Drama Productions
Drama and theatre studies is taught as part of the curriculum and is offered at both GCSE and A-Level. Drama and theatre students enjoy regular trips to the theatre and benefit from taking part in workshops and projects with professional theatre groups coming into the college.
This year’s drama production was ‘Beauty and the Beast’, a new and exciting adaptation first performed at the RSC in Stratford. It was chosen specifically for its comic value and also the breadth of roles available to students including a robotic maid, two Cinderella style ugly sisters and, of course Beauty and Beast themselves. The play also used a chorus of students who acted as French citizens and servants and even came together using physical theatre to represent a horse; and the rose bush from which the rose given to Beauty by her father is plucked.
Rehearsals started in earnest for two nights a week and students worked hard to learn lines and movements in their spare time. For many of the students this was their first experience of acting in a play and for others their first big event at the college itself as several of the cast had only recently joined NCW in September 2010.
After Christmas things stepped up a gear as further students became involved with lighting and sound and helping to gather props and costumes together. In the week of performance the students involved spent a day off timetable to fine tune the production and then performed their dress rehearsal on the same evening for an invited audience as a preview performance.
Feedback for the production during its run was tremendous. Many students had shown themselves in a new light discovering hidden talents and confidence. It should not be underestimated; the effort and time that goes into a school production and here at NCW the students worked extra hard as in many ways the staging of a play is even more challenging. It is clear that our students are a talented group who can pull together well to produce something of which they will be proud of for years to come.
