Overview

A new musical from the National Youth Music Theatre,
premiering in August 2016 at The Rose Theatre, Kingston, London.

Music and Lyrics - Donnelly & Maltby

Director - Kate Golledge

Musical Director - Candida Caldicot

Choreography - Darragh O'Leary

Set Design - Diego Pitarch

The Battle of Boat is a courageous tale of a group of children trying to find their place in a world at war in 1916. Frustrated by their inability to join the soldiers in battle, the children decide to do whatever it takes to help in the war effort. However, they soon have to tackle their own conflict in the form of a local gang of bullies who will stop at nothing to see every plan they form fail. Heartwarming, funny, emotional and exciting, this original new musical is a true celebration of the steadfast British spirit that shone through during WW1.

Written by Jenna Donnelly and Ethan Lewis Maltby, the British music theatre duo began their writing partnership in 2010 with a commissioned piece for the opening of the Kent Youth Games. They went on to write the percussion-musical DrumChasers in 2011, narrated by Stephen Fry. With several musicals under their belt, their most recent collaboration on The Sparkle Thief completed a second run of shows in Canterbury in 2015. Separately, Donnelly has written songs for artists all over the world including the latest platinum selling album by Japanese artist Namie Amuro, whilst Maltby has composed for major sporting events including several FA Cup finals and the UEFA Europa League.

Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, the award-winning National Youth MusicTheatre represents the very best in work with young people in musical theatre, leading Andrew Lloyd Webber to describe it as “the best youth music theatre in the world”.

Creatives

Ethan Lewis Maltby - Music

Ethan Lewis Maltby is a British composer based in Canterbury, Kent. His music has been performed all over the world in cinemas, stadiums and theatres.

To date, Maltby has scored many films and animations covering many different genres. He has collaborated with acclaimed Spanish filmmaker Jesús Monllaó on several projects, most recently scoring the multi award-winning feature film ‘Son Of Cain’. In theatre, Maltby has composed scores for ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ (UKC), ‘Bloodletting’ (HCC), ‘Ignite’ (UK Tour), ‘Snowy The Fox’ (The Brook Theatre, Chatham) and several musicals including ‘Courtenay’ (UK Tour) and the upcoming ‘Apparition Smith’.

In 2004 Maltby created, composed and directed ‘Noise Ensemble’, a percussion show which toured all over the world from 2006 - 2011. This spectacular show has played extensively in UK theatres and venues including The South Bank Centre, Wembley Stadium and on TV’s Blue Peter. He also composed the score for the 2008 and 2009 FA Cup Final Opening Ceremonies – his track ‘FA Overture’ has since become the players walk-on anthem for all major FA games.

In 2011, Maltby’s latest theatrical show ‘DrumChasers’ toured UK theatres with narration by Stephen Fry, it received rave reviews. He is currently continuing to develop various theatrical projects.

Jenna Donnelly - Lyrics

Jenna Donnelly is a singer, songwriter and vocal producer. Having written or performed on major label releases such as Sony, Virgin and Warner, as well as having various chart hits on international dance and pop charts, Jenna works with upcoming and established artists across pop and dance music (The Wanted, Alesha Dixon, Liberty X, Atomic Kitten, 5ive, The Honeyz, Eternal, A1, Damage and 3T), as well as music-based TV shows (ITV, The Voice).

Jenna has worked with Ethan Lewis Maltby as a lyricist on various collaborations, including DrumChasers, Courtenay and Apparition Smith.