Framlinghamian 2023 - Flipbook - Page 102
CREATIVE AND PERFORMING ARTS
personalities of the famous Pink Ladies
annual Prep School Shakespeare on the
and T-Birds was commendable.
Terrace event, when our Year 6 children
brought the magic of Shakespeare to life
Director, Bruce Wilson and his creative
in a delightful outdoor rendition of ‘Much
team worked wonders in transforming the
Ado About Nothing’. Throughout the
cast into the iconic characters of Rydell
enchanting performance the young actors
High. The costumes were a perfect blend
delivered their lines with enthusiasm
of 1950’s fashion and age-appropriate
and charisma and did the timeless tale
attire, complete with obligatory jackets for
of love and wit absolute justice. Huge
the T-Birds and Pink Ladies.
congratulations to all the cast and to Mrs
Upton, Mrs Manning and Miss Lines who
The set design was a nostalgic trip
supported the pupils to provide such a
down memory lane, complete with
wonderful night to the audience.
bright colours, a traditional locker room,
teenage bedroom, iconic dance hall and,
In the penultimate week of the Summer
of course, a wonderful appearance of
Term, when the sun shone and the College
Greased Lightnin’.
grounds were bathed in sunshine, the HPT
was transformed into a dark and sinister
The performances of Mylo H-R as Danny
stage for the Year 9 and 10 production of
and Lucy R-L as Sandy showcased their
‘Dracula’.
acting talents, infusing their characters
with both charisma and vulnerability.
Ahead of production week, pupils were
The supporting cast, including the T-Birds
inspired by actor, director and teacher
and Pink Ladies, displayed exceptional
Peter Hamilton Dyer, who led a workshop
昀氀air and enthusiasm. The camaraderie
taking our pupils through exercises that
between the performers was evident as
were speci昀椀cally designed to not only
they skilfully executed choreography with
develop their vocal power and projection,
an air of con昀椀dence and joy.
but also their ability to hold space and
approach the narration-heavy text. Using
The musical numbers were accompanied
a passage from Beowulf, pupils were able
by a live band, composed of equally
to develop individual and choral skills to
talented young musicians. Their skilful
bring the text, and the space, alive.
renditions of the iconic soundtrack only
added to the energy and authenticity of
When performance week arrived, after
the evening. The sound and lighting crew,
much hard work the cast were ready to
also young and enthusiastic, managed the
take on the spine-chilling stage adaptation
technical aspects seamlessly, adding to
(by David Calcutt) of Bram Stoker’s 1897
the production’s polished and immersive
novel. In this production, Dracula was
atmosphere.
portrayed by three characters, Ella O,
Bella E and Sebby A-E, who worked
together simultaneously to pick up on the
In early June the weather held for the
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