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THE ALLEYNIAN 709
DRAMA & DANCE
A LEVEL DRAMA & THEATRE THE ROCKING HORSE WINNER
A short story by D H Lawrence prompted the Year 13 Drama and Theatre students to devise an enthralling original piece, says Kathryn Norton-Smith
Inspired by D H Lawrence’s short story ‘The Rocking Horse Winner’, Year 13 Drama and Theatre students conjured a witty and magical original drama about yearning, escapism and luck. The story is an elegiac, provocative and moving portrait of ambition and rejection set in the fragile inter-war era of hope and disillusion. The boys’ creative adaptation depicted many of the familiar tropes of antagonism and distance between the childhood and the adult worlds, while also exploring disillusionment and disaffection in the lives of both – all within the framing device of that most innocent of worlds, the childhood nursery, a haven of play and imagining. With the stage bathed in golden light, our pyjama-clad ensemble of six were revealed, absorbed in play to the elegiac strains of Elgar’s Chanson de Matin ; we were immediately charmed and drawn into their world of magical realism. Fuelled by anarchic and playful Kneehigh theatrical techniques, including ensemble playing, puppetry, dancing and clowning, they created a myriad of
characters to amuse, disarm and move. The protagonist, Paul, has the gift to predict sure-fire winners at the races, amassing riches to seek the discarded affection of his disappointed mother, Hester. This morphed into a coming-of-age disaffection as the child became disillusioned with the confines of the nursery. Through the lens of childhood, the actors conjured worlds transporting us to the thrill of the races, the glamour of high society and the promise of the seaside, reflecting desire for experience, yearning for approval, the charm of friendship and the fear of growing up. We laughed at the antics of the children, delighted in the snatched creation of imagined worlds of gambling and riches, and were moved by the fragility of innocence, as we witnessed Paul’s spiralling descent towards a devastating climactic seizure which chilled and moved. This was a piece of theatre of the highest dramatic order, skilfully created by our talented Upper Sixth cohort of Josh Billington, Alfie Cook, Leo Milne, Ben Potter, Nick Richardson-Waldin and Lolly Whitney Low.
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