Drama

DRAMA REPORT

WORDS BY Mr Jonathan Hooley, Head of Prep School Drama

Drama

Since March 2020, theatres across the March 2020, the country have been dark and at the time dark the of writing, the future of the industry future of industry still looks uncertain.

Main picture Howard House, Y8. Inset: Harpur

On reflection, it is astonishing to consider that pupils last stood on stage in the Quarry Theatre sixteen months ago. Since March 2020, theatres across the country have been dark and at the time of writing, the future of the industry still looks uncertain. It is testament, therefore, to our boys’ resilience, commitment, and energy that we can fill these pages with words and images celebrating their performances this year.

The annual House Drama competition was presented in an alternative format this year. Despite restrictions and lockdowns, fortyfour Year 8 boys presented four stories from Ancient Greece in the Quarry Theatre to the rest of their year group in the final week of the Summer Term. Each piece was streamed live on the Quarry Theatre YouTube channel for parents, and congratulations go to Harpur, for their performance of To Hell with Love, based on Orpheus in the Underworld, to Howard, for their performance of Perseus and Medusa, to Bunyan, for their interpretation of The Minotaur, and Whitbread, for their suitably knockabout retelling of The Trojan Horse. The boys relished the opportunity to perform on stage after such a long hiatus, and each piece was full of the Prep School’s trademark energy, humour and imagination.

Despite being in lockdown during January and February, five boys took part in the English Speaking Union’s Speaking Shakespeare Competition, a national event celebrating Shakespeare’s words and characters. Ben Cutts, Henry Gillham, James Pinkney, Advik Mishra and Aryan Sohanpal

Drama

enjoyed a series of online workshops, led by OB and RSC practitioner, Ollie Lynes, learning about the rhythms of the language and how to speak verse. In March, each boy performed his monologue to camera and special mention goes to Ben Cutts for his commanding interpretation of Mark Anthony’s speech, “If you have tears, prepare to shed the now…” and to Advik Mishra, for his nuanced performance of Chorus, from Henry V, “Now entertain conjecture of a time…”

This year’s Drama prize winners were Ben Cutts and Henry Gillham, and the Drama Scholarship went to Henry Gillham. Well done to all the boys who have taken part in plays and workshops over the years, it has been an honour and a privilege to lead the department these past eleven years. I look forward to returning to the theatre in the future as an audience member.

Despite restrictions and lockdowns, forty-four Year 8 boys presented four Year 8 stories from Ancient Greece in from Greece in the Quarry Theatre

Y8 House Drama performance and rehearsals. Right hand side Howard. Boy in white shirt Harpur

2020 2021