A private showing of A Comedy of Errors

The Oxford Shakespeare Company, fresh from performing their A Comedy of Errors in London, happily agreed to open their Oxford summer season a day early especially for Leckford students and parents!

Reviewed by The Guardian as 'an exuberant outdoor production — faultless performances, a toe-tapping, heart-warming hoot', a wonderful summer’s afternoon was enjoyed by all! Against the beautiful backdrop of the Wadham College gardens, we were treated to a musical and modern interpretation of one of Shakespeare’s lesser-known comedies.

The performance retained the puns and slapstick style typical of Shakespeare’s comedies with more modern twists and audience interaction making the play more engaging and easy to follow than is often the case with Shakespeare productions. A huge thank you to those parents who came along to share the day!

— Words and photo by Joanne Williams, English teacher

Swept away by a Tempest

This term’s imaginative and daring reimagination of The Tempest saw Shakespeare’s last, great play relocated to a technological scrapheap in the Pacific.


The Tempest is, famously, a play that sits uncomfortably within its ‘comedy’ genre: falsehood, betrayal, absolute power and impending death are woven into its fabric. Fittingly, the d’Overbroeck’s production (directed by Drama teacher Joe Swarbrick) accentuated the text’s unsettling ambivalence.


There were moments of huge dramatic impact – as harpies writhed and shrieked, and ships were torn apart in raging seas – but also times of quiet introspection.

Lydia Hassan dominated the play with an extraordinarily nuanced rendition of Prospera, veering from rage to exhultation to troubled introspection. The resulting performance was powerfully compelling – all the more remarkable when you consider the fact that this is a role typically wrestled with by professional actors as they near the end of their career.


Tal Fineman and Will Cronk’s treacherous plotting was suitably distasteful, Felicity Hughes’ Miranda and Joe Wolfensohn’s Ferdinand enacted a haltingly tender courtship, and a troupe of shimmering Ariels were in turn impish and cacophanous.


Meanwhile, the drunken ramblings of Stephano (Sam Rigal) and Trinculo (Daisy Jordan) were hilarious – offset by the disturbing presence of Sixth Former Emma Gonnella’s brilliantly played Caliban.


View a slideshow of photos from the performance:

– Words by Tom Parnell

The Tempest: an interview with the director

This week sees the long-awaited College performance of the Tempest. To whet your appetites, we caught up with Joe Swarbrick – drama teacher and the play's director for a short interview.

In the video below, Joe describes the play's aesthetic – inspired by gigantic heaps of discarded machinery – and how a 400 year-old text can tell us something today about the interplay between knowledge and power.

The video features original music written and recorded by Joe.

(Details on how to book after the video.)



If you'd like to come and see the play, hurry and book your tickets now, as we still have some seats on both nights:

Thursday 1 & Friday 2 July, 7pm
Leckford Place Hall
Tickets £10 (adult), £6 (student/concession)

Please e-mail Emily Brooke if you would like a ticket.

The Tempest: this term's dramatic highlight

This term's dramatic highlight will be a d'Overbroeck's College production of the Tempest. Shakespeare's last play – a dark, brooding comedy about power, cruelty, love and magic – has been relocated to a technological junk heap in the middle of the Pacific. On this pile of discarded motherboards, monitors and technological detritus sits Prospera, usurped Duchess of Milan, and her daughter Miranda.

Caliban, their slave, the man who built the island with his mother Sycorax, plots his revenge on Prospera, while Prospera herself spies her former enemies on a passing ship. Summoning a storm with her sprite Ariel, the ship is wrecked on the shore of the island and its occupants scattered. As they all try to make sense of their new situation, they realise the island is not what it seems and that someone is controlling their every move.

A thought-provoking and visceral new interpretation of a complex and fascinating play, students from across the d'Overbroeck's family combine video, physical theatre, a cutting-edge soundtrack and exciting visual effects to bring you Shakespeare like you've never seen it before. Intense, energetic, funny and tragic by turn, this promises to be a spectacular theatrical event.

Thursday 1 & Friday 2 July, 7pm
Leckford Place Hall
Tickets £10 (adult), £6 (student/concession)

To book your tickets, please contact the Leckford Place Office: 01865 302620 / leckfordplace@doverbroecks.com

Musical seduction, adoration and deception: Cupid's Labyrinth

'If music be the food of love, play on ...'

These were the familiar words that introduced Tuesday evening's performance of Cupid's Labyrinth at Leckford Place – an evening overflowing with musical ardour.

We were treated to a programme of solos, duets, trios and quartets that brought together songs by Purcell and Handel, operatic arias by Verdi and Mozart and extracts from the more modern operettas of Offenbach and Gilbert & Sullivan – all unified by the theme of love.

So we witnessed seduction …


… silent adoration …


… amorous competition …


… illicit liaison …


… and more. The quality of the singing was unfailingly excellent, with a talented cast of performers – from Year 7 to Sixth Form – proving themselves more than equal to some extremely demanding classical repertoire.

Here's a slideshow of photographs from the evening:

Beauty and the Beast -- discount tickets for Creation Theatre

As part of the ongoing partnership between d'Overbroeck's College and Creation Theatre, we're delighted to announce that students, parents and staff at the College will receive a 25% discount on tickets for Creation's Christmas show: Beauty and the Beast.


How to book

The first of our special d'Overbroeck's Evenings will be Wednesday 2 December (we'll announce another date in future). So all d'Overbroeck's parents, pupils and staff will receive 25% off Premium and Band A tickets for that night.

To claim your discount, please telephone the Creation Theatre Box Office on 01865 766266 – and when you give your name, remember to say that you are from d'Overbroeck's.

Book early to guarantee a ticket – no later, please, than Friday 6 November.

The Spiegeltent, in which the performance will take place

More about Beauty and the Beast

This Christmas, join Creation for a fresh magical retelling of the timeless fairytale Beauty and the Beast. Forget cartoons, panto and Disney, this Beauty will engage you with magic, music and comedy in the amazing Spiegeltent at Oxford’s MINI Plant. Suitable for ages 6-96 years, you can also enjoy delicious gourmet crepes at your cabaret style table.

“This colourful slice of storytelling should hook both children and adults alike” (Oxford Mail)

“For two heart-melting hours, they banish all cares.” (The Daily Telegraph)