Over the past few weeks, the Chicago Company ave worked incredibly hard and put on 4 amazing performances for the school. But this is just the end result, there is a lot more work than you see going on behind the scenes.
The performances are a result of months of preparation and rehearsals from the cast, and countless hours of setup and preparation from the crew in the weeks leading up to the show.
After auditions and cast selection, the cast are given their scripts and begin rehearsals, learning their lines and practicing scenes, and in the case of the school musicals, learning the songs as well. This takes weeks and months of dedication and practice from them to achieve.
In the week leading up to the show, technical rehearsals begin. During this time the crew will plot all the lighting (set up each different lighting state the show uses), set up the microphones and sound effects, and run a “cue by cue”. During a cue by cue, the focus is on the technical side of the show. Every technical change on stage has a cue. (Lighting change, sound effects etc.) Each one of these is rehearsed to check and practice the timing is correct.
Once this is complete, the crew complete run throughs of the show. While doing these, scenes will be refined and any problems that may arise during the show will be corrected. Small changes may also be made to cues or timings for both actors or crew.
Finally, a full final dress rehearsal takes place the Saturday before performance week. Here all of the actors can get a feel for running the show exactly how it’ll actually take place and gives a last chance for any small polishes to be made to the show ready for the real thing.
If you’re reading this and any of this sounds interesting to you, get involved! If you’re interested in acting, audition for the next school production. If you’re interested in joining crew, there are open places whether you want to do lighting/ sound, stage management, hair and makeup, costumes or more. Contact the drama department for more information!
- Luca Bradbury
Healthy Snacks To Make During Revision
BERRY BRAIN BLAST SMOOTHIE
Ingredients:
1 whole Banana
A large handful of Blueberries
Approx 6-7 Strawberries
1 tbsp Greek yogurt
1 tsp honey
1 scoop of vanilla protein powder ~ optional
Strawberries contain high levels of vitamin C which prevents damage to brain cells and promotes overall brain health. Blueberries increase blood flow to certain areas of the brain, improving memory and brain cognition. Bananas have high levels of a certain protein that releases serotonin in the brain, causing you to feel happy and help you motivate yourself during revision. Banana is also a great source of slow release energy.
- Amy Knolles
AVO AND TOAST
Ingredients:
1 Avocado
½ the juice of a lime
Salt and Pepper
Chilli flakes
A slice of toast
An egg – poached or scrambled (optional)
Avo on toast is a great source of protein. It can be enhanced by zesty lime flavours and spicy chilli. To add even more protein, an egg is a great filler, especially if you’re having this snack as a breakfast or lunch. Avocado contains mind boosting nutrients, such as vitamin E.
GREEK YOGURT, DRIED FRUIT AND GRANOLA
Ingredients:
3-4 tbsp of Greek yogurt
1 tbsp of dried or frozen fruit
2 tsp of granola
Honey (to taste)
Greek yogurt is famous for being a mood booster, as it contains the probiotic, lactobacillus. Dried or frozen fruits offer healthy sugars and a quick release of energy, helping to maintain motivation levels. I would recommend berries such as raspberries or currants.
Planet parade!
In 2025, skywatchers are treated to a series of remarkable planetary alignments, offering a unique opportunity to observe multiple planets arrayed across the night sky.
January 25, 2025: Six-Planet Alignment
On the evening of January 25, six planets—Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Uranus, and Neptune— align in the night sky. While Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars are visible to the naked eye, observing Uranus and Neptune requires binoculars or a telescope due to their faintness. This alignment occurs because the planets orbit the sun on roughly the same ecliptic plane, occasionally appearing clustered from our Earthly vantage point.
February 2025: Seven-Planet Parade
Throughout February, a striking gathering of seven planets—Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—will be visible in the evening sky. A notable event occurs on February 28, when Mercury joins the alignment, making it possible to observe all seven planets stretching across the sky. This rare alignment provides a captivating sight for stargazers.
Rarity and Historical Context
Alignments involving six or more planets are relatively rare, occurring approximately once every two decades. The last notable six-planet alignment occurred in June 2024. A seven-planet alignment is even more uncommon, with the previous occurrence in 2020. The next anticipated great alignment, involving all eight planets, is expected on May 6, 2492. By that time, approximately 18 generations will have passed, assuming a generational span of 25 years. To put this into perspective, the last time all eight planets aligned was on March 10, 1982, when all the major planets were within a 95° arc around the Sun.
Viewing Tips
To fully appreciate these celestial events, find a location with minimal light pollution and a clear view of the horizon. The best time to observe these alignments is shortly after sunset, allowing your eyes to adjust to the darkness. Remember to dress warmly and consider bringing binoculars or a telescope to enhance your viewing experience, especially for the fainter planets. These planetary alignments provide a wonderful opportunity to connect with the cosmos and witness the dynamic movements of our solar system. Mark your calendars and take advantage of these celestial spectacles in 2025.
- Uliana Tokolova
Lunar New Year at Royal Russell
Trump is now the US president.
What now?
The world is currently in a state of geopolitical pandemonium. From being a criminal convict on the brink of impeachment, to being a distant memory as he faded into the obscurity of COVID madness, to a massive resurgence to become the Republican candidate, to facing near death on multiple occasions, to winning the election by a very comfortable margin. While the polls suggested the race would be close, this turned out to not be the case as Trump made gains in almost all states and won all of the “swing states”, many of which retrospectively don’t deserve that tagline. However, since then Trump has made many wild statements which leaves many people to wonder, what next?
Before coming to office, Trump spoke lots of his plans to use tariffs, even remarking “My favourite word is tariff. I love the word tariff.” These are taxes that can be added to imports and exports of a country. In this case, Trump wants to put tariffs on foreign products to improve domestic production, specifically raising higher tariffs on countries he aims to dominate in his tenor, such as Denmark, Canada and of course, China. While some people are optimistic that domestic production could make up the deficit, many are worried about the potential ramifications of this not working out. This is because tariffs will force foreign manufacturers and exporters to pay more to ship their goods into the US, and while Trump often claim this will allow a tax break on US citizens, many speculate that consumers may be off worse under these plans and that the difference will come out of the people’s pockets.The other ramification this could have which worries people is how he will intend to use these tariffs to go back on his “trade war” agenda which happened in his first term with China, which he has already started with 10% tariffs on. Even the EU, Canada and Mexico aren’t safe, all facing threats of tariffs, while the UK stands quietly in the corner, hoping noone will notice them.
Another worry many have is over Trump’s statements regarding Canada and Greenland. Trump has stated that getting Greenland would be essential to the national security of the US. This has created major problems due to it currently being under the rulership of Denmark. However, the relationship between Denmark and Greenland is turbulent to say the least, with the local innuit people still holding resentment over Denmark’s previous cultural repression. This, however, creates problems when we consider that Denmark is part of the Eurozone, key American allies, and is also a member of NATO, which complicates military coordination. Furthermore, Trump has flirted with the idea of making Canada the 51st state, which was met by a gentle chuckle from newsreaders, until they realised he wasn’t joking. In all reality, like many of Trumps pledges, it’s a toss of the coin whether he actually goes through with them or if the reality of the system of US politics catches up with him.
Well let’s look now at what Trump has already done. On his first day, Trump already signed over 200 executive orders, which are orders the president can use to bypass congress in order to change the laws in the US and fast track the process of legislating. While lots of these won’t be immediate, they show some of the things which are at the top of the agenda for the Trump administration. These didn’t provide many surprises, at least by what he was promising in his manifesto, as he did acts such as withdrawing from the WHO, re-withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement and founded his Department of Governmental Efficiency, which he plans to be ran by his new bestie Elon Musk, owner of Tesla, X and SpaceX. Some of the other acts included ensuring the flag was always to be flown during inaugurations and changing the laws so gender is widely defined as only a man or a woman.
What was more surprising was who sat in the front rows during his inauguration; it wasn’t his proposed cabinet members and senior officials, it was the big tech who sat front and centre, with the CEOs of TikTok, Meta, X and Google being at the front. Also, Trump has made what can only be perceived as provocative statements around Canada, Mexico and Gaza. At the beginning of February, he declared that Gaza should go under American rule, displacing the people there, so the Americans can rebuild it. Looking past the glaringly obvious war crimes of mass displacement of peoples and the arguable ethnic cleansing this could cause, these statements could only serve to jeopardise the current ceasefire negotiation in the region.
Overall, Trump is a random guessing game to what he will do, and what will be conviction or conjecture. Trump will be and will always be a polarising figure; to some being an inspirational leader who cheats death, and so some is a babbling idiot who will ruin the US. His policies are very much just as polarising, and they have lots of question marks around them. Trump has made pledges to “end all wars” around the world, and to “make America great again” again, the real question is whether these ambitious promises will be followed up on, and that will need to be determined over the next few years.
- Johan Prinsloo
To what extent do dreams reflect reality?
Dreams are a concept that have been questioned and studied for centuries. Although we cannot say with certainty any facts about dreams, there have been many theories that make sense with regards to reality and what we dream about.
One theory for dreams is the “continuity theory”. This theory has the idea that dreams are merely an extension to our waking life, that has been continued on since before the ancient Egyptians. This theory however, cannot be proved and can be seen as highly inaccurate due to the lack of scientific evidence and support.
One interesting study done on dreams was the study of 192 dream reports. A man submitted 192 dream reports, of which then went through a word search program, in search of mentions of the 10 categories as a part of the Hall and Van de Castle dream scale: characters, social interactions, activities, successes and failures, good and misfortunes, emotions, settings, objects, descriptive modifiers, temporal references, elements of the past, food and eating. The researcher in charge of this study knew nothing about this man, yet correctly found out facts about him, for example, he: had an active social life, knew how to swim, read and wrote a lot, was not religious, preferred dogs over cats, and was closer to his brothers than his sisters.
This proves that dreams do reflect our reality to some extent, however we do not know what the researcher had incorrectly inferred from his dreams.
With the Hall and Van de Castle dream scale, it was found that globally, dreams contain more aggression, misfortune and negative emotion.
A reoccurring pattern within research has been about emotions of our waking life become integrated into our dreams. It has been theorised that our bodies do this as a way of processing emotions, as well as the possibility that our dreams are scenarios preparing us for the future and events that may occur, for example when we were in our more primitive phase of life, we would need to have good instincts and a well-rehearsed fight or flight response. Dreams may have been a naturally occurring system to ensure that we knew how to handle similar situations in the future.
Emily Walker
Do the benefits outweigh the risks of being vegan, on the human body?
Veganism continues to become an increasingly popular lifestyle as social media encourages the benefits of it. Gen z happens to be the generation that holds the most vegans. Even though plant- based diets can be incredibly beneficial, there comes both risk and reward. You might think you are aware of all the pros and cons of being vegan, whereas they’re many effects that this diet can have on the human body, that most don’t know.
Having a vegan based diet excludes all animal products- meat, dairy, eggs, and even sometimes honey. Being vegan can prevent chronic diseases such as reducing the risk of cancer, heart disease, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes. It helps with weight loss as it eliminates many calorie-dense animal products which often leads to lower calorie consumption. However, there is an endless list of the deficiencies that are caused. This includes protein deficiency, vitamin B12, iron, omega-3 fatty acids, calcium, zinc, iodine, and even digestive issues due to the rapid shift of switching to high-fibre. A limitation that people tend to disregard is, the issue of being over reliant on processed vegan foods. It’s tempting to rely on vegan junk food e.g vegan meats/cheese, since these can be high in sodium, sugars, and unhealthy fats.
But, these limitations are not the end of the world, simply because it is easy to find a solution for these problems if you have done prior research about being vegan or followed any other specific plant based diet.
Therefore, if you approach veganism whilst being fully aware of the impact it has on our health (good or bad), and make an effort to include a variety of whole, plant-based foods, many of these risks can be managed. This is why ultimately, becoming a vegan can, in the long term, do wonders for the human body.
- Alveena Javaid
Labour report card: cooking or cooked?
Labour have now been in office for around 5-6 months, and so we have been able to gauge the direction the country would be going in under a Labour government. We have had a sneak peek into how Labour envisions its manifesto getting implemented, with the Autumn budget now being mostly in effect and with many other significant changes. So, how has Sir Kier Starmer been doing in office? Has he been cooking or is he cooked?
First of all it is important to talk about the budget. Last edition I wrote an article about the budget, so I won’t go into too much depth there, but from a retrospective viewpoint we can analyse how these changes have been viewed by the general public. Long story short, they aren’t liking the vi-
Many businesses, both big and small, have been complaining that Labour’s plans to raise employer’s national insurance contributions have been squeezing their budgets dry and that this will lead to raising prices or possibly layoffs, which has lots of people angry at the government. In response, Labour would say that these businesses were calling foul and that they weren’t actually struggling, due to their bosses still being able to net astronomical bonuses. Whoever is right remains to be seen.
Furthermore, Labour’s vision they pitched for growth hasn’t materialised. 5 months after their victory, the UK economy is in the same place it was in July, which is a damning fact.
Furthermore, inflation has once again risen above the 2% threshold, which has many worried about what’s to come. However, it is important not to overstate that this inflation jump isn’t as bad as it once was, and while it doesn’t make it ok, it puts it into perspective.
If you told Labour this, their probable response would be that the plans will take time to grow, and that investment will take time to happen. The thing is they’re not wrong, investment will take time, but many people are annoyed as Labour in many ways was pitched as showing “a marked improvement from day 1” to the doom and gloom of the Tories. However, at least economically and for people’s pockets, this hasn’t happened yet, and Labour have realised this. In a panic, Labour have started a crusade to encourage investment into the UK, whether its cosying up to the AI sector, to approving a new Heathrow runway, Labour have been desperate to send the message that they will in fact be boosting the economy. Whether this was all calculated, or an acceptance that their budget was a mistake, it doesn’t look good.
reminded us enough already), it is much more applicable to the fact that 6 months in, 3 of his cabinet appointments have resigned. The first of the three to go was Sue Gray, ever caught up in controversy during her years involved with the Labour party. Many were already annoyed with her switching to being the Starmer’s chief of staff, due to her involvement in the COVID inquiry just before, but this was only made worse when, in the first few months of the year, it was leaked from a Downing Street insider that payment restructuring meant that she would make more money flat out than the Prime Minister! Due to the increasing heat building on her, and due to this taking away from Labour’s actual plans, she resigned from being the Downing Street chief of staff. After her was Louise Haigh, who resigned in November 2024. She resigned due to controversy in a fraud case she was being investigated in, to which she eventually pled guilty. This was not only controversial as now a senior Labour official was a criminal, but also this proximity to the start of the government led to increasing calls about whether Starmer knew. Nevertheless, she resigned to become the second senior Labour official to resign in what was the first 4 months of the government. Most recently Tulip Siddiq was forced to resign due to her familial connections to the former Bangladeshi government, which was under a corruption probe and she resigned to ensure she doesn’t become “a distraction” for the government, supposedly. Whether these are all bad luck or cronyism, it can’t be denied that Starmer hasn’t had the biggest luck with his cabinet.
However, another thing that has been questioned often is Starmer’s cabinet appointments.While this can be applied to Rachel Reeves, who by the way was an economist at the bank of England (if she hasn’t - Johan Prinsloo
Spring Has Sprung!
In this article we will talk about things to do in spring! After being cooped up all winter, the Rouge team thought it would be a great idea to suggest some plans you can make with your friends in the coming spring months when you’re stuck at home..
Number one; have a picnic! Enjoy a fun time outside snacking on sandwiches and sweet treats. Maybe head to your local park or out into your garden. Invite friends over to eat and play outdoor games. Bring a football to have a kick about or maybe play an innings of cricket. Watch out for the typical spring due by bringing a picnic or plastic bag to sit on.
Number two; go berry picking! Have a fun time with your family wandering through fields and picking berries. When you get home after a fun day out you can bake strawberry tarts or blueberry pie. This activity can cost money, but it is well worth it when you bite into those sweet pies.
Number three; go on a bike ride! Have a google and discover some woodland trails or explore a bike park close to you. Not only this is good for you, but it is good for the planet not driving to your football training or to your out of school club, helps the environment even if it’s a tiny bit. If you don’t have a bike you could borrow from a friend or hire one.
Number four; go swimming! Now the weather that is a bit warmer maybe take your chances and go to an outdoor pool or play it safe and go to a heated inside pool. Whatever you pick, bring pool toys to have an excellent time.
Number 5; go to an amusement park! Have a thrilling time on dizzying rides and enjoy traditional theme park snacks like massive candy floss. Maybe you will go on the roller coaster or the tea pot ride... Whatever you do, you will have a blast with friends or family!
Have a fun spring and a happy new lunar year!
- Rowan Eley
Editors’ note
This is the first edition with a new team of editors and head of ‘Rogue’
Meet the team!
Heads of Rogue: Amy Knolles, Elena Buckingham, Emily Walker
What is Rogue?
It is a newspaper for the students, by the students. We want you to get involved! Help us choose a mascott for the next edition, learn to use design applications, like inDesign, draw a comic, help with a title page, write about what interests you, and share that with the readers of ‘Rogue’!
We believe that ‘Rogue’ has a place for everyone who wishes to be involved, without being majorly time consuming and eating into your schoolwork hours.
So, what are you waiting for? Get stuck in, and put forward your ideas to make a fun, easy-to-read, interactive newspaper!
If YOU would like to get involved, whether that be getting involved with the editing, writing articles, or perhaps even running the Rogue next year, you should email 13knollesa@royalrussell.co.uk
