked Spire, a medieval murder-mystery, which was presented in Chesterfield in 2022.

The youngest cast member is Eddie Waller, 12, who plays the part of Gecko. Eddie played Walter Bennett in The Crooked Spire. He has been in musical theatre since the age of six with Inspirations Theatre Company, playing Maui in Moana and Ollie in Nativity! The Musical. Eddie has performed in A Christmas Carol twice, firstly with the Tupton Chapel Players and then with Chesterfield Operatic Society.

Drew Sinclair plays Bat in Mountains Of The Moon. He was part of The Crooked Spire murder-mystery. Drew’s goal is to move into the theatre industry.

Simon Lewington is cast as Camel, which he says is a real treat. His other musical performances include Lt Daniel Gilmartin in Calamity Jane, Edgar Beane in Titanic and Wilbur in Hairspray at Chesterfield’s Pomegranate Theatre.

Rachel Roberts takes on the role of Owl in Mountains Of The Moon. Her previous credits include Ensemble Without the Musical (The Vaults Theatre), dancer for Euro 2020 closing ceremony (Wembley Stadium), and Sir Percival and the Jabberwock (Greenhouse infirmary Edinburgh Fringe Festival). Rachel has a BA in musical theatre from Performers College.

Laura Mae Mellor plays the role of Monkey. She has worked extensively in family theatre and entertained passengers on board the Polar Express during the festive period.

Tickets for Mountains Of The Moon cost £10 per adult and £8 child, available from www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk or www.ticketsource.co.uk/ashgateheritagearts, call 01298 72050 or email: [email protected]