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DRAMA & DANCE
In just two days, 30 pupils conjured up an outdoor production, presenting familiar and much-loved Shakespeare scenes in a highly original and inventive re-imagining. The promenade format invited the audience to journey with Puck, managing ‘perchance, to dream’ as they roamed the grounds with the company. Directed and conceived by Matt Jessup and Ollie Norton- Smith, this production encouraged each ensemble to breathe new life into characters and scenarios, deciding what their scene would look like. Who was their character, and what was the context that would make sense of their lines? Which part of the school site would offer a unique setting for their scene, allowing for the richest interpretation? Once the actors had proposed their location ideas around the school site, we arranged a route map to create an Easter egg- style hunt for the audience, allowing for chance encounter and discovery. The ambition was to take pupils who had previously no experience of performing Shakespeare, and to challenge them to take ownership of the text, presenting it confidently. They embraced the opportunity to make this 400-year-old text their own, whilst exploring the Dulwich College grounds to discover lesser-known venues for performance. We met Puck in the garden of the Science Block, and overheard three witches making potions in one of the science labs; we witnessed a fiery disagreement between Mark Anthony and Cassius during a game of cricket, and watched a chaotic dress rehearsal of Pyramus and Thisbe at the Edward Alleyn Theatre. We stumbled across a summer BBQ party with characters from Twelfth Night by the Cricket Pavilion, and two young gardeners who spoke Ophelia’s words encouraged us to tend to the wild flowers of the Clump.
The variety and inspiration on show from performers who had little or no previous experience of speaking Shakespeare were an exciting testament to their imaginations, and to their developing performance skills. The inventiveness of their characterisations and the commitment to choral speaking on show wouldn’t have been out of place at Shakespeare’s Globe. Notable cameos came from Aristou Meehan and Kaan Kantarci as the commanding Oberon duo – architects of a mischief- ridden unfolding journey. Matthieu Perrin and Yanis Djemai were physically skittish and charming Pucks weaving in and out of the audience and teasing us with their high jinks. An unforgettable trio of Saverio Jones, George Pink and Natey Wilson brewed bubbling blue chemicals in their lab coats and science goggles, completely re-inventing the Weird Sisters, while Toby Polli and Barnaby Taylor echoed the squabbling of Romeo, Tybalt and Benvolio (a swashbuckling Sharusan Manoharan in combat with Elias Azlen and Joe Norris) as Cassius and Brutus in cricket whites by the nets. Wilf Patten’s commanding Peter Quince marshalled the hapless mechanicals on the steps of the Edward Alleyn Theatre, and this scene was swiftly followed by the hilarious discovery of Rufus Angel as Toby Belch in a paddling pool with cocktail and shades, chilling to the sounds of Rick Astley, and egged on by Calum Skinner’s mischievous Feste beside the Pavilion Salle. Xavier Wild and Henry Armstrong were utterly moving as the gardeners gently weaving among us distributing rosemary, fennel and columbine as the piece built to a climax. We were brought back to reality with a moving ensemble rendition of the epilogue from A Midsummer Night’s Dream . As the sun broke through the clouds, the charm of this interactive tour gave us the chance to see the College grounds afresh, leaving everyone who saw it with a spring in their step, impressed with the clarity, ownership and fearlessness from this impressive ensemble.
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