GCSE Drama and Music Performance Evening
On the Evening of 14th November, we welcomed the families of the Year 11 GCSE Drama and Music students to the Drama Studio, to enjoy a range of interesting and diverse performances. The Drama students had been working on their Devised Performances since September and this assessment formed part of their GCSE examination. The first group had devised a piece based on the Suffragette movement. They used narration, monologues and movement to communicate historical facts and personal responses. Caitlin Pope gave a moving monologue as Emily Wilding Davison, the woman who famously threw herself in front of the King’s horse, during the 1913 Derby and Sam Sebastian gave a rousing speech as the Prime Minister.
The second piece told the story of Queen Elizabeth I and her relationship with Robert Dudley. Ruby Batchelor, as the Queen, looked back over her life and reflected on her identity as Queen and woman. The group worked extremely well together and created an interesting, thought-provoking and moving drama.
In total contrast, the third group created an episodic comedy, looking at youth culture through the generations. This all male group gave hilarious performances as hippies, teddy boys, punks, dads and with the help of a couple of wigs and a handbag, they bravely became the mums too.
Group three created a piece that told the story of the women during World War Two. This group cleverly incorporated the music and dance of the era, to create atmosphere and evoke an historical time. With the use of factual information and personal stories, they managed to emotionally engage the audience and make them reflect.
The final piece, Creation, featured Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein. She looked back over her life, recalling her husband and how she came to write her novel. Alice Daniel gave a mature and believable performance as Mary and the group used lights and music to create an authentic Gothic atmosphere.
Three GCSE Music students provided musical interludes between the Drama performances. The three students, Anya Flaherty (piano), Caitlin Pope (singing) and Kemi Whiting (piano) all performed individually and demonstrated very different musical styles. As part of their exam, they have to perform 3 minutes of music. This gave them a wonderful opportunity to select their own music and show off their talent to parents and friends.
It was a really lovely evening. Well done and thank you, to everyone involved!
Miss Kingdom and Mrs Reader