Performances in the Leatherhead Drama Festival develop skills
BackFor our fifth annual appearance at the Leatherhead Drama Festival, a small group of pupils in First to Third Forms performed The Wardrobe by Sam Holcroft.
It is a play exploring British history, how the country was shaped, and how connected we are with our past. Staging the play is a challenging one: the action is set in different time periods across several centuries, all within the same large wardrobe.
In each scene, a group of children climb into the wardrobe, seeking sanctuary of one sort or another. There are nine scenes in all, ranging from the bedchamber of Elizabeth of York on 27 October 1485, to 'a museum, somewhere in Britain, 2019'. It’s an engaging mix of high-stakes drama and witty comedy, which the pupils portrayed effectively.
Particular standouts were Hugo Woodcock and Herbie Campbell as two French boys learning how to fight in 1715; James Bartram and Luke Hayward as two child labourers comparing work place injuries in 1827; and George Bloch sharing the gruesome details of Jack the Ripper with Thomas Hartmann, Yash Dhand and Herbie Campbell in a boarding-school dormitory in 1888.
For many of the pupils involved, this was their first performance in a professional venue and, with the skills they have developed over the rehearsal process, hopefully not the last!
Tim Silk, Director of Drama
