A Level Drama

29 March 2018

On Wednesday 14 March Lower Sixth A Level Theatre Studies pupils performed three extraordinary devised pieces in The Dobinson Studio. Two pieces dealt with the effects of entrapment including psychosis and the Stockholm Syndrome. Inspired by BBC series ‘13’ and the novel ‘Room’ by Emma Donaghue, the pupils were interested to investigate the human psyche, looking at real life stories and fictional dramas that focused on entrapment as their stimuli. Equally intrigued to explore what fascinates us so much about this kind of suffering that we dramatise it and discovering that it is perhaps a process of understanding ourselves, the pupils shared some heart wrenching stories of human cruelty but also resilience and hope. Ellie Akeroyd Hunt (Lower Sixth, Nugent) created a brilliantly effective set of costumes for a set of identical twins who were held, one in a psychiatric unit and one by her captor. In the piece Tabi Sinclair (Lower Sixth, Stanhope) and Imy Oliver (Lower Sixth, Queen’s) explored the telepathic communication and invisible connection between twins, as well as tackling the trauma of being held in captivity. Emma Rød-Larsen (Lower Sixth, Stanhope), Polly French (Lower Sixth, Nugent), Alex King (Lower Sixth, Queen’s) and Allie Jordan (Lower Sixth, Lyttelton) created a moving piece telling the tragic story of two sisters who were abducted and held for years in captivity. Told through the eyes of the child born in captivity, played sensitively by Polly French, the piece cleverly woven together a timeline of events to reveal a hidden secret. The third piece, inspired by Netflix series Black Mirror painted a dystopian picture of the future where happiness is only truly found through Virtual Reality. A cautionary tale the pupils were inspired to create invited audiences to contemplate the effects and potential dangers we face in a digital age. Tom Fras (Lower Sixth, Walpole) played a sinister character who ran the Virtual Reality programme and also used it as a method to ‘steal’ the identities of others. He was pursued and eventually duped by double agent Una Barclay (Lower Sixth, Stanhope). Tavish Struthers (Lower Sixth, Bruce) created effective, futuristic lighting design.

Rebecca Clark, Director of Drama