C R E AT I V E & C U LT U R A L
English LOWER SIXTH THEATRE TRIP EXTRAVAGANZA: 4 PLAYS IN 3 DAYS! Lower Sixth English Literature pupils upped the ante this year, deciding that last year’s ‘3 plays in 2 days’ was too tame and that ‘4 plays in 3 days’ was way more extreme! We therefore set off once again to ‘The Big Smoke’ for a jammed packed 3 days of theatrical treats. Deciding to add even more drama to the occasion, this year we forced the lovely Lower Sixth to sit their final summer exam (English) one hour before we departed. Therefore, we met a group of slightly shocked and battle worn Lower Sixth Form pupils before swiftly marching them to the station to catch the late afternoon train to London. With no time to spare, we arrived and headed for our first play of the trip: the famously scary Woman in Black at the Fortune Theatre – based on Susan Hill’s novel. The frights and jumps still as spectacular for the first-time audience member as to those on their 10 visit (Mrs Mallard claims to have now taken 10 trips to see this play!) After a well-earned sleep at St Paul’s YHA, despite the bells of St Paul’s ringing continuously all night (‘the bells, the bells…!’), the pupils ventured to Covent Garden for a little retail therapy and for staff, the essential cup of coffee. After lunch we headed to see Ibsen’s lesser-known play,
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Rosmersholm at the Duke of York Theatre. This visual masterpiece was a real treat and was so stunning that many were heard to audibly gasp as the stage was flooded in the most spectacular - and beautiful - manner during the play’s denouement. So we were now two plays down and in need of sustenance to make it to the next two. Heading to the Lyric, Hammersmith, we were treated to dinner at their rooftop restaurant before encountering Knee High’s Dead Dog in a Suitcase (a version of Gay’s A Beggar’s Opera.) For many, this was the highlight of the trip and some were even heard exclaiming “It’s the best play I’ve ever seen!” For who couldn’t love a play that can seamlessly merge electro disco alongside grime and punk music. And then offer a visual spectacle of shootings, hangings, puppetry, sex and debauchery - and not forgetting, mistaken identities (of the suitcase, that is). After all that excitement, all slept well and were ready to tackle our final day: a walk along South Bank, a visit to the Tate Modern and our final (and fourth) play, Henry V at the Globe Theatre. This was an exhausting and thoroughly enjoyable weekend. Pupils were characteristically enthusiastic, well-behaved and great fun. Here’s to another one next year: five plays next time…?
TRIPS The English Department also managed to squeeze in a visit to Whitby for a Dracula Walk with Dr Crank; the York City Screen to see an adaptation of Sarah Waters’ Gothic novel, The Little Stranger; a Sixth Form visit to London to see Danny Dyer & Martin Freeman in Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter; Dracula in Darlington; the Bronte Parsonage in Haworth; an EMC conference in London to hear a plethora of speakers; the Rose Theatre to see Hamlet and The Tempest; York Theatre Royal to see The Turn of the Screw; Hull
