DRAMA - St Mary`s Catholic School

“Drama
is life with the dull parts left out”
Alfred Hitchcock
GCSE Drama Exams
Coming soon! “Guys and Dolls”
Well done to all our hard working and
dedicated Year 11 students who
performed their final scripted examination
in March. Students worked in groups of
around 5 or 6 students and presented
extracts of various plays, including the
moving and emotional, “Be My Baby” by
Amanda Whittington and the popular
comedy, “Bouncers” by John Godber.
The mixture of comic and dramatic
performances that kept the audience
entertained.
Auditions for the Main School Production
will be taking place in September. This
will be a very big play! I will be looking
for a dedicated team of actors and
technical crew from all year groups. I’d be
especially interested to see boys to play
garblers.
Student Success Stories
Congratulations to Lewis Russell (Yr10),
who has just landed the main role of Tony
in “West Side Story” to be performed in
September at the Rhodes Arts Centre,
Bishop’s Stortford.
Enormous congratulations to Sean
O’Driscoll, (Yr 12), who has recently been
accepted into the National Youth Theatre!
He also trained with the Almedia Young
Company and Frantic Assembly this year
and is currently applying to Drama School
Names not down, you’re not getting in. Elliot Mould, to train to be an actor.
Ben Charlton, Harry Carling and Mick Harris in
‘Bouncers’.
Recent Theatre Trips
♦
“The Importance of Being Earnest”,
Rhodes Arts Centre.
♦
“A Christmas Carol”, Hume
Theatre.
♦
“Oh! What a Lovely War” Theatre
Royal, Stratford East.
♦
“Carousel” Arcola Theatre, London.
Sean auditioning for ‘Journey’s End’ with contexture
theatre.
Sean O’Driscoll and Billy Dewen have
been appointed as the Senior Drama
Captains and will be supporting younger
students this year.
Henry V
Band of Brothers…Students celebrate winning the war!
The main school production this year,
‘Henry V’ was incredibly successful, with
students from all years collaborating to
perform at a very high standard. Special
mention must go to our dedicated backstage team, with Heather Allen and Laura
Connors stage managing and John Hodgson lighting the traverse space dramatically.
Theatre, before we transferred to the
Norwich Playhouse. He singled out the band,
“The JDukes” for praise for composing all
original music and Sam Jackson for his
“almost flawless” portrayal of the
threatening character of Reece.
Menacing… Sam Jackson in the NT
Connections Festival.
National Competition Winners!
St Mary’s students entered a National
competition at the Theatre Royal, Stratford
East. This was to create a ‘Curtain Raiser’ for
their revival of ‘Oh! What a Lovely War!’ We
won the competition and enjoyed a fabulous
day at the theatre, which included the
chance to perform our work on stage!
Students devised a very funny sketch show
with contemporary anti-war scenes. We
were delighted meet Murray Melvin,
original member of Joan Littlewood’s
ensemble. “I love it all, Well done St Mary’s,
Just what is needed!” Murray commented.
National Theatre Connections Festival
14 of our talented actors were the first
people ever to perform a new piece of
writing, “A Letter to Lacey” as part of the
National Theatre Connections Festival.
This new play by Catherine Johnson
tackled the serious issue of domestic
violence and the ensemble rose to the
challenge, creating a gripping piece.
The production was reviewed by Jack
Lowe, a director from the National
Cast celebrate with the legendary Murray Melvin!
Please donate any old clothing or furniture to the Drama
Department to be up-cycled into costumes, set and props!
Thank-you.
Save the dates:
Mon 9th, Tues10th & Weds 11th Feb 2015
“Guys and Dolls”
in the Hume Theatre
St Mary’s Catholic School, Windhill, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts, CM23 2NQ
Tel: 01279 654901
Fax: 01279 653889
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.stmarys.net