Highlight of the Week

A ‘Splendid’ production

Our Senior students displayed outstanding and enviable talent in their production of Antigone, a classic Greek play, adapted for a modern audience by Splendid Productions. The students demonstrated huge resilience and creative flair in their interpretation of the challenging roles. This pushed them beyond their comfort zone, not least due to the unpredictability of audience reaction and involvement. Each interaction was expertly handled, with cast members controlling the flow and pace of the performance with energy and flair. Equally challenging was the contrast between intense drama and comedy required by the adapted style, which we decided to perform in the round to reflect the origins of Greek theatre. Each cast member was instrumental in orchestrating the smooth and dynamic transitions. These enabled the audience to feel empathy for the main protagonists yet challenged them through the political messages drawn out through the hilarious clowning. We are always so proud of the students for their efforts and commend their talents in performances, this occasion gave us even more reason. Each pupil demonstrated our school ethos perfectly through their conduct when I was taken ill at the beginning of the week. Without the guidance of their teacher and director, they showed incredible ambition and seized the opportunity to plough on with the final rehearsals. They cared for each other (and myself) through their best efforts to ensure the process ran smoothly, to achieve what we had spent months working towards. Finally, the incredible leadership shown was astonishing, through the responsibility they all took for their individual roles, in particular, Henry G and Gracie B our senior leaders and A level Drama students who took over the reins alongside their performing roles and created a positive, motivating and inspiring environment for the students to flourish. Experiences beyond the classroom are what helps to shape our young people and build invaluable skills for the future; the integrity, passion and dedication they showed this week was nothing short of astounding and we are incredibly proud of them all. Enormous thanks to Mrs Jones, Mrs Gregory and Mrs Davies for their support during my absence.