Drama & Theatre Studies
2015 – 2016
Director of Drama
Miss E Govier
Second in Department
Mrs L Nicolaides
‘The Tamin’ of Katerina de Witt’
By Miss E Govier
Our Winter Production, written and directed by Miss
Govier was an adaptation of ‘The Taming of the Shrew.’
The play was set in the Old West and featured an array
of colourful characters. The cast was led by George
Rowlands and Georgia Choudhuri who played the sheriff
sent to clean up town and the eponymous wildcat whom
he was assigned to tame. There were plenty of fireworks
due to the feminist take on the play, fisticuffs provided
by the gun-slinging Daniel Spencer-Todd and romantic
interludes between Henry Sweeney, Megan Gibbons,
Charlie Porritt and Isabella Colletta. There was some
traditional square-dancing provided by Year 10 and even
a Mexican hat dance. Although the play explored some
darker issues, it was balanced with plenty of comedic
moments provided by Philip Protheroe who now has a
fan club in Year 7 who only address him as Jésus.
‘High Society’
Music and lyrics by Cole Porter
Additional lyrics by Susan Birkenhead
Book by Arthur Kopit
Licensed by MusicScope
The Spring Production was ‘High Society’, a romantic and stylish comedy directed by Miss
Govier and Mr Werner. Emma Skelly played the ice-maiden Tracy Lord and her three beaux
were played by George Rowlands, Philip Protheroe and Seth Taylor. The chemistry between
Tracy and her admirers was both hilarious and touching and there were plenty of wellknown numbers such as ‘Who wants to be a millionaire’ and ‘I love Paris’ accompanied by
our brilliant live band. Ms Makepeace-Lott coached our superb lead singers who included
Hannah Andrusier, Amy Bastani and the hilarious Will Debnam. Mr Willcock designed his
penultimate set which we all agreed was his finest ever and the dancing certainly was the
icing on the cake; beautifully choreographed by Mrs Ellington, Lauren Ellington and Katie
Lewczynski.
‘Arabian Nights’
Adapted by Dominic Cooke
Licensed by Nick Hern Books
The Summer Production was the ‘Arabian Nights’
directed by Miss Govier, a feast of entertainment
provided by the students in Years 7, 8 and 9. The leads
were played by Esther Bishop as Shahrazad the
ingenious storyteller and Daniel Hughes as Shahrayar,
the bitter king whose heart was melted by her tales.
There were of course many other leads as each story
unfolded and we would like to congratulate all of them,
from DJ Gavriel as Ali Baba, Jett James as The Little
Beggar, Aditya Sembian as Es Sindibad, Elian Razavi as
Abu Hassan, James and Oliver Allison as Sidi Nu’man and
Martin Isik, Harry Brooks and Emily Littlejohn as the
brothers Bahman, Perviz and their sister, the heroine
Parizade.
In Year 9 our dances were choreographed by Lucia Acosta, Martha Cheek, Scarlet Kent, Zara
Kurt, Aisha Manning, Lily Moody and Caterina White. In Year 8 the dances were
choreographed by Zoe Antoniou, Lucy Cameron, Sophie Ingham, Mia Sung, Freya Thornton
and Sophie Walk. Our Year 12 Theatre Studies students Georgia Choudhuri and Philip
Protheroe also choreographed Year 8 dances and provided much appreciated advice and
support for the dancers in our Tech and Dress Rehearsals. Miss Govier would particularly
like to thank Jack Fox, Anoushka Syed and Cara Simpson in Year 10 who valiantly helped out
in rehearsals and backstage every night.
It was also time to say farewell to Ben
Linwood and Damian Pace who have been
involved in Tech Crew since Year 7 and
have been a leading force in so many
productions, almost thirty in all if you
count all the GCSE and A ‘ Level plays they
have been involved in. We wish you all
the best in your future endeavours.
Drama Curriculum Highlights
Year 13 Unit 3 Devised Piece: The dramatic year culminated in the GCSE, AS and A2
performances. Our first performance was a devised piece from Year 13 about ‘Memory’
which explored what memory means to us, how it can affect those who are impaired by it
and how some people find ways of preserving it as a form of Art. Megan Gibbons, Charlie
Porritt and Daniel Spencer-Todd gave truly heartfelt performances, including many of their
own memories as part of their performance. Their use of practitioners such as Complicité
and Katie Mitchell gave the piece a truly contemporary style and the audience commented
on how much they had learnt from watching the performance and how much memory is
such a fundamental part of our lives.
Year 12 Unit 2 Performances: Our AS performers Georgia Choudhuri, Isabella Colletta,
Michaela Minkin, Philip Protheroe, Emma Skelly, Henry Sweeney and Ruth Williams, all
chose a range of mature monologues that explored a range of amusing, dark and thoughtful
plays. This year they performed monologues from ‘The Collector’, ‘Oleanna’, ‘His House in
Order, ‘That Face’, ‘Hush’, ‘Hangmen’ and ‘After Juliet.’ Their group performance of
‘Macbeth’, directed by Miss Govier, was played to a packed audience in the new Drama
Studio to parents, friends and staff. The one hour interpretation of the Macbeths’
relationship and the influence of the supernatural was a fierce physical interpretation of the
text and the actors certainly gave their all. There was certainly an air of elation after
months of hard work and a sense of immense pride in their final performance.
Year 11 Unit 3 Performances: The GCSE performances directed by Miss Govier and Mrs
Nicolaides explored a range of issues, including the repression of women in The House of
Bernarda Alba, escape from oppression in North Korea in ‘You for Me for You’, women’s
working rights in #girlboss, the significance of memories in ‘100’, the perspectives of parents
in the psychologically tense ‘Hang’ and finally ‘Hangmen’ by Martin McDonagh which
explores the moral questions associated with the death penalty. The students thoroughly
threw themselves into their performances and really did themselves proud.
This Year’s prizes for Drama
The W J Hamilton Hinds Prize for Drama: Ben Linwood & Damian Pace
Year 13: Megan Gibbons
Year 12: Georgia Choudhuri
Year 11: Alasdair Coulter
Year 10: Cara Simpson