Love’s Labour’s Lost
Theo Forbes (Year 13) and Ollie Norton-Smith (Year 13)
E nglish and Theatre Studies students visited the new Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-Upon- Avon to watch the RSC’s fantastic production of Love’s Labour’s Lost , staged as part of their winter season. The brilliantly directed production revelled in Shakespeare’s wordplay, with puns, double-meanings and the wit of its protagonists brandished like swords. The wonderfully juxtaposing characters of Adriano de Armado and Moth gave the play some of its best moments and a rooftop scene immediately before the interval had all of us laughing out loud in our seats. Perhaps the most effective aspect of this production, however, was the decision to set it in the early 20th century. This gave the sense of an endless summer of courtship and frivolity, gloriously naïve to the horrors of war that were about to tear Europe apart. The final scene, a beautifully poignant farewell before the young men transformed from charmingly hopeless lovers into hardened soldiers who would stay ‘remote from all the pleasures of the world’, was particularly sorrowful, and the moving coincidence of watching the final image of the poppy fields framed against the cyclorama on Armistice Day was almost heart-breaking. All those who attended unanimously agreed that this was one of the most enjoyable performances of Shakespeare’s work we had seen.
Lower Hall Improv
Zubin Roy (Year 13)
W hat started off as confusion as to why the Lower Hall had been hijacked turned, fifteen minutes later, into rapturous applause and cries of encore as a jazz quintet held their audience captive with their wonderful improvised tunes. Some of the audience even started a mini-dancefloor. Oliver Wells and Thomas Franchi provided the foundations for the group on the drums and bass guitar respectively, while Billy Roberts on the piano provided the chordal accompaniment to saxophone solos by Cameron Henderson and Zachary Fox, with Zak going particularly crazy when his time in the spotlight came around. This was improvisation at its best and really captured what Dulwich Creative is all about. T his was a lunchtime concert to remember. Once all had settled in the Chapel, Harry Wallace began his wonderful rendition of Jewish Prayer by Bloch on the cello, accompanied by Mr Tim Barrett on the piano. After receiving a well-deserved round of applause, the close harmony group the ‘Black ‘n’ Blues’, led by Mr Dan Ludford-Thomas, took their positions and performed four songs: Come Back My Love , White Shoe Blues , Yesterday , with Henry Shine soloing, and lastly Java Jive , with Jonathan Wolstenholme as the soloist. All of the boys were fantastic and the pieces were brilliant and this was shown in the applause they received. But, unbeknown to them, it was now the audience’s turn to become involved. They were split up into sections and given a few words and harmonies each, which, thanks to the guidance of Mr Ludford- Thomas, all came together fabulously to make an incredible sound that filled the Chapel. It was truly breath-taking. Samuel Stopford (Year 11) Lunchtime Concert
Above : Upper School boys visiting the RSC’s Love’s Labour’s Lost at Stratford.
Composition and Journalism Workshops
Darrius Kudiabor-Thompson (Year 11)
O ne of the Music Department’s many offerings during Dulwich Creative week was their hijacking of lesson time for the chance to hear seminars from some of music’s most intuitive minds. Composer Cecilia McDowall talked about her latest composition and how we could pursue music writing as a career. Harvey Brough, a great musician in his own right, and Dr Stephen Graham from Goldsmith’s Music Department discussed musical journalism. Each talk opened up our ideas and made clear that music is more than just learning to read notes of a stave. Together, they helped us understand what we can do with the musical skills we are acquiring. Furthermore, Cecilia McDowall then came back to impart some of her musical wisdom to help our GCSE compositions. I enjoyed talking to her because she helped me to have some wonderful ideas that I would never have formed if she hadn’t pushed me in the right direction.
A Trip to Goldsmith’s
Zachary Fox (Year 12)
S tudents currently studying AS and A2 level music visited Goldsmith’s University as part of Dulwich Creative week. Following an enthusiastic and interactive talk given by Dr Berta Joncus, the Head of their Music Department, we were given a tour of their new music studios and some of their other music facilities. Their new state-of-the-art music studios were tremendous, and I know I share the opinion of the other boys when I say it was a fantastic experience to see a top studio in action. We then visited an art exhibition of some of the best creative artwork by the students, which was equally as interesting. The trip concluded with a tour of the rest of the school’s facilities, and this insight into university life at Goldsmith’s was beneficial to all of us.
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