Senior School Drama Production 2020 - The Green Room
Joining Pocklington School as Head of Drama in September presented some immediate , challenging decisions on how to offer a meaningful , safe , compliant and high-quality co-curricular Drama provision for the Senior School . Initially we had thought to produce a play which we could live stream to the community from the Tom Stoppard Theatre . However , having watched an awful lot of digital theatre during these past months , it is clear to me that one essential ingredient of the live experience is too essential to miss , which is you ; our audience . Without an audience watching actors and designers produce something live at a specific time , in a particular place , theatre cannot exist in its truest sense . Even a live stream cannot belie the conspicuous absence of an audience . So , we realigned our thinking about how best to produce both good Drama and provide a rich experience for the pupils .
The first thing to say about the project is it was never meant to be a linear narrative . Those expecting a play will have been disappointed . Instead , we played to the constraints of the situation and to our own strengths and abilities , embracing the unknown , and decided to film a series of extracts which all , in some way , speak to the frustrations and challenges we ' ve all faced recently . In their own way these excerpts of award-winning writing pay tribute not only to the work of the ten , brilliant playwrights ’ work , but to the countless actors , designers , producers and directors up and down the country who have been looking at deserted seats in empty theatres . They have been forced to wait for this to pass , prevented from going on stage . Instead stuck , perpetually waiting , in The Green Room . And that is where the title of this piece came from .
Filmed across three strictly discrete bubbles , rigorously separated and sanitised , its success is in its respect for each of the stories it tells . Although these are brief extracts , fleeting moments , and excerpts , every group of actors , producers and designers have applied immense care , attention , commitment , detail and ambition to make each of the segments a respectful testament , a love letter even , to the theatre . We wanted the Tom Stoppard Theatre empty to play its own role in this piece , yearning , aching as it is for an audience . Taking the extracts out of their original context and filming them in the backstage areas of the theatre itself ; the dressing rooms , the fly tower , the winch room , the lighting box , the gantries , the workshop and in the empty auditorium itself , hopefully gives the audience a sense of how much the theatre needs them back .
I ' m mightily proud of everybody involved . The vision , commitment , bravery and creativity has been exceptional . It was fiendishly difficult to advertise , audition , cast , rehearse , design , shoot and edit all of these segments over three separate bubbles , and with patience at a premium , the whole company should be extremely proud of this production . The piece of work is a searing beam of positive energy , blazing through the darkness of the past few months , emerging victorious as a unique , dynamic and defiant Senior School Drama Production 2020 .
Adam Lea , Head of Drama
Academic Update
This term has seen the Pocklington virtues of creativity , collaboration and resilience come to the fore , with staff and pupils displaying remarkable flexibility , imagination and ingenuity to come up with new ways to maintain and enhance the school ’ s academic life . Whether adapting classroom approaches to ensure practical science , drama , art , design , music , PE and computing activities have continued throughout the term ; ‘ blending ’ our teaching so self-isolation does not prevent our pupils from learning , or our teachers from connecting ‘ live ’ with their classes ; the entire Pocklington community has shown its dedication to building a vibrant learning experience for everyone . Here are just a few of the ways in which this has been delivered this term :
• Our team of language assistants have continued supporting pupils from Fourth Year to
Upper Sixth with speaking skills and exam preparation .
• A level Geographers have collected primary research data through day trips to Scarborough and Allerthorpe woods .
• Fourth and Fifth Year pupils have made excellent progress with their Higher Project Qualifications and a new cohort of Sixth Formers got underway with their Extended Projects .
• In Drama and Theatre , pupils have embraced the challenges of learning physical theatre techniques by adapting these into socially distanced floor pattern sequences .
• Lower School pupils have prepared their entries for the Canterbury Tales writing competition , to be entered in January 2021 .
• Modern linguists have entered the University of Sheffield ’ s translation competition .
• Pupils ‘ zoomed ’ their business advisor , Old Pocklingtonian Harry Coates ( 97-08 ), to gain support with their business plans in our Young Enterprise venture .
• First Years got to grips with their ‘ bubble area ’ with the help of Geography ’ s environmental survey designed to get them ‘ thinking like a geographer ’.
• Lower School pupils have maintained their connection with the Library through our Reading Bingo challenge – the brainchild of Mr Braidwood .
We ’ re already looking forward to seeing what next term will include !
Laura Powell – Deputy Head ( Academic )
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