1. Drama
Romeo and Juliet
What on earth is going on? Benvolio is a girl – and
she fancies Romeo. But Mercutio fancies Benvolio and
he picks a fight with Tybalt to impress her. Oh – and
Tybalt is also a girl but and carries a Stanley knife. This is
Verona High where the inter-house rivalry has got really
out of hand. Principal Escales is trying to keep things
under control but when the Montagues invade the
Capulets house disco unexpected romance blossoms –
with dire consequences.
Redland High School’s Romeo and Juliet involved
extended dance sequences, a Nurse in 4-inch stiletto
heels and a Science teaching nun, ‘Sister’ Lawrence,
taking botany classes and trying to keep her favourite
student – the wayward but much admired Romeo
Montague – on the rails. Oh, and a lot of fake blood!
This loose and lively adaptation was a refreshing,
surprising and above all youthful take on Shakespeare’s
well known tragedy. With a cast ranging from Years 8
to 13, dances choreographed by Siobhan Diffin (Year
13) and Jasmine Griffiths (Year 11), some costumes
made by GCSE and A Level Textiles students, and
stage management by Rosalind Russell (Year 12) ably
supported by Emily Copley-Moorby, Helen Parrott and
Lola Woodward (Year 11), this production emphatically
underlined the extraordinary theatrical talents,
ambitions and imagination of Redland High girls.
And there wasn’t – there really wasn’t – a dry eye
in the house.
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2. Trojan Women - Redland High’s “Working Girls” at the Edinburgh Fringe
Twenty two teenage girls, a bin bag full of dead flowers, a The Fringe Review said: The most impressive element of
replica sub-machine gun in a locked box, 24 frozen pizzas this play is the very young and talented cast and ensemble.
and a plastic baby. Redland High School’s “Working Euripides’ work is complex and intense, yet it never feels
Girls” were off to Edinburgh. forced. In particular, the actresses who play Cassandra
(Katherine Hope) and Andromache (Siobhan Diffin) are
We had two weeks of outrageous fun at the Fringe. incredibly strong and well surpass others of much greater age.
Trojan Women played to good audiences and very positive They have really grasped the challenge of the script and risen
reviews – earning 4 star recommendations from 3 to it: it’s quite astounding.
different Fringe publications.
In addition to walking away with considerable plaudits
“Three Weeks” said: …the movements are well crafted, for our performance, we became voracious theatre
and the musical performances simply sublime.The design goers ourselves, taking in everything from Classical
deliberately resists a simple rehashing, and the potential tragedy to stand-up comedy with puppet shows,
and promise in these young players is staggering. improvised musicals and even the odd straight drama
along the way. We were not a school group – we
were a company. No one got left out or left behind.
Everyone looked out for everyone else. It was the
warmest, kindest, cheeriest, maddest, most exciting, most
exhausting, most exhilarating two weeks imaginable.
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3. Trips
The Drama Department has always tried to run unusual Then, in April, the GCSE and A Level Drama groups
trips. Our feeling is that the girls are always going to went to see Danny Boyle’s Frankenstein starring Benedict
find their own way to big budget, big name musicals but Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller. Currently the
our job is to take them to the things that they might not hottest ticket in London we were lucky enough to see
otherwise find for themselves. So how is it, then, that it early on in the run – and half of us consequently went
this year we’ve managed to end up going to two of the to see the NT Live filmed performance so that we could
biggest theatrical events of the year? see the lead actors perform the roles of Frankenstein
and the Creature the other way around. A truly
In February,Year 9 went to see Cirque du Soleil’s Totem. astonishing piece of theatre that we will all remember
Their month long residence at the Albert Hall was the for many years to come. (Although it’s possible that
only stop off that this world renowned company made in the bit some of the girls will remember best is meeting
Europe on this tour. The piece was an impressive display Benedict Cumberbatch afterwards at the Stage Door!)
of virtuoso physical strength and grace, an extraordinary
integration of theatre, gymnastics, acrobatics, music, And next we’re off to see one of our own Old Girls
dance and clowning. And the girls loved it! – Lucy Briggs-Owen as Helena in the RSC’s new
production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. We can
hardly wait!
Examinations
The end of the year has seen a number of performances The GCSE performances (always an emotionally gruelling
from GCSE Drama and A Level Theatre Studies groups. prospect) featured a piece which showed a mother and
These met the usual high standards of our Drama daughter dealing with the aftermath of a terrible car crash,
productions and managed to break some new ground. a meditation on the nature of friendship and obsession,
In early March a small audience was privileged to see the and a journey to the trenches of World War 1 where
Year 13s devised piece. This unusual work involved not a terrible family tragedy unfolds. Unusually, two of the
only a 20 minute performance of monologue and dance, three pieces featured dance routines choreographed by
but also a series of installations around the School: a the girls themselves. And one group had tremendous fun
phone box, a prison cell and a graffiti wall on which with props – a key scene involved someone getting hit
anyone could record and lament their personal losses. over the head with a wine bottle so sugared-glass bottles
The piece was performed several times during were acquired allowing the deed to be actually
the school day – much to the surprise of performed on stage. A great shock to the people
passers-by – allowing the girls to experiment sitting in the front two rows who suddenly found
with the nature of the theatre audience. It themselves showered with broken ‘glass’!
was a highly ambitious and demanding project
which testifies to the extraordinary standards Redland High’s Drama work: shocking and exciting
expected of and achieved by the Theatre and ambitious and terrifying and hilarious and
Studies students at Redland High. always very very good.
The Theatre Studies group have
created their own take on the
A Level standard, Timberlake
Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s Good.
This unusual production involved a
tonne of builder’s sand and a life-
sized gibbet.
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