AMINITA FRANCIS is currently appearing in the cast of Michael Rosen’s Chocolate Cake at London’s Polka Theatre, playing Michael’s mother and teacher. The story features several of Rosen’s semi-biographical poems.
Her theatre credits include: Suffrageddon, Frankenstein – A Monster of a Musical (Battersea Arts Centre), Bite Your Tongue (Talawa), Romeo and Juliet, The Arsonists (N1 Theatre Company), Blood Wedding (Court 27) and The Winter’s Tale (RSC).
Here she is in conversation with Musical Theatre Review contributor Tal Fox.
Are you sick of chocolate cake yet?
Not yet I’m afraid! We had a lot of chocolate cake in our rehearsals and in our shows but I’m not sick of it yet.
What can you tell us about the show?
The show follows the story of a young Michael Rosen and he absolutely loves chocolate cake. It’s his favourite food and even though sometimes he’s not allowed it, that doesn’t stop him. We follow him and his journey to school and his journey to the library, on a school trip, all leading him to his brother’s birthday where there’s going to be an enormous chocolate cake. In the middle of the night, he can’t wait for his brother’s birthday and it gets too much so he goes for the cake.
Tell us about your character.
I play Michael’s mum and I also play Michael’s school teacher, Miss Goodall.
How are you finding it so far?
It’s been really good fun. It’s been a new experience for me because I haven’t worked in children’s theatre before but it’s very rewarding. When you hear the kids screaming out and answering the questions, there’s nothing like it. There’s a lot more chaos and even the adults sometimes join in.
Is the show quite interactive?
Yes, I think it is quite interactive. A lot of the children feel it as soon as they come in because we open the show with an interactive section where all the actors are out in the audience talking to the children.
Aminita Francis in Chocolate Cake at the Polka Theatre, London. Picture: Ellie Kurttz
How does it work?
We burst into the auditorium and we go down the aisles, the way the Polka is set up is with two aisles down the side and the audience in the middle. We go down each side of the aisle and we ask the people on the outskirts a few questions like what they like to eat, their names and what school they’ve come from if they’re with a school, how far they’ve travelled. Then we meander through the aisles, it’s a bit cramped, you know how you get that person who comes late and squeezes through the aisles, that’s pretty much what we do.
The children always go crazy because they think we’re coming to talk to them. We get really in there with the audience, we just chat to them because it just brings another aspect that it’s not so much we’re on the stage and they’re the audience, we’re all together and we’re all going to have a great time.
How different is children’s theatre to other theatre you’ve been in?
Normally, with an adult audience, they will sit and watch and they’ll be very tame about it. However, with a children’s audience, you never know. Different school audiences that we’ve had and different family audiences we’ve had will feel free to shout out, they’ll feel free to jump out of their seats and start dancing if a song comes on and they like it. Also the practice for the actor is more show and tell, whereas for other theatre types you do one or the other, you’ll be showing the audience or you’ll be telling the audience. In children’s theatre you do both almost all the time, it can feel very obvious but for children but it’s still a mystery which is what we want.
Do the distractions make it harder for you as an actor?
I don’t think it’s harder, I quite enjoy having them shout out and get involved. It’s nice to know what the audience is feeling. Normally in a show you wouldn’t know until the end if they decide to clap or not, but with children’s theatre they let you know all the way through if they’re having a good time or not.
Is there something in the show for the parents?
Yeah, there’s a few jokes in there for the parents. We’ve had a few moments where the parents are laughing and the children aren’t but a lot of the time everyone is laughing together.
Todd Heppenstall, Aminita Francis and Mark Houston in Chocolate Cake
Is the show told through a narrator or is it more scripted?
It’s more of a script, it’s all from character perspectives, mostly from Michael’s perspective. We take a lot of inspiration from Michael Rosen’s poems, not just the one about chocolate cake. The Chocolate Cake poem itself is about five minutes long when performed and if we were to stretch that into an hour-long production on its own, it just wouldn’t seem to be enough. Also, in some of his other poems he mentions family members, he mentions his brother a lot, and they are the main characters in our play so we wanted to expand to the other poems as well. We celebrate Michael’s work, it’s so enjoyable.
Can you tell us what other poems you’re using?
I think that’s a secret. You’ll have to come and see but if you’re a Michael Rosen fan, there will be lots in it for you. A lot of adults grew up with his poems as well as the children so it’s like going back to your childhood, even for the adults. When I told my dad I was in a Michael Rosen play he said: “I used to love Michael Rosen when I was a child!”
Were you a Michael Rosen fan growing up?
Actually no, until I was asked to work on this project I didn’t know much about his work, but now I feel like I missed out. Where has he been all my life? The way that he expresses himself in his videos and the way that he performs his own work is unrivalled. I’ve never seen a poet perform in a similar way at all, so I could see why he is who he is.
Now that you are a fan, do you have a favourite poem?
I would have to say the Chocolate Cake one because it’s just so cheeky and it’s also so honest. The fact of: “I really like Chocolate Cake and I just thought I’d have the bit that was on the side, then I thought I’d clean up the crumbs and then I thought it looks a bit uneven, I’ll even it out,” and then all of a sudden it’s gone. I think we’ve all had that moment where we think we’ll just a have bit and then the next thing you know it is all gone, it’s so relatable.
Readers may also be interested in:
Chocolate Cake – Polka Theatre, London – Review
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