Middle School House Drama
I was unprepared for the physicality of the performances that awaited me in the Middle School House Drama competition. I hoped those involved would give us an intelligent and thoughtful evening, but they gave much more than that. It’s rare to see such commitment of body, mind and heart even from a group of professional actors and I was reminded of how powerful the effect of passion for one’s art is on an audience. The eight extracts, which spanned the spectrum of theatrical style, cumulatively gave us an evening of unusual soulfulness. The comic timing achieved by director Marcus Kottering and the fearlessness of his cast won Pravda best play of the evening and set the bar for the hotly disputed award of best director. Hamish Lloyd Barnes took the title, thanks to his conceptual ownership of My Boy Jack and his capacity to elicit both touching naturalism and
rigorous physical performance from his excellent company. Also in contention for best director was Ed Reid, who rightly took the Mason Cup for special all-round achievement. I admired the restraint of his production of Four Yorkshire Men, his confidence in guiding his actors so that they and the writing itself were the stars of the piece – I’d like to see him direct a piece of modern new writing next. A special mention must go to Marko Marsenic and Harry Warren for their bravery in adapting the novel The Road , which gave the evening its one piece of student-authored work. I was fortunate enough to be able to award best actor jointly to the superlatively terrifying Alex Holley and the quietly devastating Django Pinter. Had the prize been split further I would have been spoiled for choice by the performances of Nathan Emoike and Huw Roberts. It was a great evening in the theatre, and I spend a lot of my evenings in the theatre. Thank you for inviting me and for trusting me. I look forward to more evenings of theatre in your hands. MS JENNY WORTON (ARTISTIC ASSOCIATE, ALMEIDA THEATRE)
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