Past Productions School Plays
A Christmas Carol
The autumn term saw the production of the school play ‘A Christmas Carol’, which was the first time at Blundell’s a school play had ever been done in the round. 
This entails the stage being in the centre of the theatre whilst seats were arranged around the perimeter. The directors Miss Baddeley of the drama department and James Rochford wanted this so that the audience could participate as much as possible in the play. As a result the audience were invited to take part in dancing at the Fezziwigg’s ball, games at the nephew’s dinner party and carol singing throughout the production. As you can imagine, it was a hit with adults and children alike. Street set pieces in-between normal scenes provided the audience with a rare glimpse at a bustling Victorian city and gave the theatre a profound ambiance throughout the play. Also within the audience was a live band which played music throughout to accompany the production. The incredible lighting design from Ellie Casely also created the best moods for each scene and set piece possible.
Alongside the unique set were the truly unforgettable performances from the cast. Elliot Keefe played a wicked Scrooge and Louis Edmanson an affectionate and lovable Bob Cratchet. Both actors carried their roles with enormous credibility, Elliot especially, who received full colours for drama for his efforts. 
The supporting cast also played their parts exceedingly well and added to the atmosphere and story of the play in spades. The whole production was a real ensemble effort and every cast member helped create the best possible story. The three ghosts and Marley in particular were very convincing, not only due to their acting talent but also to their voices being microphoned to make a fantastically eerie and gothic atmosphere. The audience were told the story as it progressed by the chorus of the play who made up the bulk of the cast. This, along with the set design, provided very effective interaction with the audience and helped to make the production a very memorable and enjoyable one. The play provided entertainment of the highest degree for the three nights it was shown and many went home full of Christmas cheer.
The Crucible
With the exams season in full swing, it was an unexpected pleasure to see one of the most striking productions of recent years achieved by a young cast under the professional guidance of James, Fiona Baddeley’s stand-in for the term. On a bare stage, the inexperienced ensemble totally held our attention in telling the chilling story of the Salem Witches, Barney Chambers excelling at the tormented John Proctor, morally tempted by Katharine Sendell’s luscious Abigail Williams, but finding his integrity and love for his inhibited wife Elizabeth (brilliantly understated by Corren Kvesic), until able to accept martyrdom for his 'goodness' with the saintly Rebecca Nurse (Brianna Wilder).
"The Crucible" is a play that stands or falls by the ensemble playing, especially the chilling 'yellow bird' scene in the courtroom, when the 'possessed' girls turn on their judges in mass hysteria, terrifying Proctor’s servant Mary (movingly played by Freya de Lisle) into retracting the evidence that they are 'only pretending'. The tension will only work if everyone on stage is totally focused, and so it was here, from Michael Bennett’s haughty Judge Hathorne to Dale Fletcher’s seedily pompous constable Ezekiel Cheever, and of course the wonderful chorus of hysterical girls, too numerous to mention here.
All of which was emphasised by Roger Winwood’s brilliantly atmospheric lighting, which turned every scene into a Dutch masterpiece by Rembrandt or Vermeer (one remembered the equally brilliant bleakness with which he had created the eerie shadows of “Metamorphosis” just weeks before; only someone who has striven for such effects can perhaps truly appreciate how deftly his are created).
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Year Eight play this year was fantastic! The age of the cast did not affect the acting skills demonstrated. Many said that the cast were incredible. Every character within the play was believable and made the audience feel like they really were in the land of Narnia. The four children were very convincing; at times it was hard to believe that they all actually weren't related.
On Friday night disaster struck an hour before the doors were due to open. The dwarf was feeling sick; Lucy and Tumnus were overly emotional and the whole cast were exhausted. However, ‘the show must go on’ and so it did, with style, enthusiasm and applause from the audience.
In conclusion I think that Year Eight were outstanding and every pupil involved should feel a sense of pride. However a lot of credit should definitely be given to their wonderful director, Miss Fordham. She kept the cast going even when people were at their lowest. A very big well done to all involved, this is an experience I hope everyone will remember for a lifetime.
The Ghost Train
The school production of The Ghost Train by Arnold Ridley had the audience either rolling in the aisles or on the edge of their seats.
The story revolves around a group of rail passengers who find themselves stranded in the waiting room of an isolated station, having missed their connection. When the Station Master is unable to persuade them to leave, he warns them of the local legend of the ghost train and how all who see it will perish. Later, some strange people turn up out of the blue, two sisters and a doctor. One woman explains how they are looking for her sister who they say is mentally ill; the sister defends herself otherwise and claims that she just has a morbid fascination for the myth of the Ghost Train ever since she saw it a few years ago, although no one believes her. However it is revealed later in the plot that the train is in fact smuggling arms and the story has been concocted to frighten away nosey strangers.
There were some very strong performances, particularly from Elliot Keefe who played the role of Teddy. He was wonderfully irritating and amusing, shocking the audience when he unexpectedly revealed his true identity. 
Lydia Cree was hilarious in the role of Miss Bourne, the teetotal spinster with her beloved parrot. The couples played by Ed Carlton, Vicky Payne, Indiana Murphy and Joe Wander were suitably in love or tired of one another to keep the audience keen and entertained. Eolande Diaz-Phillips made the frightening story of the Ghost Train come to life in the role of Julia, which was believable until she was revealed to be a German spy.
The set was very realistic, true to period and felt cold, damp and uninviting; just as if the audience were in the waiting room themselves. The special effects were outstanding, especially when the train came thundering through the station.
My Fair Lady
It is hard for any director to direct a musical that is firmly embedded in social consciousness through a famous film production. No stage performance could rival the richness of Cecil Beaton and Gene Allen’s design or Rex Harrison’s portrayal of Higgins but the cast and crew of Blundell’s My Fair Lady certainly gave it their best and succeeded in delighting audiences on all three performance nights.
Particular credit is due to Jeremy Manning who, by common consent, made an outstanding Professor Higgins. Tori Doyne-Ditmas sang beautifully and brought a thoughtful wistfulness to the role of Eliza. Guy Potter was a superb, bumptious Pickering and carried on to complete all three performances despite illness - what a trooper! Julian Strong brought his considerable stage presence and singing talent to the role of Doolittle and Henrietta Mills and Agnes Clark gave excellent performances as Mrs Pearce and Mrs Eynsford-Hill. This was a musical with elegance and sophistication. The chorus worked hard to master some challenging dance routines and the back stage crew, under the direction of Miss Fordham, were well drilled. The huge team effort made by everyone involved brought set, sound, lighting costume and performances together to give audiences a production that will be remembered for some time to come.
Confusions
This years's school play, Alan Ayckbourn's "Confusions", consists of five plays each linked to the next by a single character who moves from one play to the next, revealing a different aspect of their life. It presented the cast with the challenge of creating 'a slice of life' that the audience could believe in. With the exception of Gosforth's Fete, farce and over-acting was not an option. The audience must believe in the reality of the character's situation and appreciate the fact that pathos and humour are rarely far apart. The cast rose to the occasion and gave some sensitive, intelligent and genuinely funny performances.
Synopsis: Lucy spends so much time at home with the kids that she has started to treat everyone - even the next-door neighbours - like children. Her errant salesman husband, Harry, is miles away in a hotel and has other things on his mind; namely the charms of Paula and Bernice. Their waiter also has other concerns; the rapidly deteriorating relationships of diners Polly, Martin and Mr and Mrs Pearce, for instance. Mrs Pearce is then invited to open a village fete, totally unaware of the mayhem that is about to ensue. Finally, Milly, who found herself torn between two men at the fete, now finds that she has some new admirers.
Our Country's Good
In November the Ondaatje Theatre Company put on a production of Our Country’s Good by Timberlake Wertenbaker; a challenging play set in the newly established convict colony of New South Wales. As the school’s major production for the year there were high standards to be met. Robin Hill led the cast of officers attempting to discipline and civilise the convicts, many of whom had committed tiny thefts. Brutalised by the harsh treatment of the officers and an eight month journey in intolerable conditions on a convict ship, the last thing one would have expected of the convicts was to put on a play, yet this is precisely what they did. Under the auspices of an enlightened governor, Captain Arthur Phillip (William Pettit), they put on the first production to be performed on Australian soil, George Farquhar’s “Recruiting Officer”.
The play is based on fact and one of the convicts was Devonian heroine, Mary Bryant (played by Lizzy Clark), who escaped the colony and sailed all the way to the East Indies. She was eventually returned to England where she was given a reprieve and allowed to return to her beloved Bigbury Bay.
This was a challenging play for a young cast, but all excelled themselves and in turn moved, amused and even shocked their audience. The production was visually stunning. The set, designed by Malcolm Thackwray, and lighting by Roger Winwood set the mood of the claustrophobic hold of a convict ship, the barren landscape of Australia and the plush interior of the officers’ mess. It will be a long time before the audience forgets the harrowing scenes of a convict being flogged by the sadistic Major Ross (Theo Weedon) or Harry Brewer’s (Jack Eadie) descent into madness. Thankfully, the play ends on a positive note with the convicts staging their production and with Lieutenant Ralph Clark falling in love with one of the convicts Mary Brenham (Louise Gillespie).
Just as the convicts needed an inspirational director in the form of Ralph Clark so too did the Blundell’s cast. Fiona Baddeley managed to inspire and cajole the young cast to great heights, and after months of rehearsals managed to pull off a very complex show which left the audience in no doubt of the value and power of theatre.
Seth Richards
Sweet Charity
Sweet Charity is a tall order for any theatre to stage, let alone a school with only a black box theatre at its disposal. Where do you put the orchestra? How on earth do you create the lake in central park, a fairground ride that goes wrong and the glamour of the Pompeii club – to name but a few of the many scene changes. And then there is Bob Fosse’s masterful choreography to complete with and Shirley MacLaine’s unsurpassable performance to aspire to!
Despite challenges that at times seemed insurmountable, the Ondaatje Theatre Company, under the direction of Miss Baddeley, managed to achieve a performance that in turn thrilled, amused and moved its audiences. New York was captured in a wonderful backdrop designed by Malcolm Thackeray and the telescope transformed into a fairground ride that twinkled with fairy lights. The orchestra and musical director, James Taylor, cosily ensconced underneath the bleachers, brought the memorable score to life and the actors rose to the challenge. The chorus mastered a range of dances, adapted from Bob Fosse’s original choreography, and even those with two left feet at the beginning of the rehearsal period discovered that they could find their way through some slick dance routines by the end.
Louise Gillespie led the cast with an enchanting and skilled performance as Charity. She took us through the highs and lows of her emotional roller-coaster ride and captured the character’s charm, warmth and vulnerability. Robin Hill was a memorable Oscar and drew the maximum comic impact out of the character without ever making him unbelievable. The girls in the Fandango Ballroom were lead by Kiki Blyth and Katrina Cotter-Stone who both gave slick and polished performances as the tarts with heart. Darcy Mitchell gave a memorable rendition of I Love To Cry At Weddings with the help of some high notes from Alex Miles. Chelsea Seigel led the dancers and took the audience back to an age when cool really did mean chilled. Few of us will forget the slick movers in the Frug!
Our school chaplain, Tim Hunt, kept the cast on their toes as he led the chorus with his tour de force as Daddy in The Rhythm Of Life.
Cast and crew worked together to make this production a huge success and were justly rewarded with four nights of rapturous applause.
Charley's Aunt
After Juliet
Oh What A Lovely War
Mysteries
The Royal Hunt Of The Sun, by Peter Shaffer
Set design for Royal Hunt Of The Sun