12 minute read
Drama
HOUSE DRAMA
House Drama is an entirely studentled event with Sixth Formers writing the script and directing. Guest judges Jamie Bisping, a KGS alumnus (Look Alive, Othello) and Olivier award-winning actress Anne-Marie Duff (Shameless, The Salisbury Poisonings, Sex Education) were incredibly impressed by the standard of the acting and were so encouraging to our students. Anne-Marie discussed the importance of collaboration and creativity, and it was perhaps fitting that her favourite award of the evening was Best Ensemble as she said this is what theatre is all about. She thought there was some incredible talent on display and commended the bravery of the performers exploring deep, complex emotions.
The evening, which had the theme of ‘resurrection’, was effortlessly hosted by Teva Hogarth and Toby Anderson whose rapport was infectious. Prizes were awarded across multiple categories: Best Original Script was shared between Stanley and Queen’s. Stanley’s performance, ‘Memories’ was written by Amelia Barnes and traced the memories of a lady with Alzheimer’s disease. Queen’s ‘Memory of You’, written by Zain Ahmad, Silvia Greco and Sasha Lacey, charted one young person’s descent into isolation and depression and the regret friends and family had that they had not noticed and done more to support the lead character, Neive.
For her astonishing performance as Neive, Grace Dormer was awarded the Best Actress award whilst Jasper Simmons won Best Actor for his role as ‘teacher’ in Walworth’s ‘No Bad Ideas’ where a youth theatre group explored potential ideas for a show along the theme of ‘resurrection’!
Best Supporting Actress was won by Alicia Bramwell from Taverner and the award for Best Supporting Actor went to Jaeden Ford, the judges commenting on how impressed they were with the versatility of these students in being able to play characters of different age ranges.
The much-coveted Best Director award was given to Isabella WalshWhitfield and Day Ko from Lovekyn for their direction of ‘The Dreamers’, a love story.
As this is a house competition, there had to be an overall winner. The judges unanimously agreed that Queen’s sophisticated handling of a teenager suffering from mental health issues was intricately sculptured and superbly performed. Congratulations to them and, indeed, to all the houses involved. House Drama is officially ‘resurrected’!
HOUSE DANCE
Hosts Beatrix Page and Florence Chevallier opened the show with an energetic dance leaving them somewhat breathless to welcome the audience. They were superb hosts with their relaxed, tongue-in-cheek style. Each of the five houses performed a solo, duet, musical theatre and original choreography dance.
There were many outstanding performances, notably Hannah Farrell and Emily Shepherd’s innovative Michael Jackson medley, Eva Rouse and Grace Stylianou’s beautiful duet to Counting Stars, Taverner’s Mad Hatter original routine featuring excellent Fourth Year dancers and Lovekyn’s Into the Unknown from Frozen performed by the enchanting First Years.
Our judges, Laura Caldow – who has performed all over the world – and Jason Piper, whose latest credit is choreographing Kylie Minogues’s Fever tour, had a difficult task on their hands but the final winners were:
Best Solo: Bhavithra Gananathan (Queen’s)
Best Duet: Hannah Farrell & Emily Shepherd (Stanley) Best Musical Theatre: Be Our Guest (Stanley First Years) Best Original Choreography: Abba Mash-Up (Walworth Sixth Form)
Huge congratulations to Stanley as the overall winner. Many thanks to Mr Crohill and Mrs Starmer for putting it all together but, most importantly, thank you to all the students who made this such a memorable evening.
Mr R Gee, Director of Drama
We asked three students for their perspective on being involved in this year’s Junior School Production, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Ava Kasolowsky, Performer
Working on the play this year has been an amazing experience. It was my first professional school production and has been such fun. It has given me an insight into the world of theatre, teaching me so many different skills: how to cope under stress, how to overcome fears and challenges and how incredible it feels once you know you have beaten your fears. It has been so rewarding – walking out onto stage for the first time, helping friends learn lines and heading onto stage for the final bows. I, and all my fellow castmates, are so grateful to have been a part of this fantastic play. Joe Finn, Deputy Stage Manager
“Lx 0.6, Go! Sound 0.6, Go!” Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was my first show as the DSM, which means I was responsible for calling light and sound cues. It was a really exciting experience, very different to my previous shows where I was stage crew or management backstage. In addition to being my first time based in the tech box, it was also my first show where I attended rehearsals with the director, Miss Christmas, from the start. As a result, I got to enjoy the process of developing something from bare bones to fully-fledged production. Now it’s all over until next year, I have the same thoughts that I always do after a show. I just wish I could do another week of it. “Lx 30, Go!”
Amelie Scott, Assistant Director
I loved working as Assistant Director for the Junior Play. From the initial auditions, right through to the show, I have enjoyed coming up with new ideas and helping the cast members build confidence in their acting abilities. My favourite moment was watching everyone give an amazing performance and seeing all the hard work that had gone into the play pay off! The set design by Mrs Starmer and costumes by Mrs Borrows were incredible and helped the cast to create the wonderful world of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory! KINGSTON REVUE
As usual, we were inundated with talented individuals, and the Revue once again showcased the best of what KGS has to offer. Third Years Jasper Simmons and Lauren Proddow introduced singers, dancers, actors, magicians, even a comedian and circus performers. First Years Zoe GoldwynPagett and Anya Taylor treated us to a series of circus-style routines, Hannah Farrell, in the Fifth Year, polished off her pointe shoes for an absolute wonder of a ballet dance, and Eden Taylor in the Second Year beautifully sang All I Want by Olivia Rodrigo. We had monologues from Sixth Form Drama students Diya Wadhwani and Jake Francis, and First Year Xander Crane wowed us with magic tricks. We even had some surprise appearances from a couple of teachers!
As much as all the students missed performing on stage in front of a live audience, all were glad that this year’s Revue being online at least meant that as many people as possible could watch and could do so safely. We are looking forward to welcoming back some of our regular performers for next year’s revue, as well as inviting even more to take part.
Middle School Production: Midsummer Night’s Dream
Attempting Shakespeare for the Middle School Play is a daunting undertaking. Will the students understand the language, rhythm and imagery contained in the prose sufficiently to entertain an audience?
And will the fantasy of the setting of A Midsummer Night’s Dream be communicated alongside the comedy of the Mechanicals’ metatheatre? Well, the answer is a resounding yes. A wonderful night’s entertainment was had by all. The hard work and skill by Director Mr Gee, beautiful costumes by Mrs Borrows and a talented technical crew led by Mrs Starmer and Mr Vavrecka...and that’s before we mention the wonderful cast. “THOUGH THE CAST BE LITTLE, THEY BE FIERCE!”
Superb performances by Plum Knowles as Bottom and Bhavithra Gananathan as Titania stood out as some of the best seen on stage in the Michael Frayn Theatre. Indeed, the Mechanicals, with their modernised references, were genuinely funny as they struggled to perform Pyramus and Thisbe appropriately for the court.
The four Pucks helped change location, narrating with their deviousness. Jasper Simmons, Orson Griffith, Hannah Topen and Josephine Hill all seemed to portray a different side to Puck’s character and as a device worked excellently in establishing a unique style to the performance. Everyone in the cast performed wonderfully with incredible focus and skill. “THE COURSE OF TRUE THEATRE NEVER DID RUN SMOOTH.”
It was a truly outstanding production and was made to feel all the more enjoyable as it suddenly became apparent how much audiences and students alike have missed theatre in the last 18 months. How appropriate to be transported to a mystical modern magical forest far from the stresses of reality. Theatre at KGS is back, bigger, brighter and bolder than ever.
Mr S Crohill, Assistant Director of Drama
Senior School Production: Made in Dagenham
Mr R Gee (Director):
KGS has not staged a musical for twelve years and the Drama Department were keen to turn the tide. After contemplating My Fair Lady, we settled on Made in Dagenham for its array of characters and powerful message. And so the process began…In September we were impressed by the auditions and after much deliberation we had a cast. Then we had a production meeting and the scale of the task started to dawn: a 170-page script, a cast of 35, 14 songs, 8 dances, 7 solos, 110 costumes and a set that needed to show multiple locations.
It was fine; we had 5 months!
Directing a musical is like piecing together an enormous jigsaw. For weeks, three rehearsal rooms were being used: one for singing, one for choreography and one for acting. There were times I worried it was never to going to come together. However, through the sheer determination, energy and dedication of the superlative cast and my wonderful colleagues we reached the opening night. I hadn’t expected to be playing Harold Wilson for the first two performances, but the show must go on and I was secretly thrilled to be back under the lights!
My lasting memories of this show will be the extraordinary devotion and talent of the entire cast, band and crew. Everyone was striving for the best possible show, under difficult Covid circumstances, and the exhilaration and sheer joy was infectious. I have never felt prouder in my whole teaching career when the cast received a standing ovation on the final night. Mr S Crohill (Director):
Wow! I still can’t quite believe what we achieved. In 1968 the Western world was waking up to sexual and racial equality and it felt that was being echoed in pandemic hit 2022. Made in Dagenham felt an apt production to stage.
My hope was that we would create a show that would put KGS drama and music on the map and despite Covid’s best attempts to scupper us, we managed to push on through with immense amounts of professionalism, dedication and plain old hard work from all involved.
The technical rehearsal weekend was the most challenging I have ever encountered as both a teacher and in my past life as a professional. The Friday before, I was the only member of staff at school in the department as Covid took its grip. We lost Mrs Starmer and Mr Vavrenka to isolation rules and had to call up OK Isabelle Whitehill and a professional, Dave Starmer from the Rose Theatre, to help out. Our sound specialist Mr Leigh Davies also succumbed on our Monday Tech night. I cannot stress how complicated musicals are from a technical point of view. Even ‘micing up’ the cast takes a lot of time and skill. I was so impressed with how our student technical team stepped up to the challenge: James Sadler, Paul Adams and Sebastian Rugina were as impeccable as ever, but a special mention should be given to Phoebe Bowen and Millie Good (who celebrated her 16th birthday during the run) who managed to cover the missing technical roles, adapt daily to new challenges and keep a sense of humour throughout.
They truly were working as ably as any crew I have encountered in my career and I can’t wait to work with them again on future productions.
I don’t think I will ever be part of a production greater than this!
Mr M Laflin (Musical Director & Conductor):
Well, what a journey! Made in Dagenham marked my first foray into musical theatre at KGS and I couldn’t have been prouder of what the whole cast, band and crew achieved. Yes, at times in rehearsals it felt like we were riding in a Trabant rather than a sleek new Ford Cortina but it all came together in the end and all the hard work paid off. There were some truly outstanding performances, and it was a real privilege to work with some very talented students.
I know that many of the cast pushed themselves to places that they had never been before and the way that their voices developed and grew as we approached the performances was impressive. Likewise, the talent of the students in the band shone through and, performing alongside professional musicians, they proved that they were more than up to the task.
Shows like this don’t come along very often and I hope that it will live as long in the memory of the students involved as it will in mine.
