A dramatic day at Leckford

Another year; another Drama competition. This annual event, where each English group selects and performs part of a text that they have studied during the year, was a celebration of enthusiasm and team effort. The presentations included excerpts from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, Animal Farm, Much Ado about Nothing, Pygmalion, The Importance of being Earnest, A View from the Bridge and a play called Orphans, which started with a speech by Pip from Great Expectations.

As you can see, we were treated to a wide range of material. The pupils rose to the occasion.

With only two weeks of English lessons devoted to perfecting their performances, the students worked hard, deciding on their roles, learning lines and creating props. We were lucky to secure the services of two members of the Creation Theatre Company: Connor McReynolds came to give valuable advice on performance, during the dress rehearsals, and Jessica Bridge judged the competition, giving detailed and most encouraging comments in her adjudication.

The winners were a year 10 group, who performed a couple of extracts from Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge – a text they studied for GCSE coursework. Particularly memorable were the performances of Will Cronk as Eddie, the troubled Brooklyn longshoreman; his almost too realistic fight with Rodolpho (aka Humza); Vinay Bahl’s demonstration of physical dominance as he lifted a chair with one hand, from the base of one leg (try it – it’s far more difficult than it seems) and really convincing performances from the rest of the cast.


The winner of the contemporary presentation was a year 8 group, who performed their own version of Animal Farm. Although based largely on the novel, they added a contemporary touch of dance, music and humour. The overall effect, however, was extremely chilling and gave a real insight into the dangers of the abuse of political power.

Both year 7 groups won the Shakespeare award for their lovely interpretations of different sections of The Dream. The judge was very impressed by the understanding which under-pinned the delivery of quite difficult lines. They also conveyed the humour of the play.


There were many other individual commendations and prizes, but the biggest reward was a day of real entertainment and enrichment.


Watch a slideshow of photos from the day on Flickr