Excitement grows as the drama department goes from strength to strength.
This year saw more changes to the staffing arrangements of the department. Miss Davenport stepped down as Head of Drama to take on the enormous task of Housemistress of Queen’s; no tears, however as she is still to be seen in her most popular role as ‘The Drama Teacher’. Ms Cripps took over the responsibility of the Drama Department, Mrs Thomas-Webb took a GCSE group and Mr Coventon continued his good work with Yrs 7 & 8. The department has been very privileged to have had the experience of four previous heads of drama working within it. This of course has led to some excellent results and we were delighted to maintain our record of 100% A* - B at GCSE, with two of our students gaining 100%. Our AS and A2 results were also very impressive showing a 100% pass rate in both years with no student getting lower than a C.
We have continued to extend the students’ knowledge of theatre through trips and practical experience. One of our many trips was with Yr 7 when we went to visit the newly refitted Unicorn theatre to watch ‘Lifeboat’; a play about the experiences of British children who were being offered a new life in Canada, only to find themselves involved in a shipwreck. This work was followed up in class with the students exploring the life of an evacuee through role play. We were also fortunate enough to have a grandparent come in to share their personal experiences of being an evacuee with the children in class. Yr 12 were also very lucky to experience a unique production of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at the Roundhouse. This was part of the ‘The Complete Works Festival’ by the RSC, a truly unusual spectacle that made good use of the unusual setting whilst ‘telling’ the tale in seventy eight different languages!
Extra-curricular activities continue through Trinity Acting classes and play rehearsals. The department also hosts the Inter-house Drama Competition. The participants were from Yrs 7-9 and judging by the excellent presentations the Junior School has some very able talent; watch this space!
This year, the Senior students presented ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens. This particular production was ensemble in style, so that the thirty five actors involved were rarely off stage. Reverend Padfield led the small orchestra and rehearsed all the singing for which Ms Cripps will be eternally grateful. The evening had a very festive feel, with mulled wine and mince pies being served by costumed staff. (They had volunteered before they knew about the costumes!) We held a large raffle over the three evenings with a separate raffle for a signed Arsenal football shirt. To his delight, this was won by Chris Kounnou, or at least by his Mum, who handed over the said shirt. Over £700 was raised for charity. The production proved very popular and on the last night, front of house staff were kept very busy finding extra chairs as the audience just kept coming!
Once again we have had enormous support in the department for which I am very grateful especially when many parents work and family time is so precious. As always, the valuable job parents do by reading coursework, ‘learning lines’ etc is so important to the students’ continued interest and success. Perhaps most important though, is the time parents give watching the work the students create; we have had excellent audiences over the year and for that we are very grateful
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