,
Autumn 2016
Putney Academic Focus
Performing Arts edition
Oscar winner, Putney Old Girl and GDST Alumna of the Year, Jenny Beavan is renowned for possessing one of the most creative brains in costume design.
D
uring a 30 year career in tv, theatre and film, Jenny has worked on cinema’s most successful period pictures as a costume designer, including Sense and Sensibility, Gosford Park and The King’s Speech. Jenny won a Tony Award nomination for the play Private Lives. She has been nominated for an Oscar no less than 10 times, winning in 1986 with A Room with a View and most recently in 2016 with Mad Max: Fury Road. Her recent win caused a media furore as she defied convention, shunning the glitz of the Hollywood gown and wearing a faux leather jacket from Marks & Spencer instead. After leaving Putney in 1968, Jenny studied Set Design at the Central School of Art and Design, now known as Central Saint Martins. Armed with her degree, she spotted the opportunity to design costumes for a small Merchant Ivory film, Hullabaloo over Georgie and Bonnie’s Pictures. Whilst the work was unpaid, this marked the beginning of her long relationship with Merchant Ivory productions and opened the door to bigger television and film projects. Jenny’s rise to fame didn’t happen without hard work: “I’ve had a fantastic work ethic instilled in me by my parents,” she says. Jenny’s keys to success are passion, hard work, a collaborative approach and luck: “I’ve had lots of luck – meeting the right people at the right time” she says.
Costume designing is “a great job but it isn’t quite the drifty, fun, lofty thing that people seem to think. The actual reality is much less glamorous. You’re storytelling, but you’re doing it by going out and finding clothes or making them or scribbling about them, always trying to do it on a tight budget and to fulfil everybody’s expectations. It is an intensely collaborative job.” In constant demand, Jenny declares: “I work project by project, be it in TV, theatre or film. For me, variety is key. The jobs are the same, in the sense that you’re supporting a character through clothing, but I like each discipline equally for its different thrills.” When she found herself at the centre of a social media storm about her own sense of style, Jenny showed confidence, composure and courage – not just weathering the storm but sailing through it. She said simply:
“I would like my outfit to have a positive effect on what women feel about themselves. You don’t actually have to look like a supermodel to be successful. It is really good to have a positive feeling about yourself, because then you can do anything.”
From the Headmistress
The Performing Arts have always been an integral part of our life here at Putney High School within our curriculum, through a multitude of daily co-curricular clubs and societies and with a full schedule of productions and performances both within the school and beyond. All students benefit from our state of the art facilities in the Performing Arts Centre, as well as our fully equipped Drama Studio, a professional-quality recording studio, Green Room and an outdoor Bluebell Stage. Unique to Putney High School we are working with our own Orchestra in Residence, to enable pupils to be inspired by the renowned London Mozart Players and by an award-winning a cappella group. It is fair to say that our Music and Drama are leading departments and our drama, music and dance performances are legendary. Our performances reach far and wide as students and teachers take school productions and recitals to a broader audience to compete on a national stage. This newsletter showcases some of our alumnae who have done just that, using their time at Putney to gain skills that have enabled them to establish incredible careers within the industry. It’s an absolute delight to hear their experiences, which will doubtless inspire some of our pupils to follow in their footsteps. As importantly, we will continue to offer opportunities to all girls, who can gain so much from the performing arts, whatever their future hopes and plans.
Suzie Longstaff Headmistress Follow Suzie @SLongstaff Follow us @putneyhigh
2
www.putneyhigh.gdst.net
Focus on Drama Putney Old Girl Amy Phillips (née Simcock) is a woman of many talents – an actress, theatre director, theatre practitioner and storyteller for children. She began her television career while still at Putney, earning a leading role in the popular 1990s BBC children’s drama Grange Hill. Now she is both in front of the camera and back stage. She says: Whilst studying for my A Levels in English, History and Spanish, I worked in television, playing Jessica Arnold on Grange Hill, and I appeared in Kavanagh QC with the late John Thaw. During my five seasons at Grange Hill I had the good fortune to work with acclaimed directors Paul Greengrass and Tom Vaughan. After finishing Putney High School in 1996 I read English Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London. It was there that I made my Edinburgh Festival debut which earned me a nomination for acting excellence from The Stage newspaper. Having graduated I continued to act, starring in the comedy film Rock My World, alongside Alicia Silverstone and going to Edinburgh with Gas and Air, a one-woman show directed by Lisa Spirling. In 2003 I was thrilled to make my professional stage debut at the Derby Playhouse alongside Corin Redgrave in The Browning Version. In 2003 I teamed up with old Putney schoolfriend and actress Olivia Poulet and we co-wrote and performed a comedy sketch show, Fiasco!
SPEAKER
The show was a success and we took it to Edinburgh, on the London Fringe, and in 2004 as ‘Poulet-Phillips Live!’ to the Soho Theatre. Ten years and four children later, when time allows, I still act and direct; I have diversified my career and now work as a theatre practitioner and storyteller for children. Recent highlights of my career include being Assistant Director on Michael Frayn’s Donkeys’ Years at the Rose Theatre, directing a huge cast (including lots of Putney girls!) in The Crucible at the Lantern Arts Centre and working with ATG Creative Learning in their West End theatres. WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THE PERFORMING ARTS? Acting has always made complete sense to me. I loved the theatre as a child and still do now. WORDS OF WISDOM: ●● You have to make your peace early on with the fact that there are many more actors (and directors) than there are jobs. ●● Work hard and be easy to work with – directors check with other directors about actors they are about to hire!
SPEAKER Kate on location in Wales filming Love Somehow
Kate Cheeseman trained at the BBC in documentaries, winning several awards including a Royal Television Society Award before moving over to direct drama and becoming freelance.
S
he directed many popular dramas including The Bill, Grange Hill, Casualty, Bramwell and Pig Heart Boy, adapted from Malorie Blackman’s novel. This won a BAFTA for best children’s drama as well as the RTS and Prix Danube Jury Prize. Kate has recently returned to directing, making several short films including Love Somehow about Caitlyn Thomas, Dylan Thomas’s wife, soon to be screened at a number of festivals including the London International Film Festival. At present she is developing several feature films including one with the Screen Arts Institute at the BFI. She also teaches screenwriting at Roehampton University. She says: Both my parents worked in the theatre, so I have always known actors and writers. Eventually I fell in love with film.
It’s hard work and you have to be independently motivated and you need to develop a thick skin to keep pushing your projects forward.
You have to get used to frequent rejections, short contracts with times of intense work and then gaps. It is still sadly a sexist industry but women around the world are changing that. Recent campaigns are about shifting attitudes and one run by Directors UK has led to the BFI promising equal funding to men and women by 2020. I hope that the next generation will keep up the good work and take other women onto jobs with them, for example, that directors will employ female directors of photography and composers, as well as making a conscious effort to seek and promote work by women. I am very positive about it changing but it still has a long way to go. WORDS OF WISDOM: You need to have a passion for the area you want to work in and work hard at being good in it. Make as many contacts as possible. The film industry is changing rapidly, new technology means that anyone can go out, shoot and distribute their own films – so go out with your iPhone and see what you can do.
academic focus autumn 2016
3
Focus on Music
SPEAKER
The soprano and alumna Katy Hill (née Butler), began her career in music in Putney’s a cappella choir. After sitting A Levels in Music, Mathematics and English in 2001, Katy took a year out of education, working to earn enough money to go globe-trotting with friends from school. She then started university as a choral scholar at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, graduating in 2005 with a First Class degree in Music. She says: Following my studies I spent a varied year earning my way out of the red at Beare’s Violin & Cello dealership, volunteering at an orphanage and working as a copy editor. I was making headway into the London circuit by auditioning for various conductors and working for professional church choirs. In order to get financial stability as well as control over my diary I became a part-time peripatetic singing teacher. By 2011 I had to phase the latter out as my concert diary was too full to accommodate both roles. Over the last decade I have sung for groups including The Monteverdi Choir, The Sixteen, Tenebrae Choir, The Gabrieli Consort, Synergy Vocals and The Tallis Scholars. I’ve performed in most of the major European concert halls, sung arias for royalty at Buckingham Palace, and performed live on BBC Radio 3. My day to day work includes concert and recording work, sometimes as a featured artist, but usually as a member of a group. Being freelance has meant that I have the power to boost my income or free myself up for home life, as required.
Be imaginative in how you start out – there is no one correct way of getting into any performance-related world.”
WHAT IS IT ABOUT YOUR CHOSEN CAREER WHICH APPEALED TO YOU? I really enjoy singing and I love to travel, plus the variety the job affords me – no two weeks are the same. I thrive on the pressure and drive that the sensation that ‘you’re only as good as your last gig’ gives me. ADVICE TO ANYONE CONSIDERING SUCH A CAREER The career chooses you as much as the other way round. Keep yourself open and responsive to the opportunities that come your way and observe how you take to the work and vice versa. In so doing you’ll start to feel your way in the direction in which you’re best suited. And most importantly, never forget the importance of personality – after all, you can be one of the best in the business
4
www.putneyhigh.gdst.net
but if you’re a pain to work or tour with, no one will book you more than once. (Unless you’re completely uniquely AMAZING of course! In which case be a total pain and the press will have a field day and you can earn as much as you like being a famous diva). WHAT DO YOU KNOW NOW THAT YOU WISH YOU’D KNOWN AT SCHOOL? There are no big secrets, a number of people at the top aren’t all that special. It really is about confidence and willingness to try. There is room for everyone with a reasonable amount of competence to have a go and if you have an idea or a goal, just run with it and something good is sure to come out of the experience, even if it’s not what you expected.
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Working in a Theatrical Agency
SPEAKER
Putney Old Girl, Georgie Davies, is an assistant at Conway van Gelder Grant, a leading actors’ and voiceover agency in Soho, with clients such as Benedict Cumberbatch, Helena Bonham Carter and Joanna Lumley. She says: I left Putney in 2011 with A Levels in History, Drama and English Literature and went on to study English and Theatre Studies at the University of Sheffield. Whilst at Sheffield, my course mate Helen Monks decided to pursue a career as an actress, and as a favour I decided to be her ‘agent’. From this, Helen was cast in the Channel 4 comedy Raised by Wolves, and I went on to set up ‘Individual Agents’ to seem more professional than a third year university student operating from her bedroom! Whilst studying for university finals I was also negotiating contracts and phoning productions companies – without much (any) experience! So Helen and I turned for advice to Conway van Gelder Grant (CvGG), who loved what we had done. They took on Helen as an actress and invited me to intern with them. I was invited to stay on with them as an Assistant and have now been with them for nearly two years.
WHAT’S NEXT? For now, just learning from the best at CvGG! The business is about making contacts and establishing relationships with clients and other people in the industry, which takes time. Hopefully one day I’ll have my own list of clients! WHAT IS IT ABOUT YOUR CHOSEN CAREER WHICH APPEALED TO YOU? Every day is different. New projects are constantly coming in, new scripts to read and brilliant actors to find…it’s non-stop with long hours but it’s amazing to help cultivate incredible careers for our clients. ADVICE TO ANYONE CONSIDERING SUCH A CAREER: The most important thing is very basic: have an interest in theatre, film and television! It’s really important to be aware of what’s on where, of who’s in what and upcoming projects.
Chris Hill is a bass player, composer, songwriter, member of Arch Birds, and married to Katy Hill.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: In 2016 Chris’s band Arch Birds wrote the music for Virgin Media’s ‘Be The Fastest’ campaign featuring Usain Bolt. The advert has had over 2.5 million youtube views.
KER SPEA
NEXT STEPS: More arranging for TV adverts, playing at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz club, session work on the double bass and bass guitar including at the Royal Albert Hall with trumpeter Alison Balsom next year. Chris has also written a children’s music-based TV show which he is developing with an animator.
Go to the theatre as much as possible – London is home to amazing theatres, almost all of which offer cheap seats for young people, so no excuses!”
BIOGRAPHY IN BRIEF:
Education: Music at Trinity College, Cambridge as a choral scholar, followed by a jazz postgraduate course on the double bass at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Career path: Played in as many bands as he could manage, taught bass at schools and played at more weddings than he would ever like to admit! Big break: In 2009 Jamie Cullum asked Chris to join his band and he worked with him for over five years.
Work as hard as you can. Think hard about turning anything down, even if you think you can’t do it. Confront your weaknesses and work on them, play on your strengths.” academic focus autumn 2016
5
Focus on Careers in Production
SPEAKER
Nicola Seed has been the Associate Producer for Paul Elliott and Karl Sydow since 2012 and is looking forward to her new role as Executive Producer of the Curve Theatre in Leicester in October 2016. Work can be so enjoyable if you find the right vocation – what I didn’t realise was how many different careers are out there, some that you might not know about. If you are interested in something, get work experience. It allows you to make great connections for the future and will help you work out what you enjoy doing.”
BIOGRAPHY IN BRIEF:
A Levels: English, Business Studies and History Degree: English Language and Literature at the University of Leeds First job: Production Assistant for Nimax Theatres, assisting on West End productions including Swimming With Sharks starring Christian Slater and Rain Man starring Josh Hartnett. Career Highlights: Awarded a Stage One Bursary for New Producers (2010–11) which she used to form Nicola Seed Productions Ltd allowing her to work on projects such as Accolade by Emlyn Williams. Accolade received huge critical acclaim, and was awarded Off West End Production of the Year 2011 by Time Out Magazine.
WHAT’S NEXT? I’ve enjoyed the varied freelance roles and independent projects I have worked on over the last 10 years – however I have always wanted to produce for a venue so I am excited to start full time producing at the Leicester Curve theatre at the end of this year, working on their many upcoming productions. WHAT IT IS ABOUT YOUR CHOSEN CAREER WHICH APPEALED TO YOU? It combines my love of theatre and the creativity involved in getting productions off the ground with my business skills – assessing commercial success, sticking to a budget and organising and delivering logistics. ADVICE TO ANYONE CONSIDERING SUCH A CAREER Working in theatre is fantastic, as everyone in the industry is so passionate about what they do. See as many shows as you can and write to someone you admire as they are always willing to pass on advice to fellow theatre lovers.
Curve Theatre, Leicester
If you want to become a theatre producer, the charity Stage One (www.stageone.uk.com) is a great place to start as they offer apprenticeships and bursaries.”
6
www.putneyhigh.gdst.net
Insight from Recent Alumnae Putney Drama scholar Sophie Simnett (Class of 2016) juggled her A Level studies in English, Drama and Geography with filming for a major new Disney TV series, The Lodge. She says: “The teachers at Putney High School were amazing, regularly keeping me up to date with work – the Drama Department even posted some of it to my hotel! I couldn’t have done it without them. When I returned from Northern Ireland I had one and a half weeks to learn as much as I could before my exams. After my last exam, there was little time to celebrate as I went straight back into rehearsals for live performances of some of the songs.”
Later this year, she will appear on the big screen in Niall Johnson’s Mum’s List, alongside Emilia Fox and Rafe Spall.
Naori Takahashi left Putney in 2015 after taking A Levels in Music, Maths and Physics. She is currently in her second year of her Performance degree at the Royal Academy of Music. She says: My passion for music began at the age of nine whilst attending the Royal Academy of Music. I was leader of the Junior Academy Symphony Orchestra, performing in concerts in venues such as St John Smith Square. In Year 9, I won the senior instrumental section of the House Music Festival. Whilst at school I was selected for the National Youth Orchestra in 2014 and in 2015, which gave me the opportunity to perform at venues including the Royal Albert Hall for a televised performance of the BBC Proms. This year I was selected as a student representative of the conservatoires of the United Kingdom to participate in Europa Season, in Craiova, Romania, where I had an interview and a recital.
I loved playing the violin so it was quite natural for me to choose violin performance as a career. Playing in front of an audience with one shot at the performance itself, even after many hours of solid practice, is stressful at times. However, after you deliver your performance, there is a real sense of achievement.
There is a diverse range of jobs after you graduate with a performance degree. However you must really enjoy playing your instrument, and have the self-motivation to practise for hours every day, as the competition for work in this field is immense.” academic focus autumn 2016
7
Insight from Recent Alumnae Old Girl Jessica Reeves left Putney in 2011and has just started a teacher training course. She says:
Putney prepared me very well for university and working life. It’s easy to get stressed about deadlines and workload, but I always try to remind myself that everything will be OK! “
I started Putney in Reception and was there through to Year 13! I took A Levels in Chemistry, Biology, Maths, Further Maths and Music. After toying with the idea of becoming a doctor I realised what I’d known all along – that Music was the subject that I was passionate about. I went to Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, where the demands of an Oxford degree were incredibly challenging. At Oxford I sang in a small jazz band and the University Big Band which has prepared me very well for my singing engagements after university. WHAT’S NEXT/COMING UP FOR YOU? I’ve started my teacher training course through Schools Direct. It’s daunting to be faced with 30 little faces and to be responsible for them for the lesson, but I’m excited to learn how to get the most out of a class!
WHAT IS IT ABOUT YOUR CHOSEN CAREER WHICH APPEALS TO YOU? Music-making has so many benefits, as an academic subject, but also cross-curricular. Teaching music means that I can bring these opportunities to other students enabling them to experience the joy and emotional release that music brings. ADVICE TO ANYONE CONSIDERING SUCH A CAREER Do whatever it is you’re passionate about! Being a music teacher is incredibly exciting. Each lesson has a new goal and you have many minds to inspire each day; the opportunities are huge! WHAT YOU KNOW NOW THAT YOU WISH YOU’D KNOWN AT PUTNEY? If you enjoy the work you do, every other aspect of your life will fall into place.
Fabienne Piolini-Castle (Class of 2015) is an actress working with the Beresford Management Agency. She played Shona in the film, 2 Hours. Most recently she has been filming the role of Susie James in the film When I Grow Up. She is studying Drama and Theatre Studies at Royal Holloway University. Fabienne recently completed a TV pilot for a Disney TV series, as well as shooting in Yorkshire with Hugo Speer (The Full Monty) as the lead in a short film. Last year she was a ‘guest lead’ in an episode of BBC Doctors: ”I was cast as an18-yearold pregnant girl and spent the whole episode giving birth… exhausting!” says Fabienne. Fabienne started her acting career when she was only 12. Acting itself doesn’t require any qualifications, anyone can get involved whatever the educational background; all that is needed is talent, passion and luck.
8
www.putneyhigh.gdst.net
Every day, she has to search for new auditions, and face rejection. “I was told recently that I didn’t get the job because I looked too ‘boyish’! You just have to prepare yourself for endless rejection and really want to act – it’s the passion and determination that keeps you going,” she says. To anyone willing to embrace an acting career, Fabienne recommends doing as much drama as you can, in and out of school, as well as joining sites such as Kids Casting Call Pro where you can apply directly for jobs. Remember to invest in a professional headshot!
Acting is a great career but it is very inconsistent and unreliable.”
Did You Know? Sarah Tyler, Head of Religious Studies at Putney, is also an accomplished classically trained singer. Sarah says: After A Levels I went straight to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama to take a four-year performance course in Singing. However, I quickly realised that it wasn’t for me. It simply wasn’t academic enough for me and as a natural introvert there was a lot about the course which made me uncomfortable. I applied to university for the following autumn, and went to King’s College, London, to study a degree in Theology. It was absolutely the right decision to make, and having subsequently taken two Masters’ degrees in Biblical Studies and Religious Education, the subject has paid my bills ever since. However, although I left the Guildhall I didn’t stop singing and I have sung over 70 principal soprano and mezzo soprano
operatic roles and appeared in hundreds of concerts and shows as well as singing with small vocal ensembles. I run my own opera company, Porcupine Productions, and we produce fully staged professional productions at least twice a year. So it is possible to work as a performer at a high level without relying on it as a primary source of income and without the pressure of the constant battle with acceptance and rejection in an often heart-breaking industry. Many times people have said ‘How do you find time to do it?’ a question which continues to puzzle me!
You always find time to do the things you love and which are essential to your well-being and senseof identity. Make sure you don’t miss the chance to do so! “
Michael Barham not only works as part of the Estates Team at Putney but he is also a Clarinet/Sax teacher. Michael says: Born in Wanstead East London, I came from a musical background and it wasn’t long before my parents arranged piano lessons for me. At the age of 12 I took up clarinet lessons and knew straight away this was the instrument for me. Later I was encouraged by my tutor to think about Music College and as a sport fanatic it seemed a good idea to think about a career with the Military. At 16 I auditioned for the Royal Marines Band service and was lucky enough to be accepted into their School of Music as a Solo Clarinet Player. When I graduated I joined one of the ten Royal Marines Bands.
My first posting was to HMS Pembroke, in Kent, where I served for 11 years travelling around the world several times, often performing at State functions. I have played at small intimate gatherings for the Royals through to Wembley Cup Finals! I joined Putney High School Estates team a year ago as a gardener and now look after the lettings. However, I still perform as a freelance player, regularly playing in London. I’m a peripatetic Clarinet/Sax teacher with the Tri Borough Hub Music Service, coaching small groups, and individuals in schools.
When I have time to spare I work as a supporting artist in TV and films and have appeared in many adverts, films and BBC dramas.” academic focus autumn 2016
9
Music at Putney There is a wide range of performing opportunities at Putney, from small barbershop groups to a full-scale Symphony Orchestra and everything in between! 26 instrumental and vocal teachers provide more than 300 individual lessons a week. Every year we hold the House Music Festival, a celebration of performance across the school, with almost 300 entries and eight girls conducting choirs.
Year 9 perform The Mikado
10
www.putneyhigh.gdst.net
Girls throughout the school can find a group that suits their age and ability, with the chance to make music with their friends at any level. Almost half of the school sings in a choir and many also play in one of the orchestras. For the younger years, there is Sinfonietta, an orchestra especially for Years 7 and 8 and also a choir in which the majority of girls in these years take part. Year 9 organises and performs its own opera – where everyone gets involved. All girls in Year 9 and above can sing in Senior Choir. This ensemble rehearses twice a week and performs at the major concerts each term. These ensembles form the basis of our biannual tours, our upcoming tour will be to Malta in October 2016. There are many performance opportunities, the most prestigious being the Choral and Orchestral concerts in November and March each year.
Pupils are also encouraged to further their development by joining regional and national ensembles and to study at the conservatoires. We have a multitude of chamber groups: a wind ensemble, brass group, piano trios, string quartets and more. For older string players there is the String Orchestra, with this ensemble and the Symphony Orchestra usually reserved for more advanced players. Outside the classical arena we offer opportunities for girls to participate in a jazz group, as well as in 11 a cappella groups which give over 100 girls the chance to sing in small vocal ensembles. This year we will be launching Putney Does Pop for girls to showcase their skills.
Scholarships
Bethany Reeves (left) won the Grand Final of the Wandsworth Young Musicians of the Year 2016. Tasmin Sarkany (right) was selected to perform in the Royal School of Music Junior Department Symphony and Chamber Orchestra’s 90th Anniversary Gala Concert at Cadogan Hall.
Music Scholarships are available at 11+ (Year 7 entry), 13+ (Year 9) and at 16+.
House Music Festival 2016 showcased a diverse range of music from Michael Jackson, complete with beatboxing, to a harp solo performance.
Drama scholarships are available at 16+.
The Borodin Trio won the Junior Category of the Chamber Music Competition for Schools South East – beating Harrow, St Paul’s and Westminster in the finals!
UPCOMING MUSIC EVENTS Choir Tour Concert Thursday 13th October Choir Tour to Malta Saturday 15th October Barnado’s Choir Concert Wednesday 19th October Senior School Concert Wednesday 23rd November Informal Concert Monday 28th November Carols at Royal Hospital Wednesday 7th December Carol Service Wednesday 14th December
Emily Hazrati (2015) and Rosie Thorogood (2016) were winners of the Royal Opera House’s annual Fanfare Competition. Emily is currently in her 1st year in Lincoln College at the University of Oxford. academic focus autumn 2016
11
Drama at Putney Drama allows girls to develop self-expression, creativity, confidence and communication skills. Performance is an integral part of life at Putney. Our girls perform at events including the Edinburgh Festival and Shakespeare Schools Festival. Drama companies come into school for workshops and there are numerous theatre trips. The Drama and Music Departments collaborate to stage annual musicals. We encourage girls to train in technical aspects using state-of-the-art equipment in our FOPHS sound and lighting booth. Experienced LAMDA teachers hold lessons for Years 7–13, provide personalised acting and theatre tuition to develop girls’ performance skills and enrich their Drama experience. Girls are then able to take their exams in our outstanding Performing Arts Centre. Last year we had a 100% Pass rate with 97% achieving Distinctions and Merits in our LAMDA Examinations. Year 9 girls are able to audition for the Shakespeare Schools Festival to perform or work backstage. The girls are rehearsing Macbeth, and will perform in November at the Watermans Arts Centre.
Years 10 and 11 are able to develop their acting skills in the weekly club, Drama Lab. Putney High School Theatre Company enables the Sixth Form girls to sharpen their performance skills and work as a troupe. The company has recently returned from its first production at the Edinburgh Fringe, performing the world premiere of ‘YPFii’. This year’s play will be the musical, Made in Dagenham, the uplifting comedy about friendship, love and gender equality. The Sixth Form House Drama Captains run weekly clubs in preparation for the House Drama Festival. Girls have an opportunity to show their talent and represent their Houses. All girls who participate are then invited to attend a trip to a West End show, this year pupils will be watching Stomp.
Dance Club presents . . . Dance Club is delivered by the professional dance company Kirarocksu, which is based at Pineapple Studios. Girls are taught various dance styles and routines with a particular focus on street dance. Participating in dance increases confidence, coordination and creativity; the girls also work towards the annual Dance Show to showcase their work.
12
www.putneyhigh.gdst.net
Year 12 Perform at Edinburgh Fringe August 2016 marked the first ever Putney students’ trip to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, to perform alongside the other 3268 shows. Year 9 in rehearsal for their production of As You Like It at Shakespeare Schools Festival.
The ten actors and one musician, all from Year 12, performed in an original adaptation of Eurodices’ The Trojan Women by Emma Burford (Director of Drama) and Elizabeth Bennett (Putney High School LAMDA teacher) entitled ‘YPFii’. After two weeks of rehearsals the girls performed for seven nights at the C Too venue, a beautiful converted church that is overlooked by Edinburgh Castle. Throughout the week the students were reviewed by many national papers and Internet review sites, including The Scotsman and The British Theatre Guide, achieving three stars across the board.
Putney High School Theatre Company, with puppets from the original West End production, performed Avenue Q to a raptuous audience.
The whole trip and opportunity has given the girls an experience of what it is like to perform as a professional theatre company, from the rehearsal room to creating the piece to handing out flyers on the Royal Mile, advertising the show to potential audience members. It has given them memories that they will never forget and look back on with great fondness.
Bursting with energy and talent, Schools Will Rock You was the first major production in the Performing Arts Centre.
Watch out for BUGSY MALONE opening on Wednesday 7th December
“It’s a valiant effort for a quite young company and shows promise, from the ambition and the acting talents of the troop, not to mention the live piano accompaniment throughout by Bethany Reeves.” British Theatre Guide “A sinister and thought-provoking play.” Fringe Biscuits “An imaginative set-up that makes for an interesting hour.” The Scotsman
academic focus autumn 2016
13
Focus on Work Experience Name: Sophia Rasab Name of company: Marmalade Productions Type of work: Film Production Most useful experience: Being given the opportunity to read a whole script so that I could gain a sense of its format and what directions need to be left for other members of the production team to follow. Most challenging moment: Finding a suitable alleyway for a location in a scene between two houses in North London.
Name: Ellie Ing Name of company: Paul Elliott Ltd/ Dirty Dancing on Tour and Nicola Seed productions Type of work: Stage Management Most useful experience: Sitting in on production and advertising meetings to see how the entire production was run. Most challenging moment: Proof reading and correcting the programme so it could be published in time for the first performance.
14
www.putneyhigh.gdst.net
Name: Millie Bloom Name of company: Two Brothers Pictures Type of work: TV Production Most useful experience: Sitting in on the post production of a new TV show and learning how much the original shoot can change to make the finished production. Most challenging moment: Having to summarise an 80 page script into a one page script report.
Most challenging moment: Using a computer programme to catalogue hundreds of images of characters and backgrounds according to several naming conventions.
2017 – SAVE THE DATE
Name: Madeleine Olver Name of company: Acamar Films/ Bing Bunny
We look forward to seeing you at our CAREERS FAIR on Wednesday 1st March, 7–8.30pm. Open to all girls and their parents in Years 9–13
Type of work: Marketing/Design Most useful experience: Helping the design team to refine ideas for future products – I saw how much care went in to every tiny decision to keep the quality and ethos of the brand.
academic focus autumn 2016
15
In the Junior School we inspire and develop the girls’ performing arts skills through both our curricular and co-curricular programme. SOME EXAMPLES OF WHAT WE OFFER: All girls in Years 5 and 6 take part in the weekly choir rehearsals and some form part of a ‘Small Choir’ whilst others are members of our full choir. Year 4 regularly takes part in a charity concert and an event in St John’s Smith Square and Year 2 gives a performance involving singing and acting at our annual Celebrating Success in the Junior School. The school year ends with Years 5 and 6 enjoying eight days of Drama and Dance workshops to prepare for their annual summer production. 2016 saw a feisty performance of Pinafore Pirates.
English Speaking Board exams in Years 2, 4 and 6 are a brilliant way of increasing the girls’ performing confidence as are the LAMDA lessons and exams taken by our Year 5 girls who always do so very well gaining very high marks indeed.
Staff, parents, family and friends from both Junior and Senior schools are welcome to join. Please contact w.archibald@put.gdst.net for further information. Parents’ Choir performing Mozart’s Requiem in 2015.
www.putneyhigh.gdst.net
PERFORMING DOES NOT STOP WITH THE GIRLS . . . Parents have the chance to belong to our very successful Parents Choir. Spring 2017 will see them perform excerpts from The Messiah.
email: putneyhigh@put.gdst.net
Our annual Speaking and Listening Festival gives every girl in the Junior School the opportunity to speak publicly to their classmates initially and then two girls from each year group goes on to give their speeches to the whole school.
fax: 020 8789 8068
The many Drama and Dance Clubs have grown during the past years; with Dance Clubs for Years 1 and 4, Street Dance for Years 5 and 6, and ‘Jiggle and Jive’ for Reception. There are now Drama Clubs for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2.
phone: 020 8788 4886
Instrumentally the girls have many performance opportunities: the Junior Orchestra has 60 musicians. They rehearse weekly and in March 2016 gave a superb performance as part of the Junior School Spring Concert. Our many recorder ensembles perform at our Carols, the Spring Concert and Celebrating Success in the Junior School. The annual Valentine Music Festival was held in the Performing Arts Centre for the first time this year with over 100 performances in two days.
Putney High School 35 Putney Hill Putney SW15 6BH
Performance in the Junior School