Actors chill and thrill

This year’s House Drama competition has been won by Harrisons’, who were presented by the Headmaster with a special shield to mark the victory. Broughton, Leicester and Stapylton also entered the competition, which was on the theme of ‘the power of fear’.

“I was very pleased with the ambition and scope of all the performances,” said QE’s Co-ordinator of Drama, Elaine White. “All four teams worked hard to produce thoughtful pieces of drama; Stapylton’s use of timpani and a keyboard was particularly effective. Harrisons’, however, managed to hold the audience with their chilling tale of evil – using only three performers!”

The competition was open to actors from Years 7 – 9, with Year 10 boys taking responsibility for the direction of each piece, offering guidance to the performers. The starting point for the play was a passage from H G Well’s gothic tale, The Red Room:

“A power of darkness … It lurks there always. You can feel it even in the daytime, even on a bright summer’s day, in the hangings, in the curtains, keeping behind you however you face about. In the dusk it creeps along the corridor and follows you, so that you dare not turn. There is fear in that room of hers – black fear….”

The productions all had to fulfil a number of criteria. Each was required to include a piece of music, a freeze frame and the following three lines: “a cup of tea”; “worse than I could have imagined” and “I am sure it moved”.

“All the performers worked well together and gave the audience an entertaining lunchtime,” said Mrs White. “The plays included chilling flashbacks and a number of imaginative sets such as empty schools and an abandoned fairground. All the directors and actors are to be congratulated and we must thank Year 11 pupils Sahil Handa and Miles Huglin, who returned to the School to help judge the performances.”