Drama Trip and Rehersals
Last week Year 12 and 13 students travelled to London to watch Othello performed by Frantic Assembly at the Lyric Theatre. Rufus from Year 12 shared his experience of and thoughts on the performance.
Rufus
On 20 January I had the privilege of travelling to London and watching Frantic Assembly’s production of –Othello, a timeless tale of betrayal and lies. The performance was jam-packed with delectable movement and tense interactions, particularly between Othello and Iago. Each of the actors took the rich Shakespearean language and transported it into the modern setting of a grimy pub in the most seamless of ways. This was reflected by the standing ovation given by the audience which cemented Frantic Assembly’s adaptation as an all-time classic.
Meanwhile, rehearsals continued in School for A Monster Calls, with students showing exceptional commitment having continued attending weekday and Sunday sessions despite sitting their mock exams. We recently met with Year 11’s James who plays Conor; the heartbreaking main character, living through his mother’s terminal illness. We joined him as he rehearsed, talking thorough with Ms Mayes what the characters would have been thinking; unravelling their characters, understanding their personalities and discussing how conversations would flow in scenes – appreciating that acting isn’t just about the words that are spoken, but how they are spoken as well as when.
James commented, “I’m honored to play Conor, he’s a character and person of so many different layers so he was quite difficult to get to grips with at first. But as I’ve developed the character, understood more about him and learned about his personality, I’ve been able to peel away the many layers he has, he’s a character that’s very open to interpretation and it’s been great to understand more and more about him. He’s also a similar age to me so that makes it very easy to relate to him, and ultimately it’s helped me enormously – I’ve been able to put myself in his position and imagine how I might feel and react to what he’s going through.”
He continued, “It’s quite a different role and production than others I’ve been involved in at School; for example, unlike musicals, there isn’t the wonderful distraction of singing and dancing, and being part of a group performance, quite the contrary, the character in this production has incredibly focused and intimate scenes and so many involve simple staging and production which brings its own challenges.”
He summarised, “As we move closer to the performance date, rehearse and develop our characters more, we are becoming more familiar with them, with who they are and how they relate to the other characters in the performance . We’re also all very aware of the emotions that we need to feel and show when performing – and what our audience will be anticipating, as this will be a story some are undoubtedly familiar with.”
Asked how he’s coped with the pressure of rehearsals alongside exams in School James added, “We’ve been sitting our mock exams while beginning rehearsals – but I have to say I haven’t found it tough or a burden, it’s been a wonderful release, focusing on something other than studying and I’ve not felt guilty about not having my head in a text book!”
You can see James and his fellow students perform A Monster Calls in our Seckford Theatre on 8 and 9 February. Tickets are available from Ticket Source https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/suffolk/seckford-theatre/a-monster-calls/e-dbqgpq
