Dramatic Highlights
The Drama Department have had a busy half term, offering plenty of opportunities to perform and engage with theatre, both on stage and behind the scenes.
Earlier this month, the Year 7 Drama club performed mini-plays full of song and dance to their parents; the girls were supported by Lower Sixth Drama students, Jordana and Helena, who worked studiously to create their engaging pieces and excellently portrayed characters. As part of the Mehr Licht enrichment programme, Year 7 and 8 students studying the Technical Theatre module visited the National Theatre for an informative backstage tour, an incredible opportunity to see the crew changing sets and watch digital technicians experimenting with projections. The girls also had the chance to explore backstage and get hands-on with a variety of props.
Year 11 students invited an audience to watch them perform their GCSE devised pieces, delighting them with energetic Kneehigh and Frantic Assembly inspired work. Meanwhile, Lower Sixth Theatre Studies students went on a Punchdrunk theatre workshop afternoon, an full-immersive, creative experience they described as: “mind-blowing… it changed the way I view theatre.” The students worked in a fully constructed village in a huge, old building in Tottenham, which they called Fallowcross. “It was like going back in time and being in a totally different community, complete with cafe, houses, a doll’s shop, the Siren pub, an old fashioned optometrist…the list goes on. Such an incredible and inspiring experience.”
Students who are part of the South Hampstead Theatre Company also had the chance to perform at the acclaimed Royal Central School of Speech and Drama earlier this month. The girls are thrilled to be working with student playwright Annie Chadwick and had their first read through of a section of the play, which they plan to take to the Edinburgh Fringe in August. Our actors have clearly been inspired by the collaborative, creative process at the acclaimed drama school.
Testament to the tremendous energy and talent within the creative arts here, our Drama teachers have been blazing trails too: Head of Drama, Ms Martin, is currently part of The Dramatic Progress Exhibition in the Lyttelton Lounge at the National Theatre, running until the beginning of January – a celebration of diverse and exciting creative work for the pioneering Edwardian suffrage campaign.