Drama

WELCOME

Drama is an important element in school life. It is not only taught as a discrete subject, but is also used in other subject areas such as History, RE and Psychology to create new perspectives and encourage empathy.

- Mr Wakeling, Head of English and Drama

WHAT WE DO

Extra-Curricular Drama

There is a thriving Junior Drama Club for Year 7 and Year 8 which meets once a week. It is run by Drama Ambassadors and supervised by Drama staff. Students have the opportunity to acquire a range of performance and technical skills and are encouraged to use various performance opportunities showcase their work.

The School Play, a biennial event, usually takes place at the beginning of December in the Cottrill Hall, with auditions taking place in the previous June or July. This is open to all students from Year 9 and above, and is designed to give students the experience of performing to a large audience, or being involved in a range of production tasks such as lighting, sound, costume, make-up, set, music and stage-management. Plays are chosen to give the maximum number of students the chance to be on stage. Previous school productions have included “Guys and Dolls”, in collaboration with the music department, an adaptation of ‘Animal Farm’, a musical version of ‘A Winter’s Tale’ and in 2011, ‘The Comedy of Errors’. Large numbers of students and staff are involved in putting on these performances.

Student-led productions

In the last few years, Sixth Form students have successfully produced and directed their own musical productions. These have included ‘Sweeney Todd’, ‘Oh, What A Lovely War’, ‘The Little Shop of Horrors’ and in 2015, 'Footloose'.

Facilities

The Cottrill Hall provides a large space ideal for major school productions. We have also developed a partnership with the Seaton Gateway, which has given students the opportunity to perform on a real stage.

The Drama Studio creates a very versatile space for both lessons and small-scale productions. The addition of raked seating, new curtains, extra lighting and sound equipment and new flooring have transformed the space into an aesthetically pleasing and practical studio. Two ceiling projectors, a screen and a cyclorama (a large white cloth covering the whole of the end wall) allow for the creation of multi-media performances and impressive lighting effects. The costume store houses an eclectic collection of costumes and props for use in lessons and performances.