Dramatic Evening of Devised Plays
Last Thursday evening (12th November), UV (Year 11) and UVI (Year 13) Drama students performed their Devised plays, postponed from this May. Despite the delay and the busy schedule of the Drama year, all the performance groups rose to the challenge and delivered a series of inventive, thought-provoking and superbly realised presentations.
Girls excel in Company Drama Competition
The Company Drama competition took place over the weekend of 13th-15th November, with a large number of girls taking part in creating dramatic adaptations inspired by short stories from the book Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, which focuses on the lives of inspirational women from history and from the present day.
'Nell Gwynn' lives again!
This week, St Mary’s took an extended trip back to Restoration-era London, as girls from LV to UVI (Years 10 to 13) presented the Senior Play, Jessica Swale’s modern take on Nell Gwynn, one of the first professional actresses in England and one of Charles II’s most famous mistresses.
St Mary's welcomes RSC Actor, Clarence Smith
On Tuesday 6th October, UV (Year 11) and Sixth Form students attended a lecture by the Royal Shakespeare Company actor, Clarence Smith.
Year 8 enjoy Virtual Drama Club
Year 8 were working hard in their remote Drama lessons earlier this term, writing and performing monologues to audition for our Junior Play, Emil and Detectives. This will now be presented in the form of radio play episodes at the end of term.
LAMDA Awards celebrate girls' achievements
Director of Drama, Mr Duncan Ellis, took time in Chapel on 10th June to celebrate the terrific achievements of our girls in the last round of LAMDA performance examinations. Across the board, the results were outstanding, with virtually every girl receiving a Distinction.
Superb GCSE and A Level Drama Performances
At the start of February, we saw sterling performances of Nell Gwynn (UVI - Year 13) and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (UV -Year 11) in the Delscey Burns Theatre at St Mary's.
Theatre trip to Kneehigh's 'Ubu'
On 23rd January, several Drama scholars, ambassadors and members of the Drama Club went to Bristol to see Kneehigh’s Ubu! A Singalong Satire, which is a unique, modern take on Alfred Jarry’s play, Ubu Roi.
'Made in Dagenham' Musical showcases girls' talents
For three nights at the end of last Half Term, a terrific senior school cast brought to life the brilliant Richard Bean/ David Arnold musical Made In Dagenham. Based on real events, the plot told of the struggles of Ford female car workers in the 1960s, and the superb songs, plus a sprinkling of slightly saucy gags, made the show go with a real swing.
Girls enjoy Theatre Trips to Oxford and Bath
It's been a busy start to the term in the Drama Department and the Year 12 girls have enjoyed visits to both the Oxford Playhouse to see Malory Towers and the Theatre Royal Bath to see Posh.
Girls take to the stage at the Edinburgh Fringe
On 4th August, six members of the UVI (Year 13) accompanied by their director, Mrs Cochran-Patrick and producer Miss Dickinson arrived in the beautiful city of Edinburgh to perform Mobile Phone Show by Jim Cartwright at Space on the Mile for five days.
Fourth Form give new life to the Classics
Our Fourth Form girls brought the dramatic year at St Mary's to a terrific end, with their full-strength, high energy productions of the junior musical versions of Aladdin (LIV - Year 7) and Beauty and the Beast (MIV - Year 8). Lasting just over an hour each, the scripts cut much of the dialogue from the 'official' versions, but still retained most of the narrative and all of the well-loved characters, so provided a real challenge that all the actors passed with flying colours (and carpets!).