5 minute read
Drama
This year saw the inaugural House Drama Competition, Fifteens. In December we published this year’s title: ‘Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes’.
Each House had half a term to create a piece of Drama up to fifteen minutes in length. Directors could choose a relevant extract from a play, adapt a published work, or write something original. The results were highly creative and ranged from Jean-Paul Satre’s No Exit to Edward II, An Inspector Calls, The Iceman Cometh and a stage version of the disaster movie Don’t Look Up. Twelve houses were whittled down to a shortlist of four over two heats. The final was judged by ex-Tonbridgian and professional actor, Seb Fear who assessed each one on their response to the stimulus; creativity in adapting the script or original writing; direction, realising the piece on stage, creating meaning and impact; design and use of staging, lighting, sound, costumes and props; and acting through creating character, using voice and movement.
The winning House was Whitworth with a violent, bloody and powerful version of Oedipus Rex.
GCSE Scripted Performances
At the beginning of March the Third Year GCSE Drama students performed scripted pieces for their Component 2 exam. The extracts explored an enormous range of themes and theatrical styles, from the detail of Naturalism, to the energy of Berkovian Theatre. This year’s exam only required candidates to perform one scene to demonstrate an understanding of character. Nonetheless, the students still managed to portray a range of mature and highly engaging characters.
East
by Steven Berkoff (1975) Talan Overton-Edwards (HS3) – Mike Freddie Rosin (WH3) – Les
It’s London in the 1970s and Mike and Les are fighting for their youth. Filling their days with sex and violence, they battle both the boredom they fear and the inevitable future they see in their parents, ultimately finding that history is doomed to repeat itself.
East offers a stylized and humorous examination of the violence and uncertainty of growing up in the East End of London.
Journey’s End
by R.C. Sherriff (1928) Toby Carrie (PS3) – Osbourne Kieran McWilliams (SH3) – Raleigh
France 1918. Osborne, a serious, fatherly, school teacher is spending time in the dugout before going over the top. He chats to Raleigh, a young, naive, and enthusiastic eighteen year old lieutenant who has only recently been recruited.
Sherriff’s play provides a bitter commentary on the idiocy and damaging psychological effects of a war which saw very few men return from the front. Indeed, the honest account of war, themes, and relationships within the play still resonate today.
Anorak of Fire
by Stephen Dinsdale (1994) Sam Edwards (PS3) – Gus Gascoigne
“I was born a spotter.” Thus we are introduced to Gus Gascoigne, young, spotty, perpetually cheerful and completely bemused by anything that isn’t involved with his only interest - trainspotting.
Accidental Death of an Anarchist
by Dario Fo (1970) Dexter Little (WH3) – Inspector Bertozzo Luke Pearce (WH3) – Maniac
The corrupt Italian police force are put on the spot by a ‘Maniac’ after the alleged suicide of an Anarchist. The police cannot hold him, as he has been legally-certified insane, and takes the opportunity to impersonate a judge sent to reopen the inquiry into the anarchist’s death. Through his probing, hilarious, and shocking investigation, the Maniac reveals himself to be a hero to the people and the police department’s worst nightmare.
Breaking the Code
by Hugh Whitemore (1986) Rory Dalton (FH3) – Alan Turing Will Lacey (PH3) – Detective Ross
British mathematician Alan Turing is a key player in the breaking of the German Enigma code at Bletchley Park during World War II and a pioneer of computer science. In this scene Turing’s cryptographic activities are tested by an investigation into his homosexuality.
Bouncers
by John Godber (1977) Max Ejje (CH3) – Luck Eric Ollie Morgan (PH3) – Les Wilf Stokhuyzen (JH3) – Judd Ferdinand Wright (PH3) – Ralph
Bouncers is an outrageous and hilarious parody of the 80’s disco scene. The four brutish bouncers of the title portray many different characters as we are invited for a night out on the town. There, we meet an entire cross-section of disco-goers, including Hooray Henrys, and drunken slobs! The evening’s events are set against the tatty glitzy glamour, flashing lights and pulsating beat of the nightclub scene.
Loot
by Joe Orton (1965) Reuben Walsh (CH3) – Hal Max Wilkinson (WW3) – Dennis Loot centres around two amateur thieves, Dennis and Hal. Dennis works as a hearse driver for an undertaker and the pair have robbed the bank next door to the funeral parlour. They decide to hide their ‘loot’ in the coffin of Hal’s recently deceased mother, stashing her body in a wardrobe in the meantime. Orton’s scathing, anti-establishment play shocked 1960’s audiences.
The Independent Play
Waiting for Godot
by Samuel Beckett
At the end of the Lent Term we saw the first independent play, Waiting for Godot, directed by members of the Common Room. Chris Ashurst and Will Law produced an inventive and immersive version of Beckett’s classic play where nothing actually happens, reset in a 1960’s airport lounge where all flights are cancelled.
Philip Dorn (JH4) and Jack Isted (WW4) played Vladimir and Estragon, two vagrants waiting at the airport for the arrival of eponymous Godot. Rory Dalton (FH3) played a suitably worrying Pozzo, suited
and donning aviator sunglasses. Jayden Ogundipe (CH1) bravely encapsulated the ironically named Lucky and Theodore Bourgeay (WW1) gallantly portrayed the cameo role of Boy.
This was a superb first independent play, packed with creative and thought provoking ideas from directors Chris Ashurst and Will Law. I especially enjoyed having to work my way through a maze of ropes in the foyer before being frisked by Mr Law as the security scanner went off!
G D Bruce
