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THE ALLEYNIAN 710
Peter Jolly reflects upon the thrill of witnessing that light-bulb moment of creative invention in our young theatre-makers Year 10 devised original drama GCSE DRAMA & THEATRE
Of particular note this year were lighting designs by Matthieu Perrin and Jovian Yan. Covid has meant that we haven’t had technical candidates for a while. The colour, intensity and imagination that our lighting candidates displayed was engaging and, forgive the pun, genuinely illuminating. The performance showcase afforded our students the opportunity to display their developing acting skills on stage, and to develop their confidence in front of a live theatre audience. It’s a year group that hasn’t worked in the theatre before, and they took to it with complete assurance and ease. All of the groups used elements of choreography, verbatim sequences and physical theatre to tell their stories. There was no doubting the enthusiasm and sincerity of their application.
After many years of watching and examining drama, both within our department and in schools across London, there comes a point where you see your last examination groups and reflect on the boys you won’t quite see through to their final examinations; this Year 10 cohort are, for me, that group. The evening watching their devised pieces proved our boys are in great hands; the plays they presented for their GCSE Drama made me proud of the department I’m leaving behind. In preparation for their GCSE Devising Performance, candidates are given a book of stimuli to set their imaginations flying and then, under the watchful eye of the teacher, they are allowed to develop their own work. That means the plays are very much connected with students’ interests and concerns. Three groups presented their pieces to an appreciative audience.
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