Creative & Cultural
Drama A Midsummer Night’s Dream The Drama department’s first play of the year was A Midsummer Night’s Dream, performed in October as part of the annual nationwide Shakespeare Schools Festival. The festival invites pupils to perform a thirty-minute version of a Shakespeare play at a professional theatre, alongside other schools. This year eighteen St Peter’s pupils performed at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre in York. We were delighted to perform on the same evening at St Olave’s with their fantastic version of The Merchant of Venice. This was the Shakespeare Schools Festival director’s appraisal of A Midsummer Night’s Dream: ‘I was impressed by the passion with which the cast portrayed their characters: from Egeus’ (Benji) anger with his daughter to the affection between Hermia (Vicky) and Lysander (Mathis); the determination of Helena (Milly) to win Demetruis’ (Owen) love; the mischeviousness of Puck (Ava); the petrified reactions of all the Mechanicals to the transformed Bottom (Felix). ‘The comedy was very strong thoughout. I particularly enjoyed the characterisation of the Mechanicals with their hilarious gestures and the contrasting relationships between frustrated director Qunice (Olly) and each of his actors. ‘In addition, the drama was played effectively. The conflict between Titania (Rachel) and Oberon (Ewan) was very realistic and reminiscent of a custody battle. This encouraged Oberon’s cruelty, which the ever-obliging Puck was happy to serve. All the fairies had an ethereal quality that really felt as if they were manipulating the natural world. ‘Strong physicality was present throughout – the Mechanicals’ preparations for rehearsal; the way Puck puppeteered the lovers; the confusion of Bottom in the movement sequence after he
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was turned into a donkey; and the perfectly timed fight scene with the lovers were all a pleasure to watch. ‘This was a well-developed, hilarious production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream from a talented and passionate cast, who understood the all nuances in the text. I would like to congratulate everyone involved in this superb production. I hope to see your school in the Festival again next year.’ Nadia Nasif
