Speech and Drama Showcase Evening

Sixty-one children took to the stage on Thursday evening delivering great performances of their duo acting or devised scenes. It was a fantastic opportunity for the parents to see the children perform their pieces which had been so highly rated in their recent LAMDA examinations when they were awarded 44 Distinctions and 18 Merits at levels Entry to Grade 4.

Performing this time in the theatre complete with costume and stage make-up these children were able to truly enter into the spirit of the occasion and provided the assembled company with a wonderfully entertaining evening. Please see report from Miss de la Poer below...

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Following outstanding LAMDA results, our Speech and Drama evening, held in the theatre on Thursday 4th February, was a huge success. The children really enjoyed themselves, as did a large audience of family and friends.

We once again put our ‘jelly baby’ technique to good use in which all scenes were short, sweet and ever so moreish, sprinkled with a ‘dolly mixture’ of performances diverse in period and style and delivered in quick succession by 63 children in 27 scenes in just over 90 minutes.

The evening gave the children an opportunity to be creative in all aspects of their performances, choosing costumes, with the help of Mrs Mahony and applying their own make-up, advised by Mrs Mensergh, Mrs Warren and other kind helpers. Children organised their own staging with some children responsible for back stage management - a great team effort. All performances were confident, clear and used great expression on stage.
We opened with a scene from ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’, played by Katie W and Lara M, capturing the movement and voice of that era with great precision. Two amusing scenes from Noel Coward’s ‘Blythe Spirit’ depicted firstly the unwanted appearance of the ghost, Elvira, featuring Rosie C, Tabitha F and Amelia W and secondly the lady of the house, seeking help from the psychic, Madam Arcati, to rid her house of the ghost, played by Charlotte B and Natalie W.

Tom McC and William van der V brought a dramatic performance to the stage in ‘The Haunting of Ebenezer Scrooge’, which gained them top marks in their recent LAMDA exams of 98% and 96% respectively – a tremendous achievement. Several other well-known stories were performed. ‘Alice in Wonderland’, featured Ella C, Reina E, Isabella F and Hattie S. ‘Peter Pan’ was played by Samantha H and Daisy P, ‘The Hobbit’, featured Jocelin C and Oliver L and ‘The Lord of the Flies’, with Oscar S and Jake F.

‘Beamed Up’ was a very entertaining piece about a woman who claims she was abducted by aliens in a supermarket, much to the surprise of two of her friends and their nosy waitress this was played by Charlotte B, Greta G, Catherine J and Eleanor P-C. Several devised performances, conceived by the children, included a funny scene based on the title ‘The Flood’ in which confusion reigns on a plane coming into land, creating complete pandemonium acted out by Scarlett R and Georgia W.

The evening was a great success and all children should be very proud of their performances. A big thank you once again to all parents and staff who helped make the evening such a great success.

Emma de la Poer