School and Independent Plays - Michaelmas 2012-Summer 2013

What's On At The Theatre?

 

F Block Stage Crew Demonstration

Friday 14^th September                                                                                     Farrer Theatre 5.20

 

The Theatre’s capacity is revealed by the Farrer crew in a demonstration which culminates with a stunning light show.

School Play

Macbeth

by

William Shakespeare

Thursday 11^th to Saturday 13^th October                                                                           Farrer Theatre 8.15

Imagine if, consumed by political ambition, the much-loved Boris takes a knife to David Cameron. Racked with guilt and paranoia, he becomes a tyrannical ruler.  In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the bloodbath swiftly takes a once-popular leader and his wife into realms of suspicion, madness, and death. School Play, directed by H-EO with music by Ryan Lau (BC).

 

 

Is he Dead?

by

Mark Twain

Thursday 8^th to Saturday 10^th November                                                        Farrer Theatre 8.15

 

Only dead painters achieve fame and fortune; or so Jean-François Millet believes. So, to save himself from the clutches of a villainous money-lender and help his friends out of debt, he fakes his own death. Unfortunately, chaos ensues when he returns disguised as his own widowed twin sister! This fast-paced comedy combines elements of farce, burlesque and social satire and raises questions about fame, greed and the value of art. WFM House Play, directed by JPB.

 

A Handbag

by 

Anthony Horowitz, and

Liar

by

Gregory Burke

Thursday 22^nd - Saturday 24^th November                                                       Caccia Studio 8.15

 

In A Handbag, a group of young people are rehearsing The Importance of Being Earnest but, as they attempt to perform a play which is alien to them, it becomes apparent that their surroundings are not normal. As tensions mount, each young person's story starts to emerge. In Liar, a16-year-old boy moves to a new school determined to make his mark.  We know nothing about him and, since he is a congenital liar, it is hard to be certain of anything.  The play is a tribute to the High School Movie genre. AW House Play, directed by NCH.

 

 

The Greek Myths

by

GCSE Drama students

Thursday 29^th  November                                                                              Empty Space 6.00

 

An evening of whacky and inventive physical theatre devised by GCSE Drama students: it’s the Greek myths, Jim, but not as we know them.  Directed by the boys assisted by RGS, with H-EO and ATO.

Lent 2013

 

Will It Never Be Day?

by

Duncan Morrison & Jamie MacDonagh

Thursday 17^th to Saturday 19^th January                                                          Caccia Studio 8.15

 

The battlefield at Waterloo: a scene of constant chaos. The winner must seek to control the chaos, both his own and the enemy’s. True stories of cowardice, chivalry and brutality are reinvigorated in this vivid new presentation of the notorious and bloody conflict.  NJR House Play, directed by Jamie MacDonagh.

Tuesday 29^th to Thursday 31^st  January                                                          Caccia Studio 8.15

 

Tuesday 7^th – Thursday 9^th February                                                              Farrer Theatre 8.15

 

Now on its third title, this famous play is a rarity for the Farrer Theatre: a thrilling traditional ‘Whodunnit?’. A bizarre group of eccentric characters are entrapped in a cliff-top mansion: one by one, they are horribly murdered: who is behind the dastardly deeds? And why? Who’s going to be next? BC House Play, directed by ACDG-C.

Tuesday 11^th to Thursday 13^th February                                                         Caccia Studio 8.15

 

 

West

by

Steven Berkoff

Monday 25^th  & Tuesday 26^th February                                                            Empty Space 8.15

 

Set in the 1960s, the age of rock ‘n’ roll and rebellions. The struggle for street supremacy among London’s East End gangs wages unabated. The fight is not just with rival gangs: it is with everything that makes life a drudgery-  job, family and environment. violent, tender, obscene, sensual, poetic, earthy and exotic by turns

 

Of Mice and Men

by

John Steinbeck

Thursday 7^th to Saturday 9^th March                                                                Caccia Studio 8.15

 

Adapted by the author from his classic novella, Of Mice and Men tells the story of George and Lennie, two runaway drifters who find work on a Californian ranch during the Great Depression. With tenderness, humanity and wry humour, Steinbeck paints an unforgettable portrait of the unlikely friendship between the wiry, shrewd George and the giant, simple-minded Lennie. JDN House Play, directed by PB.

Thursday 14^th – Saturday 16^th March                                                             Caccia Studio 8.15

 

 

Dealer’s Choice

by

Patrick Marber

Sunday 17^th March                                                                                           Empty Space 8.15

 

 

Waiting for Godot

by

Samuel Becket

Thursday 25^th to Saturday 27^th April                                                                 Empty Space 8.15

 

 

School Play

Journey's End

by

R.C. Sheriff

Thursday 2nd to Saturday 4th May                                                                                  Farrer Theatre 8.15

                   

Set in the trenches in 1918 Journey's End gives a terrifying glimpse into the experiences of the officers of a British Army infantry company towards the end of World War I. The story, which plays out in a claustrophobic dugout over four days, is a powerful corrective to any romantic conception of war. Unsentimental and moving, it is a clear-eyed portrayal of  the realities of war, and the  loss of young life. School Play, directed by ML.

 

Lower Boy Play

Skin of Our Teeth

by

Thornton Wilder

Thursday 13^th to Saturday 15^th June                                                               Caccia Studio 8.15

 

Written less than a month after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941, this play won the 1943 Pulitzer Prize for Drama while breaking all the rules of time and space. Combining farce, burlesque, and satire, and elements of the comic strip, Thornton Wilder’s classic gives us the Antrobus family, who are facing the end of the world onstage – but offstage, the plot, set and actors are in even greater disarray. Be prepared for the unexpected – even the characters exclaim, "I don't understand a word of this play!" Lower Boy Play, directed by ATO, Director in Residence

 

H-E.O 1/9/12