Pictured : Shehzore Adil (Year 11) in Drake’s Teechers (top), Freddie Maher (Year 11), centre, in Teechers (middle) and The ensemble in Howard’s The Lord of the Flies (bottom).
Middle School House Drama
Ollie Norton-Smith (Year 13)
O n a dark January night, the great and the good of Dulwich descended on the Edward Alleyn Theatre for yet another instalment of Middle School House Drama. The competition this year promised to be stiffer than ever, and as the audience took their seats, an anxious hush descended on the auditorium as audience members placed bets on the length of Mr Jolly’s introductory speech. The evening opened with style and panache as Sydney began proceedings with the exasperated cries of the play’s ‘Director’ Amos Edwards, from the back of the auditorium, introducing a brilliant display of comic timing and deftly shifting accents (especially from Zak Asgard) in their extract from the brilliant Noises Off . Having put the audience in good spirits with this enjoyable farce, we were immediately transported to the dark, dangerous world of 1930s Berlin. The opening clashing piano chords established the air of menace and threat that Spencer’s extract of Bent would continue throughout. The brave performances were all admirable, yet special mention must go to Darrius Thompson and Frank Kauer for their powerful performances as fugitive homosexuals in the frightening world that they conjured. Next up was Jonson’s entry, directed by Aidan Williams and set in an art gallery. With the audience still reeling from Spencer’s performance, one felt Jonson would struggle to win over the crowd. However, this proved not to be the case as Jonson’s perfectly paced entry ended with the audience in hysterics with its closing lines. Last year’s winners Howard were last before the interval, and did not disappoint, sending the audience into the interval in silence following their devastatingly powerful performance of The Lord of the Flies . Dan Norton-Smith’s direction of this highly choreographed and detailed physical performance left the audience breathless as the actors perfectly captured the air of fear and uncertainty among the survivors of the plane crash. Cameron Forbes gave a gripping and heart-breaking performance as Simon, yet it was the precision of the ensemble – who smeared themselves with blood as they became more feral, crazed and savage – that really stood out.
Audience members had gone into the interval thrilled at how competitive the first half had been, and eager for more of the same. They were not disappointed when the second half opened with Marlowe’s The Odd Couple , complete with apple cores, empty cans and general detritus littering the stage. Barney Mills perfectly captured the comedy of the script, and all five actors had the audience in stitches with their convincing New York accents and fast-paced dialogue. The more light-hearted tone was continued by Grenville, who were up next with their rendition of the classic Monty Python sketch The Argument Clinic . Replicating the wit and impeccable timing of any Monty Python sketch, let alone one so famous, would be a tough ask, but the cast of Grenville were up to the task, capturing the style well. Raleigh’s self-penned adaptation of the 2014 film Locke featured physical sequences and non-naturalistic features to create a gripping insight into the mind of the protagonist, Ivan, played by Nathan Emoike, using inventive ensemble play to create the claustrophobia of the car and the collapsing world of Ivan onstage. The evening closed with Drake’s performance of a House Drama favourite – John Godber’s Teechers . The large ensemble aptly conjured the irreverent silliness of Godber’s play with wit, inventive movement sequences, and a classic 1980s soundtrack to end what had been a brilliant evening on a particularly high note. After such a diverse range of styles, plays and audience responses, few would envy the role of the adjudicator Holly McKinlay, who commented that ‘they were all of such an exceptional standard and so brimming with talent that I found it incredibly hard to choose’. In first place came Spencer’s Bent , in second Howard’s The Lord of the Flies , in third Marlowe’s The Odd Couple and with Raleigh’s Locke and Drake’s Teechers tied for fourth place. The Best Actor prize went to Spencer’s Frank Kauer and Best Director to Howard’s Dan Norton- Smith. The Mason Cup for contribution to the Drama Department in the Middle School went to Marlowe’s Barney Mills, and a special prize for original writing went to Raleigh’s Samuel Stopford for his adaptation of Locke .
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