Drama
T hroughout the pandemic, it would have been easy to give up on the Performing Arts; ‘how on earth do we teach drama online?’ was asked by drama teachers up and down the country! But, amidst all the chaos and disruption, the students and staff pulled together and produced some fantastic work. I was so pleased that we could still host one of our most valued and traditional competitions, House Drama. The rehearsals for this are challenging at the best of times, but add in year group bubbles and isolating students, there were points when we thought it was impossible. However, due to the dedication of Miss Ross and the perseverance of our students, the competition went ahead, albeit virtually. A
huge congratulations to everyone involved, especially the overall winners, Lodge, with their performance of ‘ Coach Carter ’. A special well done to Chris Pun for winning the Monologue award for his emotionally driven ‘ Why So Sad ’ performance. Normally in Lent Term we would be busy rehearsing for the Senior School Production, but sadly, for another year, it could not happen. However, undeterred by a global pandemic, the ever-inspiring Miss Ross decidedwe could put on a socially distanced, virtual show case of performances! There was an exceptional array of talent evident in the show case. Something I was especially impressed with was the amount of energy
and stage presence that the students managed to achieve, even though they were performing to an empty theatre! A few personal highlights for me; Olivia Binfield’s frightening portrayal of Mrs Trunchball, the belting voices of ‘SIX’, Ellie Uden’s soul-searching monologue from ‘ The Great Gatsby ’ and the show-stopping finale, ‘ Another Day of Sun ’. Throughout the academic year we also held two Theatre Thursday events, in which our lower years were given the opportunity to perform in theTaylor Hall in an informal show case of singing, dancing and acting. I was thoroughly impressed at the independence and commitment the students showed through preparing and rehearsing the performances in their own time. They were also undeterred by performing in front of a camera, which is no mean feat! To say it has been a challenging year is an understatement, but the students have been phenomenal. If they can produce work of such a high standard with the additional challenges of Covid-19, I am extremely excited to see what they will be able to achieve in the year ahead! We said goodbye to Mr Franklin, the department’s Theatre Technician, at the end of this academic year. We wish him all the very best with his future.
LAWRENTIAN 2021 50
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