Page 13 - Malvern Times - Issue 3

Malvern Times
Why then, attend a theatre or participate in theatrical endeavour? The answer? The communal experience.
Happily, at Malvern College, the theatrical, cultural and communal experience is booming. Pupil participation in plays, performances, music concerts and choirs, as well as academic drama courses being healthily subscribed, is demonstrable
of the power and attraction that theatre continues to have amongst young people of the College.
The desire to stand on stage, step outside of oneself, to bring an audience into the heart of a story remains strong. Our current programme of drama provision is designed to allow anyone with an interest to become involved, whether treading the boards or behind the scenes. Productions are year based, with four major co-curricular productions being spaced across the academic year, whilst the House Drama competition is placed in the mid-point, before the examination season revs into action.
As Director of Drama, my aim is to reveal to young people the range of theatrical styles, historical periods and genres, in the hope that they become acquainted with the transformative nature, scope and magic of theatrical expression. I am fortunate as well to have a superb Drama co-curricular team who help me achieve my aim, they are; Leanne Hollyhead (Head of Speech
& Drama, Musical Theatre and Choreography), Steve Doidge (Theatre Technician) and Heather Fryer (Head of Wardrobe). I am supported in delivering the academic Drama programme by Anne Sharp (HouseM No. 4) and Lynne Hallett, both English and Drama teachers.
I am really proud of the high standard of stage production
we are achieving, the quantity of pupil involvement and the quality of performances delivered by the pupils on the Rogers
Theatre stage. And we must have inspired many of our former dramatists. Amaka Okafor is building a very successful career on stage appearing in Royal Court, National Theatre and Almeida Theatre Productions. Others are involved in film, television, and stage work as well as journalism, opera, and fashion. Former pupils and Old Malvernian’s including Thomas Stanford, who won an Academy Award for Best Film Editing “West Side Story” in 1961 and Denholm Elliott, who had an extensive career on stage and screen.
Thinking back there are two productions I am personally proud to have had a crack at staging: ‘Coram Boy’ and the adaptation of Hillary Mantel’s novel ‘Wolf Hall’. We staged the amateur premiere of ‘Coram Boy’ at the College, which was only the third ever production staged following the National Theatre and Broadway. With ‘Wolf Hall’ we were the first school ever to stage the adaptation of Hillary Mantel’s novel.
What’s next? ‘High School Musical’ takes to the stage in November. We are hoping to run a morning drama/musical theatre workshop for prep schools followed by a matinee performance. I am looking so forward to the Autumn term and being involved once again with young people creating and experiencing a story together in ‘the room where it happens’ where the excitement and anticipation is palpable - the collective feeling produced only by theatre. Now you can’t get that on Facebook!
Find more information on drama at Malvern here.
Keith Packham
Director of Drama
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