| Welcome to The Drama Department |
| Introduction |
The Drama
Department put on excellent performances
of An Inaccurate Conception this week. We were very
exited that Geoff Sanders, one of the plays writers,
attended Tuesdays performance and had the following
to say:
Well done
to everyone who worked on the Mount School's The
Inaccurate Conception. I thought it scored top marks
on all the elements that make productions of this
play work: it was fast-moving and sharply focussed
(as anything recreating chaos has to be!) and played
with great affection and excellent teamwork - and,
most of all, it was very, very funny. The audience
agreed with me; it was very gratifying (for me and
for your team) to hear the laughter and appreciative
comments during and after the show.
I'm not going to mention any names because everyone
in the cast and stage crew was quite obviously giving
her all, and all were equally effective. The actors
were thoughtful, energetic, very communicative (in
terms of body language as well as the spoken word)
and wonderfully inventive; the dancers were graceful
and confident and brilliantly funky when necessary,
and the stage crew and techies did great work too
to create the atmosphere and move the story seamlessly
along.
A woman in the audience told me this was the best
school play she'd ever seen; a great compliment
to me but also to all of you.
Yours
Geoff Saunders
P.S. The girls were all very gracious and polite
and a tribute to the school. |
| Drama at The Mount is creative and
critical; active and reflective - students gain
practical experience of performance, and the ability
to consider theoretically the effectiveness of the
core drama skills in use, both in their own and
others' work. Whole class exercises, individual
and group activities are part and parcel of each
lesson; music, literature, art, current affairs
and historic events are often stimuli for thematic
or improvised drama. |
| Drama Festival |
In spring 2009 a number of students
entered into the “Watford Drama Festival”
and came second in their ‘Acting’ category.
In summer 2009 a number of Year 7 students entered
the “Elstree and Borehamwood Drama Festival”
and not only won gold in their ‘Acting’
class but went on to win the’ Junior Acting
Cup’.
Needless to say we will now be making the festivals
an annual event, as the students really enjoyed
and valued the experience. |
| |
| Theatre Visits |
| An essential part of studying Drama
is seeing the many different types of theatre. This
enables students to experience drama, as well as
giving them ideas of how they could present something
of their own. Such visits will include 'Macbeth',
'A Midsummer Nights Dream', 'Blood Brothers', 'Nicholas
Nickelby' and many others. In addition, regular
visits are made to The Theatre Museum, Shakespeares
Globe and backstage visits to the National Theatre. |
| Drama Club |
| There is a Drama club for Year 7
and 8 every Thursday lunchtime - for Year 9 each
Tuesday after school. This benefits the students
by allowing them to experience a wider range of
drama, extending their knowledge and giving them
the opportunity to develop their skills. |
| Performances |
There are annual Drama Club Showcases
to family, friends and teachers; and an Inter-House
Speech & Drama Festival in the Summer Term.
A whole school production, either drama or musical,
takes place each year. In 2006 'Annie' was a resounding
success, followed by a 90 student strong cast performing
'Bugsy Malone' in 2007. In 2008 we presented 'The
Crucible' and in November we look forward to presenting
'The Inaccurate Conception' which is a comedy, with
a bit of dance added onto it.
|
| Skills gained through drama include: |
| • |
Communication |
| • |
Creativity |
| • |
Problem solving |
| • |
Thinking skills |
| • |
Leadership |
| • |
Negotiation |
| • |
Listening |
| • |
Critical self-awareness |
| • |
Organisation of self and others |
| • |
Decision making |
| • |
Expression |
| • |
Critical reflection |
| • |
Improving own learning and performance |
|
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