Today, Wednesday 28 September, saw all of our drama exam students make their way to The Richmond Theatre in London to see Pilot Theatre's exciting interpretation of Malorie Blackman's Noughts and Crosses. The following, courtesy of Head of Drama Mrs Emma Farrell, is a write-up of the trip:
Visits to watch live theatre are a compulsory element of both the GCSE and A Level courses and the drama department staff were delighted that this touring production was available to them so early in the year.
The play is a new set text for the Year 10 students at GCSE, so they watched with great interest in order to gauge how the theatre company used acting, directing and design skills to interpret the text in order to inspire their own ideas. The Year 11s and A Level students watched eagerly to see how Pilot's director and production team plotted the non-linear text in order to inform their ideas for their own devised and scripted pieces this year.
Taking inspiration from contemporary theatre is vital for the success in both courses and this production did not disappoint. The striking lighting design, clever use of projections and physical theatre components had many of the students (and teachers) in awe and we expect to see a nod to these in the pieces created this year.
Noughts & Crosses is set in a dystopian, parallel universe in which people are defined as Noughts and Crosses and there are significant social, economic and racial divides. The Crosses run government, have access to money, good jobs and education while the Noughts are poorer, pale-skinned members of the underclass, often working in service roles to Crosses with less access to education. The Noughts have few laws and protocols in society to protect them from discrimination. Segregation of the two races is actively encouraged and enforced.
The hard-hitting message of the play was presented in an engaging and emotional production, and gave every student the opportunity to consider their views on racism and discrimination. It opened up a lively and positive conversations about Black History, and how our actions can impact the lives of many, even beyond our circles of family and friends.
After a dip in live theatre visits these past few years, the trip really highlighted the incredibly powerful influence of live theatre, not only inspiring creativity, but opening up our students to people, lives and worlds beyond their day to day. Exposing them to different points of view and helping to develop curiosity and open-mindedness, about others' human experiences, about the possibilities of working in the creative industries and in experimenting with their own creative ideas without fear, is a key aim of the Shiplake drama department. This trip, we feel, on this front, has been hugely successful.
