We are a welcoming and inclusive department: Drama is not just for those who enjoy performing on stage, and students have recently worked as sound designers, lighting operatives, directors and assistant directors, and costume and make-up assistants on a number of productions

Productions

Students are provided a multitude of productions in which to participate. Upper III perform in their own Christmas Pantomime (directed by sixth form students) and Upper III, Lower IV and Upper IV students participate in a biennial Lower School Play, or in the biennial play-in-a-day performance.

“Theatre is a mirror. A sharp reflection of society.”

Yasmina Reza, playwright and actor

Our centerpiece production, for students from Upper IV – Upper VI, is the biennial Upper School Play. We enjoy an outstanding relationship with our local theatre, South Street Arts Centre, where we stage our Lower School Play and Upper School Play, and this professional theatre environment, supported by a professional lighting designer, results in productions of exceptional range and quality. Recent productions have included ‘We Are The Searchers,’ ‘The Voyage of the Dawn Treader’, ‘The House of Bernarda Alba’, ‘Arabian Nights’, ‘The Canterbury Tales’, ‘Macbeth’, ‘As You Like It’, ‘Ernie’s Incredible Illucinations’, ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’, ‘Alice in Wonderland’, ‘101 Dalmatians’, and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’

The Drama department also collaborates closely with the Music Department on the School Musical, including ‘Sister Act’ and Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’, which both featured students from Upper IV – Upper VI, and played to packed houses over three nights.

Clubs

A weekly club is offered to Upper III and Lower IV, where students explore devising, improvisation, characterisation, storytelling and text in an enjoyable and relaxed atmosphere.

Artist in Residence

The Abbey is also fortunate to have a Theatre Artist in Residence, and a Graduate Theatre Practitioner. Theatre Artist in Residence, Cassie Friend, is an actor, director and deviser, and a founding member of the acclaimed RedCape Theatre Company. Cassie works alongside Head of Drama, Rossella Peretto, and our Graduate Theatre Practitioner, to deliver our rich and diverse extra-curricular programme, with a particular focus on the Drama Scholars’ provision.

Please visit our Scholarships page for information about our Drama Scholarships.

Follow us on Twitter @theabbey_drama