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REVIEWS OF THE YEAR
Holywell Music Room, Close Harmony
performances and the newly introduced
Warden’s Recitals.
Two productions were successfully taken
to the Edinburgh Festival 2014 –
Who’s
Afraid of Michael Gove
(which attracted
considerable media attention) and
Blood
Wedding.
A new post of Graduate Assistant
Hall Technician brought more expertise into
the production side of events in the Hall and
the Shell Plays saw the benefit. The autumn
production of
His Dark Materials
in The
North Wall was a huge success and the
author visited and gave the cast useful
insights. The Sixth Form performed their
examined work in the Spring Term including
Gone Girl
and
Love and Information
- the
latter also visiting the Edinburgh Festival
2015. Gaudy Week saw an excellent
production of Terry Pratchett’s
Mort
given
by the Lower School pupils. The school
continues to benefit from an excellent series
of professional productions in The North
Wall – workshops are given to those studying
drama and all members of the school are
encouraged to attend performances.
The Art and Design departments had a
busy year mounting their own exhibitions
in The North Wall and the department –
one exhibition was also given by the art
teachers entitled
Out of Hours.
Pupils visited
prestigious galleries in London and New
York: Tate Modern, Frieze, the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, Frick, Guggenheim and
MOMA. The Jewellery department was
invited to Hatton Garden by an OSE to
gain useful insights into the industry. A
Lower School Photography competition
(sponsored by
Bang & Olufsen
) was held
and the winning entries were exhibited in
The North Wall. The Gaudy Week
exhibitions included an impressive Leavers’
Show and many items found buyers.
The school is lucky to have a number of
accomplished dancers who are beyond the
Grade 8 level in ballet and they offered a
delightful ballet recital at the end of the
Autumn Term. The Gaudy Week Dance
Showcase displayed the wide variety of
dance styles taught at the school.
Speech and Drama continued to grow
with a record number of entries for
LAMDA exams (80) achieving excellent
results (35 distinctions and 40 merits).
Junior and Senior debating societies
flourished throughout the year.