Drama
Barker Goes Broadway I have been recalling the essence of the play now more than ever. That being, change. Barker Goes Broadway is an annual concert in which students perform some of their favourite musical theatre pieces. This year was slightly different as we were all in lockdown and were learning online. The students were challenged to edit together a video in which they lip-synched to their favourite Broadway song. We received several creative entries from Year 9 - 12 students including whole Drama classes performing songs. Students showed great innovation in their choreography and created fabulous costumes for these performances. My friends and I wanted to be part of this Barker event, so we put together a video of the song ‘Six’ from the hit musical Six. This musical is from the perspectives of the six wives of King Henry VIII. The song Six is their final number, where they sing about their preferred ending to each of their stories. It is a song about coming together with your friends, finding joy in life and making music. We got very creative with the costumes and tried to make them as close as possible to the official production’s look, using just what we had at home. Charlie J was our choreographer and gave us a great, cohesive look for our performance. I found it was an uplifting experience to take part in with my friends in lockdown, as it was a creative outlet for us and we were able to just dance and have fun with this great song. Emily Whiting Year 11
Having the privilege of editing together the show allowed me to really feel as if I was helping to get Barker Drama back into the spotlight. It was really inspiring seeing classes from all year groups getting creative with the task at hand and seeing several students outside of the Drama program getting involved was super exciting. These submissions along with a throwback to 2020’s Cancelled: The Musical culminated in a full hour of musical content from Barker alone, led excellently by the 2020 Drama Captains, Bailey and Jess. It was awesome to see the Barker community come together to watch Barker Goes Broadway and allow the younger years to get a taste of the performance experience that they have been missing. The Drama program is all about connections with peers and being able to absorb and celebrate the talent across the School, and it was so tough not being able to have that performance experience for all students across the program, but especially our Year 12 2021 cohort who lost their group performances which are always a highlight of Year 12 Drama. Fortunately, Barker Goes Broadway showed the drive and resilience of the entire Drama department, and although we could not congratulate each other on the night, it was clear as the show went on, that Barker Drama hadn’t gone anywhere during lockdown. We can’t wait to see that same passion in force and in person in 2022! Ben James Year 11
Summer 2021 • Issue 133 • The Barker • 29
