A Level Drama students enjoyed an evening at the Lyric Hammersmith to watch William Shakespeare's Othello, a production by Frantic Assembly. The production was full of Frantic’s famous physical theatre as well as Shakespeare’s original text in a tragedy about paranoia, sex and murder. Frantic Assembly takes Shakespeare’s muscular and beautiful text, combines its own bruising physicality, and presents Othello firmly rooted in a volatile 21st century.
Students of Latin, Greek and Classical Civilisation visited the National Gallery where they explored myth and art, and considered how artists use symbols to narrate a story. They also visited the Hieroglyph Exhibition at the British Museum to examine how the Rosetta Stone was deciphered which enabled the discovery of transactional, social and personal fragments.
Fourth Form Musicians enjoyed a wonderful evening at the English National Opera on the opening night of Bizet's Carmen. Set in southern Spain, it tells the story of Don José, a naïve soldier who is seduced by the fiery gypsy Carmen. He abandons his childhood sweetheart and deserts his military duties, yet loses her to Escamillo, after which José kills her in jealous rage. Thank you to the ENO for their fantastic work to encourage schools, children, and young people to experience opera, often for the first time.
A group of Lower School pupils had the opportunity to participate in a Stretch and Challenge trip to London this week. In the morning they attended the Treasures Gallery in the British Library, where pupils worked independently to document the most important ’treasures’ they found and justified their choices. These included the political significance of the Magna Carta, the gravity of the first woman to act on the stage, and the valuable work of the pioneers of the LGBTQ+ movement. They also attended an exhibition on British-Chinese culture, discovering about the discrimination migrants have faced, and the contributions they have made to modern British society. In the afternoon, pupils enjoyed time in Borough Market, sampling its delights and discovering its history, discussed regeneration along the Southbank, and took part in an immersive Gamebox experience to build their teamwork skills. In the evening, they stopped at Foyle’s Book Store to purchase some half-term reading and attended a humorous production of Noises Off. Pupils showed great perseverance and excellent appreciation for cross-curricular links throughout the day.
