This article is taken from Dulwich 400 by Dr Jan Piggott and Dr Nick Black which can be purchased from the College shop, the Commissariat
400 Years of Drama at Dulwich by Peter Jolly (72-80), Director of Drama
PAGE 49
2019
Opposite page: Middle School House Drama, 2015
It is, perhaps, the recent success of Old Alleynians and their acting partners from JAGS that has enabled drama to come to the fore. Actors from the Edward Alleyn Theatre have not only received Oscar Nominations, Ian Charleson Awards and nominations, BAFTA awards, What’s On Stage Awards and Laurence Olivier Awards, they have also been role-models for young aspiring actors. There can be few school productions that can boast two Oscar nominees, but the joint appearance of Chiwetel Ejiofor CBE (90-95) and Sally Hawkins (JAGS) in Peter Jolly’s 1993 production of Measure for Measure consolidated a long tradition of the joint participation of College boys and JAGS girls, resulting in at least two marriages in recent years. Boys have also been encouraged to make their first steps as playwrights, both through the National Theatre New Views scheme and mounting their plays in the theatre. Tom Rob Smith (87- 97), screenwriter for both London Spy and The Assassination of Gianni Versace , credits the theatre for his first steps, as does Jez Bond (94-95) – an OA who was so inspired that he created his own theatre, the thriving and much lauded Park Theatre in Finsbury Park. As the College celebrates its 400th year, the Drama Department looks forward to celebrating the anniversary of the first school play on Twelfth Night 1621, as noted in Alleyn’s Diary: ‘Today the boyes played a playe.’ Alleyn would have been proud that this could be written many times over throughout any modern academic year.
collaboration between the Globe Theatre and the College when an exhibition featuring ‘Treasures from the Archive’ and celebrating Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary was mounted in the undercroft. This was accompanied by a production at the candlelit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. The Playhouse Apprentice was commissioned from Laurence Olivier Award Winner Jessica Swale and performed by Middle School boys. There have been three Directors of Drama: Robert MacDowell (1975–1988); Andy Archibald (1988– 1991), who introduced to the Hall the highly popular series Mufti , for sketches and pop music; and Peter Jolly (1991 to present). Since 1988 the subject has been an integral part of the school timetable, with the first students taking A level Theatre in 2000. The first cohort of academic students included the director Ned Bennett (95-02), whose recent shows, including Pomona (winning him the UK Theatre Award for Best Director) and An Octoroon , have been seen at the National Theatre and beyond. Apart from the Edinburgh Festival, many productions have been staged away from Dulwich: tours have included those to Chicago and Boston, and boys have performed at the Olivier Theatre ( Arctic Willy , written by Damian Mole (81-92), which won House Drama in 1991), the Young Vic ( Gizmo) , Greenwich Theatre ( Richard II ) and Shakespeare’s Globe ( The Massacre at Paris and The History of Antonio and Mellida , The Playhouse Apprentice ) and in the College’s anniversary year at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.
Angus Imrie in Amadeus (House Drama), 2010
Upper School House Drama, 2017
Guys and Dolls , as revived in 2012
Year 10 and 11 in the Olympiad production of Faustus in 2019 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall This page first row L-R: The Playhouse Apprentice, as
performed in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, 2016
Second row L-R: The White Road,
commissioned in 2015 to mark the centenary of Shackleton’s Endurance expedition
The set from The White Road
Third row L-R: Grease
DUCKS. 2018 Y2 play, The Goblin Who Lived Next Door Forth row L-R: Chiwetel Ejiofor in the Upper School House Play, Huge The programme for the 1993 production of Measure for Measure , featuring both Sally Hawkins and Chiwetel Ejiofor
Dulwich College was awarded Independent School of the Year for the Performing Arts, acknowledging the work and talent of the Drama and Music departments
by Independent School Parent Magazine.
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