On Thursday 6 February, the U5 GCSE drama classes went on a coach trip to see a matinee performance of The Tempest, at the Wilde Theatre, Bracknell, performed by the South Hill Park Company.
The purpose of this visit was to review this production for their written GCSE Drama summer exam. They had a pre-show talk with the Director, Joe Malyan, the set designer Victoria Spearing, as well as the actress who played Prospero, Sophie Spencer. They illustrated to us how they intended to make this production a voyage of imagination for the audience, with emotive music from George Jennings, multi coloured lighting for different moods, from the shipwreck to the wedding scene on a huge set that resembled the interior of a ship, with multi-purpose ropes hanging down and powerful choreography by Tabitha Baines for the spirits and drowned souls throughout the play. Stand out performances were Sophie Spencer as a strong willed Prospero, Amy Wilding as a crafty Ariel and Alex Daykin as a wiry Caliban, who moved around the stage like a spider.
The students agreed, after watching this production, that there were plenty of great things to write about for their GCSE drama exam. Leah L (U5) said: “The music, movement and set design made this show so atmospheric!” A fine production indeed.
.png&command_2=resize&height_2=85 "QAS Alumni in 'Showbiz'")
.png&command_2=resize&height_2=85 "An excellent set of GCSE results at Queen Anne’s, Caversham")
