Drama Department

Drama-Dog TV: Blundell's pupils' news channel - Edition 4

Part of a regular series, the fourth instalment of Drama-Dog TV is a little over 19 minutes in length.
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Drama News

Our Country's Good

Every year in the Drama Department brings its joys and frustrations and 2008 is no exception. The appointment of Roger Winwood as our new Theatre Manager/Technician was definitely a joy; never has the theatre been so clean, tidy and efficiently run. Roger’s unassuming and kindly disposition have made him popular with staff and pupils alike and technical mountains have become molehills in his capable hands. It was with both sadness and joy that Rachel Milne left us in December to become a mother. The pupils have missed her teaching and gentle but firm approach and I have missed a reliable, supportive colleague whose attitude to paper was much more methodical than my own. Matt Lawrenson, who replaced her, has brought oodles of energy and enthusiasm and, when all else fails, an assortment of circus tricks to entertain.

The rollercoaster of productions has continued but hopefully there have been more ups than downs. Our Country’s Good proved a particularly rewarding text to work with and brought some outstanding performances from the pupils and some moments of genuine pathos. And, as usual, behind the scenes were Heather Corden, Malcolm Thackwray and Caroline Steel doing sterling work on the visual impact of the production.

Looking back over the year there are moments which bring particular joy: Jack Eadie’s performance as the tortured Harry Brewer, Alicia Fotheringham’s progress from a shy year 10 drama student to a really talented stage performer in The Hunting of the Snark and Ed Pocock’s menacing Sweeny Todd.  Memorable too was Archie Browne’s astonishingly mature delivery of lines in Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf and Zia Ferris’s memorable and funny portrayal of the naïve Honey in the same play; was that really the same girl who would hardly say a word in year 11? And where would the LVI have been without Lizzy Clark’s solid, workman-like approach to rehearsals and Robin Hill’s perfectionism? And do you really have to leave it so late to learn your lines, Theo? It isn’t good for a director’s nerves!

I will never forget standing aghast as the Chulmleigh partnership students created human pyramids and performed extraordinary balancing feats under Matt Lawrenson’s watchful eye. That was after the juggling with fire demonstration. Who did the risk assessment for that event?

The news that former-pupil Sam Colley has just been accepted into RADA brought the year to a close. And so with a sense of relief, satisfaction and exhaustion we finally get round to washing the dirty tea cups and cleaning the theatre before it starts again.

Fiona Baddeley
Director of Drama

Drama Department Policy Statement

  • As part of the whole school curriculum students will be provided with a rich and diverse experience of the historical, cultural and practical aspects of drama.
  • Drama classes will be taught in the specially equipped teaching spaces by staff who are either subject specialists in their own right, or who have undertaken additional training in the teaching of drama.
  • The breadth and balance of the drama curriculum will ensure that students are taught how to create, perform, and respond to drama by working with a variety of stimuli from different sources and traditions.
  • Students will be taught the skills involved in different aspects of drama. The art of the playwright, director, designer, technician and critic will be as much part of the students experience as the art of the actor.
  • Students will be given frequent opportunities to watch and learn from peers and professionals. Every possible opportunity to invite professionals into the school will be taken and every student will be given the opportunity to make at least one visit to a theatre, or to support the Ondaatje Hall programme, at each stage of the curriculum.
  • Where possible, cross curricular opportunities will be developed with other departments.
  • Students will be encouraged to fulfil their individual potential and to reflect critically on their own  achievements.
  • The department will aim to provide a disciplined, organised and supportive environment.
  • It will be made clear to the students what they are learning and why.
  • Students will keep records of their work.
  • Students’ progress in creating, performing and responding to drama will be monitored and recorded at least twice a term and reported on at least twice a year.
  • There will be at least two major school productions per year, one for the lower school and one for the upper school. Open auditions will be held for these. While plays are usually directed by a member of the drama department, this may not necessarily be the case and other members of staff are encouraged to do so.
  • Houses will also be encouraged to put on plays and will be supported by the Drama Department.
  • The Drama Department may also offer various clubs in activity time, depending on staffing and interests.

Contacting the Drama department

Tel: 01884 232350
E-mail: fab@blundells.org / rbw@blundells.org