Drama

Behind The Scenes: Drama At King Edward’s

Drama is central to the lives of many pupils at King Edward’s and our extensive co-curricular programme involves hundreds of pupils both on and off the stage.

Last year the School staged a number of outstanding productions, beginning with the annual House Drama Competition in September. 150 performers and crew were involved and Ridley and Wakefield were this year’s worthy winners.

In October, 4 th Form staged a powerful adaptation of 'Face', Benjamin Zephaniah’s compelling novel in which a young man’s life is changed when his face is badly scarred. This was followed in November by 'The IB Collaborative Project', an original production written, performed, and designed by Sixth Form pupils in The Green Room Studio.

The Spring Term got underway with 'The Acting Showcase', an amazing array of plays, monologues and sketches staged by pupils in 3 rd and 4 th Form. More than 60 pupils were also involved in rehearsing 'Bugsy Malone'. Unfortunately, production was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic when the School closed in March, but pupils enjoyed the experience of staging and rehearsing the famous comedy musical and working alongside a professional choreographer.

We make regular trips to the professional theatre, and this year was no exception. Before the curtain closed in March, pupils enjoyed performances of 'Hedda Tesman', 'A Monster Calls' and 'Macbeth' at the Chichester Festival Theatre, 'A History of Water in The Middle East' at The Royal Court Theatre in London and 'The Lovely Bones' at Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford. A particular highlight was 'Crowded', an immersive poetry and theatre performance at Farnham Maltings in February. We were also delighted to see ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ which was beautifully staged at the National Youth Theatre.

Inspired by these productions, our pupils have continued to enjoy taking part in the LAMDA programme and a number of professional drama masterclasses. In October we welcomed world renowned theatre company ‘Frantic Assembly’ to work with our GCSE, IB classes and drama scholars, and then in February, actor and director Cheryl Stapleton hosted an inventive comedy and mask workshop with our IB theatre students and drama scholars.

At King Edward’s we believe that drama builds confidence, develops communication skills, and fosters creativity and critical thinking. As the future of UK theatre looks increasingly uncertain, we will be doing all we can to nurture our pupils’ talents and foster a lifelong love of performance. Lynsey Cleaves, Director of Drama