Drama Spring newsletter 2016

LES Drama News A U T U M N

A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the Spinney and at the RSC

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Frantic Assembly trip

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Grease Auditions

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Clubs report 2

Twelfth Night

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Images

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Shh, Fight Club

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Contact details

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Mental Health Performance success

SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST: 

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On Thursday 26th and Friday 27th November exam groups from LGS and LHS joined forces in an evening of performances based on the theme of madness.

The drama departments intention was to explore the complexities of mental stress and disorder in its myriad of guises and present the theme via a range of playwrights, starting points and styles.

A range of performances were created for the evening including performances devised by students and short extracts from published plays . The performances explored different interpretations of madness using the words fury,

during a time of high unemployment and 4.48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane a play which explores the depressed mind, the effects and effectiveness of medication and selfharm.

With many of the students not having performed in this style before, the performance was quite nerve wracking for them.

However, the performance was a terrific success with

depression, mad as a starting point.

After researching and exploring the theme of madness throughout the term, LGS year 10 GCSE drama exam groups presented devised performances based on themes including teenage suicide and teenage depression. Year 10 girls explored the representation of Lady Macbeths ability to persuade her husband to kill murder, after multiple murders have been committed, we saw her descent into madness.

Year 11 boys performed short extracts of published plays with one group performing a condensed

version of the well-known novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and another performing edited moments from Little Revolution by Alecky Blythe; a verbatim play exploring the Hackney Riots from the view of a small community. While Year 11 girls devised a performance exploring the contentious methods of Dr Charcot, a leading 19th century doctor and his ‘Theatre of Hysterics’ a fascinating and fashionable public spectacle, leading to a number of patients becoming ‘superstars.’

Year 12 AS students presented a range of monologues and duologues that spanned theatrical genres from Shakespeare to present day, highlights included Road by Jim Cartwright; a play exploring the lives of people in a deprived area of Lancashire fascinating and interesting range of subject matter.

With a successful mock performance complete, the students now feel ready for their practical drama exams in March.

audiences commenting on the quality of the performances and the

All proceeds for the production were donated to Young Minds, the UKs leading charity dedicated to improving the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children and young people.

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Actor’s Workshops ‘Actor’s Workshop meet every Friday lunchtime.

We play games, drama exercises and are currently preparing a short performance for NDS The group is open to girls in years 7-9 . Over the last few months many friendships have been formed across different years. It is a great way for Year 9's to carry on their drama outside of lessons and has been very interesting for me and my friend to be given the

pressures of co-directing a performance.

Recently, myself and Izzy Crisswell were given the opportunity to write and co-direct a performance for NDS with the girls all playing large roles. Over the last term we have finished each scene in our short version of Alice in Wonderland and now the cast is learning to understand their character better. I hope the girls have learnt

more about acting as me and Izzy have definitely learnt the pressures of putting together a performance! We are now getting very excited during the rehearsals! Every member of Actors Workshop have had many amazing ideas that have been put in the play and it's amazing how much a small group of girls can achieve when they work together!

Annabel Keane—Year 9

LGS Drama Clubs report!

“This term has also been a learning curve for us… understanding of the challenges of being a teacher or a parent! ” Charlie, Year 13

Drama club has been a joy to run this year. With the introduction of the high school girls, we were able to test the boy’s communication skills with the audience and women in general! We have taught the group numerous games and that drama doesn’t always have to be realistic; the boys have learnt about numerous forms and styles of theatre and we have let their minds go wild by experimenting with different

approaches to drama making. In one instance the boys performed a scene but entirely on the floor, we called this a sideways scene! The girls have brought a sophisticated and extroverted atmosphere along with them, subliminally easing their knowledge and confidence into the boys. Whereas the boys have showed the girls how to do complex fight

scenes with weapons where everyone dies! It had been lovely to see the girls and boys getting to know one another and collaborating in the creation of drama, both have helped each other with their learning. This term has also been a learning curve for us; we have certainly developed an understanding of the challenges of being a teacher or a parent! Overall, it has been an exciting year !

Shakespeare Schools Festival and 2 technicians from LGS and LHS took part in the Shakespeare School’s Festival at Curve, Leicester.

Lini Gudren sorted Costume and Props for the performance and Kieran Hopewell once again ably took charge of Lighting .

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DRAMA

NEWS

Shakespeare Schools Festival – Twelfth Night On Thursday 19th November 21 performers

The performance was a great success—as you can read on the next page!

Be Not Afraid of Greatness….

Congratulations to the cast and crew of Loughborough Endowed School on their wonderful performance of Twelfth Night at Curve. This was an accomplished and original production, and I’d like to highlight a few key elements which really stood out for me.

Firstly, I would like to applaud this cast for the ensemble work in this production.

The opening storm was a brilliant way to establish the world of the play, leading to a production of intelligence and clarity with strong commitment from the entire

ensemble throughout.

This cast showed real skill in their storytelling: they captured the shifts in tone in the play with ease, moving from the sadness of Viola’s plight to the farce of Toby and Andrew in a moment – this pace was compelling and entertaining for your audience.

The acting throughout was excellent – some examples, of many which I could mention, included Viola’s description of her ‘brother’ to Orsino, a wonderfully bittersweet moment which really captured the melancholy side of the play, and Sebastian’s witty fight scene. The detailed, thorough understanding of the language resulted in well-spoken, skilled performances throughout.

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concentration

throughout the performance day. The whole group showed that they had fantastic energy, enthusiasm and professionalism, which certainly paid off in their excellent performance. They were bold and brave onstage, inviting the audience into the world of this nuanced retelling with real insight and originality.

This show was poignant, charming and witty. A huge congratulations to all the cast and crew who made it happen. I hope to see Loughborough Endowed School in the

I would also especially like to commend this cast on their hard work and

Edinburgh Report

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On the 8th of August 2015, our teachers Sally Bruton and Kyle Eastwood led a group of students to put on two shows at the Fringe Festival. The elegantly named ‘Eclectically.

Arranged. Poe and the Tell Tale in Part’ was a physical theatre piece based on Edgar Allen Poe’s ‘classic, while ‘All’s Well that Ends Well’ could accurately be described as Shakespeare in a supermarket. However, the true banter occurred outside the spotlight. We saw a variety of

“This show was poignant, charming and witty.“ Mark France Venue Director SSF

Celebrity Spotting in Edinburgh Phil Jupitus

shows, from Milton Jones’ comedy act to an amateur production of Jurassic Park to the sell-out Blam. A particular highlight was the atmosphere; Edinburgh had a buzz about it, from when we first stepped off the tram to being on the Mile!

Edinburgh is a town that fully embraces the spirit of the Fringe and was nothing but welcoming. I digress, back to the play. It was great every afternoon and was by far the best trip the school has to offer. I loved every second of it and will definitely be doing it this year.

Josh Rice, Year 13

Lord of the Flies trip On Wednesday 4th November the GCSE students from LGS and LHS

travelled to see Lord of the Flies.

Insanity. Murder. The devil is inside of us all. These are all themes of 'Lord of the Files'. It was performed at the Birmingham Repertory theatre acted by the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre Company, directed

by Timothy Sheader and performed on Wednesday 14th of November.

I thought 'Lord of the Flies' was a very successful theatrical reimagining of the 1954 classic novel

published by William Golding about a group of school boys who survived a plane crash on a deserted island, however the situation quickly descended into a struggle for survival and sacrifice.

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overrule our tendencies taught by civilisation.

This is a philosophical message which is mentally challenging to accept, but has been very well clarified by

“… I thought

Roy Williams adapted the novel for stage in 1994 and this most recent version was set in a post apocalyptic world, where the boys referenced The Inbetweeners, banter and Bear Grylls to engage the audience of mainly secondary school

that 'Lord of the Files' was an exceptional didactic performance that was emotionally

Overall, I thought that 'Lord of the Files' was an exceptional didactic performance that was emotionally challenging and awe inspiring. One would have thought that the performance teaches us that that modern society keeps a tenacious grip over everyone, but when the rules and civilisation are removed the basic concept of morals are forgotten and primal instincts

Open Day—Tech Team Tech Crew at LGS once again triumphed with a visual treat on Open Day. The boys built a Time Machine with lights that changed colour by sound— such as clapping and smoke for an interactive treat for the new students touring the school.

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Harry Hercock, James Hammond, Lucas Robson, Alex Cheetham and Kieran Hopewell toured each group around the lighting board, set and special effects. It was a cracking experience for all involved.

Well done boys!

challenging and awe

Timothy Sheader in his version of 'Lord of the Flies '. I would highly recommend this performance to anyone as it is outstanding and a true reflection of human nature.

By Seb Naik, Year 10

inspiring. ” Seb Naik, Year 10

Loughborough High School 3 Burton Walks Loughborough LE11 2DU 01509 212348 Loughborough Grammar School

s.boon@leshigh.org

Burton Walks

r.hooper@leshigh.org

Loughborough LE11 2DU 01509 283760, direct line to the

@drama_les

English & Drama Office s.bruton-lang@lesgrammar.org r.hooper@lesgrammar.org

Shh, the rule is no one

Grease is the word…!

mentions Fight Club!

Since September year 13 Drama students, some community students and ex LGS boys have been training with Tom Jordan in Stage Combat.

Tom currently teaches Drama students at Gloucester University, as well as working regularly with the RSC on fight sequences and devising, writing and producing original drama.

The students are currently preparing to take units in Stage Combat in Knife fighting and Hand-to-Hand combat.

The action shot to the right shows a feint, where Hamza Ali appears to snatch a knife thrown across the room by an assailant, out of the air preventing a tragedy!

The students have also learnt to stage punch, slap, how strangle, drag partners by the hair and generally cause serious damage onstage.

Their skills have already proved useful in their Unit 3 devised performances based on Shakespeare’s Othello and Romeo & Juliet—more on this to come in the Spring edition after Easter!

It is hoped to give students an edge when auditioning for drama courses at University, as well as providing fun opportunities for keeping fit.

Auditions for the School Production of Grease will be on Tuesday 26th April 4—6pm in the Drama Studio at LGS.

We will be searching for a talented group of singers, actors and dancers.

Similarly a band will be needed—please speak to Mr Morris or Mr West if interested.

More details available from Mrs Bruton, Miss Boon or Miss Hooper.

No preparation needed—see you there