Southern Counties Drama Festival Drama highlights Theatre trips in London

For the first time ever, Trinity entered the Southern Counties Drama Festival in February, with an original play. Lower Sixth Drama students Barney Sayburn and Rob Wilding devised Letters of Last Resort as part of their A Level Drama course, working with Mr Chambers, Head of Drama Productions.

The duo successfully performed the play - set on nuclear-armed submarine HMS Vengeance - with fellow student Amare McDonald at The Barn Theatre in Oxted. Mr Chambers directed, student Aidan Keogh stage-managed and Mr White and the Technical Theatre Club organised set design and lighting.

Despite competing against 18 other adult and youth drama groups from across the South-East, their performance received two nominations at the awards ceremony. Barney was nominated for Best Youth Actor and Rob and Barney were nominated for the Adjudicator’s Award for writing their original play.

Mr Chambers said, “It is no mean feat to turn what begins as an idea into a 45-minute play, but Barney and Rob approached the task with sustained focus and dedication.”

Rob said, “It was extremely rewarding to finally present our play to an audience, the performance felt electric. It has been a fantastic experience writing and performing this play and it is something I’ll never forget.”

Miss Robinson, Director of Drama, reflects on the importance of in-person trips to the theatre: "There is nothing quite like a visit to the theatre. They form a vital part of students’ understanding of performance.

"They also help students establish what they like, what they don’t and what ideas they can recreate or adopt in their own practical work. We consider it a great privilege to offer Drama students in Third Year and above the experience of professional theatrical excellence on our doorstep in London.

"As our keenest Drama students, scholars go on several trips a year. These act as a wonderful bonding experience for students across different year groups, initiating new friendships. Trips to The Lion King and Come from Away at the start of the year are up there with the best shows we’ve seen. Catching the joy on our youngest scholars’ faces in the opening scene of The Lion King remains a highlight of my year so far.

"There’s also an important link to the curriculum: analysing and evaluating live theatre becomes a crucial part of the GCSE and A Level exams. As such, regular trips to award-winning shows are a must.”