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An aspiring QE playwright’s coming-of-age story set in India was selected as one the best nine entries in a National Theatre writing competition.

As one of the shortlisted plays in the New Views competition, Year 10 pupil Adithya Raghuraman’s Train of Thought was given a rehearsed reading by professional actors at the National Theatre in London.

He had written the play during this School year, supported by a mentor playwright – in his case, Andrew Muir, a critically acclaimed writer for stage and screen – who visited QE to deliver workshops and to give Adithya personalised feedback and guidance.

Head of English Robert Hyland said: “Many congratulations to Adithya for a wonderful achievement. For someone as young as him to produce such a powerful piece of writing is truly astonishing – and for a student to have their work performed at the National Theatre is unprecedented in the School’s history.

“The play itself is an emotional tour de force – Adithya has a wonderful talent of being able to switch tone, moving from the comedic to the poignant to the reflective and finally to the uplifting. There is also great foresight in anticipating the transition from page to stage – when Adithya’s words were given life by a professional adult cast, it really allowed his talent at writing character and tone to be showcased”.

The New Views competition invites pupils aged 14-18 across the UK to submit 30-minute plays.  More than 1,000 young people took part nationally this year, with just under 500 plays finally submitted.

“The competition gives students an opportunity to tell stories that are personal to them. From an English department point of view, it gives our QE students the opportunity to write creatively for a real purpose and a real audience, adding enormous value to their wider English education,” said Mr Hyland.

Before the actors gave their reading in front of an audience at the National Theatre, Adithya spent some time meeting with the director and producer, as well as attending a rehearsal with the actors.

His play was a philosophical and reflective story about a British-Indian teenager taking a train ride across southern India after his mother’s death, and the relationship he developed both with his father and with the country of India.

Adithya said: “Being shortlisted for New Views was an unforgettable experience. From the exhilarating moment Mr Hyland called me into his office to tell me the great news, to being able to watch a plethora of talented actors display awe-inspiring emotion as they completed the rehearsed reading, the entire process never failed to be exciting and rewarding.”

Writing the play had been “a fascinating and inspiring journey”, he said, with the final work and his success in the competition making it all well worth the effort.

“An important lesson I learnt was the importance of perspective – my perspective of the characters I had written about; my teacher’s perspective; the views of my director, and the expression of the actors as they empathised with Ashok [the main character] and stepped in the shoes of the characters they had to play.”

“The latter is a difficult task, but the way the actors embodied everything I had intended when writing the play, as well as adding in their own humour and incredible skill when portraying the characters, was something I will never forget.

Thanking Mr Hyland and the competition team for the opportunity, he added: “I look forward to writing more plays and stepping out of my comfort zone in English again in the future.”

Adithya’s mentor, Andrew Muir, has had plays produced throughout the UK and in recent years his work has been performed at the National Theatre’s Connections festival, at Soho Theatre and on the BBC. His assessment of Adithya’s play described it as “a joyous road trip of a story, in which both father and son are brought back together again following the devastating loss of their wife and mother respectively.

“A wonderful train journey from Mumbai to Chennai gives the boy, our central protagonist, an opportunity to get a better understanding about his homeland – the smells, the chaos, the colours and the language. The writer takes us on this journey with skill and delicacy, and…conveys the atmosphere of India with such depth that at times I felt that I was on that same train as Ashok, experiencing all those wonders of India for the first time also. Strong story-telling, atmospheric, witty and truthful. A young imagination at play here and it’s very good. Well done.”

QE’s young actors took audiences for this year’s School Play on a trip to The Jungle – the unofficial camp in Calais for migrants and refugees that gained notoriety for its poor conditions during its brief existence.

Performed during national Refugee Week, the play, which is itself called The Jungle, gave a voice to some of the thousands of men, women and children from many different countries who lived in the camp while trying to gain access to the UK.

Assistant Head (Pupil Involvement) Crispin Bonham-Carter said: “This was an excellent production, with powerful and moving performances from a young but talented cast. It provided an important perspective on a set of issues so often debated in the media, and the stories of those in the Jungle resonated strongly.

“The boys seemed to revel in taking on such complex and contemporary issues, approaching the work with great maturity, respect and intensity.

“It was particularly topical, not just because it was performed during Refugee Week, but also because our School is this week marking One World Week, which is a celebration of inclusivity and an exploration of global issues.”

An award-winning play, The Jungle was written by two young playwrights, Joe Murphy and Joe Robinson, who met while studying English at Oxford. In the autumn of 2015, they first came to the Jungle camp, returning a short time later after crowdfunding to bring an 11m white geodesic dome there to serve as a theatre and community & arts space. They then spent seven months volunteering in the Jungle, before the authorities took down the encampment in 2016.

While fictional, the stories told by characters in the play were based closely on what the two writers heard during their time in the camp.

QE’s production in the Main School Hall, directed by Gavin Lister, of RM Drama, featured a 20-strong cast, with most of the boys involved drawn from Years 8 and 9.

Two boys, Aahan Shah, of Year 8, and Jeevan Karthick Thiyagarajan, of Year 9, shared the key role of Safi. “Safi was both the narrator and an active part of the plot, and Aahan and Jeevan interchanged throughout the play to deliver this role very effectively indeed,” said Mr Bonham-Carter, who was himself a professional actor before pursuing his teaching career.

Aahan said: “Playing the role of someone who has been far less privileged than myself and has had many different experiences has been really interesting. Additionally, the character I played weaves himself in and out of the story, as if controlling it and the perspective, which was something really challenging but also really fun!”

Fellow cast member Danyal Rahim, of  Year 8, who played the character, Yasin, said: “Being involved in this play has been a wonderful experience! Rehearsals with the older boys, and with others in my year, has helped me expand my interpersonal skills and my QE community,” he said, adding that the The Jungle had illuminated the “positive human side ” of the situation that refugees found themselves in.

Year 9’s Rehaan Shaikh, who played Ben, appreciated the opportunity that participation in rehearsals had given him both to make new friends and to express his creativity.

Drama has enjoyed a resurgence at QE in recent years. Work on a new facility for drama and the spoken word, The Robert Dudley Studio, is due to start this year.

QE actors mixed the language of Shakespeare with modern costumes and props to create a potent performance for our times.

The boys put on Julius Caesar at North Finchley’s artsdepot in the Shakespeare Schools Festival and then twice in School to Years 9 and 11 as part of QE’s inaugural Shakespeare and Latin Festival.

In his review of the play, Head of English Robbie Hyland said: “This was one of the strongest productions Queen Elizabeth’s has staged in recent years, not only due to the strong individual performances, but particularly due to the strength of ensemble performances.

“Julius Caesar is, among other things, a play about the relationships between leaders and their citizens – our production, featuring most cast members on stage most of the time, clearly demonstrated how impactful one voice can be on the many.”

First performed in 1599, Julius Caesar centres on the assassination of the eponymous Roman dictator in 44BC. In Shakespeare’s telling, Roman general Brutus joins a conspiracy led by the politician, Cassius, to assassinate Caesar, ostensibly to prevent him from becoming a tyrant. Caesar’s right-hand man Antony stirs up hostility against the conspirators, and Rome falls into civil war.

The play contains many often-quoted lines, including:

• Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look: He thinks too much: such men are dangerous
• This was the most unkindest cut of all
• Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.

“Many congratulations should go to the whole cast and crew, as the actors allowed some of Shakespeare’s most famous lines to shine – from Mark Antony and Brutus’ soaring funeral orations to Caesar’s resigned acceptance of his fate,” said Mr Hyland.

The director, Gavin Lister, of Rough Magicke Drama, explained in his notes for the production that he originally considered a Godfather-style setting for the play, with the characters as mafiosi. But following the “extraordinary turn after extraordinary turn” in UK politics over recent months, it became “impossible to ignore the modern-day political turbulence and the parallel themes explored in the classical piece we had been given the gift to perform.

“That is not to say our production is specific to Britain. It is not. The unstable political situations over the course of our rehearsal period in Italy, Brazil, China and Iran have provided us with a social background in which the themes of the play can be seen playing out very much in present-day real life.” These he enumerated as “the dangers of autocracy, the clandestine bargaining that takes place in corridors of power, the brutal and clinical nature of conspiracy, and the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the people’s voice”.

“The students have embraced the themes and the concept, and they have provided more pieces of inspired drama and theatricality than I could have hoped for. For that, and for their general work ethic and insatiable enthusiasm, I thank them,” Mr Lister added.

Drama has undergone a resurgence at QE in recent years, and the School is currently raising funds to create The Robert Dudley Studio – a facility devoted to drama and the spoken word.

Many of the cast spoke of how much they enjoyed taking part in the production.

Year 11 pupil Saim Khan, in the title role, said: “Playing the hardened political genius that is Julius Caesar was a very different experience to previous roles that I’ve done and a great opportunity to try something completely new.”

Year 10’s Simi Bloom, who played Flavius, a Roman tribune (a representative elected by the people), said: “Learning how to incorporate the modern world into a centuries-old story has been really fun and interesting, especially drawing parallels between prominent figures or systems of today and those of the Roman Empire.”

Year 11 actor Uday Dash said: “I had to adapt and build Cassius into a manipulative, calculating character, which was both a challenge and a unique experience.”

Riann Mehta, of Year 12, who played Caesar’s wife, Calpurnia, said: “It has been extremely pleasant to explore a female character by stepping out of gendered expectations. Embracing feminine stereotypes has been a major development in my theatrical presentation and has been a vastly entertaining experience.”

The play was one of the highlights of the Shakespeare and Latin Festival.

The festival programme also included a very well attended lecture on Decadence in New York and Ancient Rome for senior Latinists and English Literature GCSE and A-level students given by Dr Emily Pillinger, Senior Lecturer in Latin Language and Literature at King’s College London and a talk from UCL Professor of Latin Gesine Manuwald, who explored the real-life characters of Julius Caesar, Mark Anthony and Cicero.

Assistant Head (Pupil Involvement) Crispin Bonham-Carter said: “Dr Pillinger drew out the links between Baz Luhrmann’s film of The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald’s novel and the ancient Latin text, The Feast of Trimalchio.”

“Both academics were hugely impressed by how engaged and knowledgeable our young classicists are.”

The festival was one of a number being held at QE allowing teachers and boys to take time to celebrate a subject beyond the classroom. “Our staff are passionate advocates for the broader-world impact of their disciplines,” said Mr Bonham-Carter.

Sixth-formers made a trip to watch one of the most famous works by the influential 20^th-century Marxist German playwright and poet, Bertolt Brecht.

The group of Year 12 and Year 13 German students took the train to Kingston to watch The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Der kaukasische Kreidekreis) in the town’s Rose Theatre.

Languages teacher Rebecca Grundy said: “Although not an official member of the Communist party, Brecht was committed to highlighting social injustices and the imbalance of power distribution through his work.

“He was a proponent of ‘epic theatre’ (episches Theater); it was his belief that theatre is a way of showing audiences the world as it is, and of encouraging them to respond.

“Brecht made use of the ‘alienation effect’ (Verfremdungseffekt) to achieve this; theatrical devices aimed to keep the audience critically, rather than emotionally, engaged. The students enjoyed spotting these in the play.”

Set in the Soviet Union around the end of World War II, The Caucasian Chalk Circle is a re-writing of a 14th-century Chinese play, The Chalk Circle, by Li Xingdao.

It relates the story of a land dispute between two agricultural communes and of a visit by a singer and his band of musicians. The singer tells a parable as a way of settling the dispute, concluding that the land should go to those who will use it most productively – the fruit growers – and not the goat farmers who owned it previously.

It thus features a play within a play, which is itself an example of an alienation device. Other examples include the:

• Use of song to narrate the action and characters’ thoughts;
• Jarring use of props, including a teddy bear as a baby!
• Sparse set.

The visit reinforced the boys’ Sixth Form German studies. The Sixth Form course covers Berlin and its cultural scene. Brecht lived and worked in East Berlin for a large part of his career, although The Caucasian Chalk Circle was written in the United States, where Brecht was living in exile during the war.

He returned to East Berlin after the war and died there in 1956 at the age of 58. At first supportive of the government’s repressive measures following the East German uprising of 1953, Brecht eventually expressed his disillusionment over the events

The trip was organised by Ms Grundy, who accompanied the group, together with her fellow Languages teacher, Katrin Hood.

Year 12’s Hanan Moyeed said: “This trip was absolutely unforgettable. Seeing the play was a brilliant experience. It also links well to what we have been looking at in lessons.”

Harrisons’ triumphed in the 2021–2022 Eric Shearly House Cup, reaping the rewards of a year of consistently strong performance.

It was a striking reversal of the 2020–2021 results, when Harrisons’ ended the year languishing in the lower reaches of the inter-House points table.

This year’s eagerly awaited final totals were announced at the end-of-year House celebration assembly, with Harrisons’ proclaimed the winners to loud cheers from the boys.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “My congratulations go to Harrisons’ House Captain, Utkarsh Bhamidimarri, his deputy, Anubhav Rathore, [both of Year 12] and to all the members of the House. Their impressive victory demonstrates how a combination of unflinching determination, high levels of enthusiastic participation and good organisation can often turn around unpromising situations.”

Founded in 1954, when it was the fifth House to be established at the School, Harrisons’ enjoys the distinction of being the only QE House named after two people­, both of them long-serving Masters (teachers) from the School’s history: G.W.N. Harrison, who taught at the School for 41 years until 1929, and E.W. Harrison (no relation), another long-serving teacher, who retired in 1950.

The competition between QE’s six Houses continues throughout the year and includes points gained through the many House competitions, as well as the totals of merits and good notes earned across the year groups.

One of the biggest contributors to the overall points total is Sports Day, held near the end of the Summer Term. All The Houses battled hard at Sports Day, including Harrisons’, although this year, as in 2019 and 2021 (2020’s Sports Day being cancelled), the winning House was again Broughton.

Broughton sealed their Sports Day success by winning the QE Mile – the first time for some years that this relay has not been won by the staff team. Staff did, however, retain their Sports Day tug-of-war title.

The end-of-term assembly celebrated involvement not only in sport, but also in extra-curricular activities from chess to drama and music, as well as this academic year’s charity work and fundraising.

The latter included the 10km sponsored walks undertaken by pupils from Years 7­–9, which, like Sports Day, formed part of this year’s QE Enrichment Week.

On some of the hottest days of the year, the 570 boys enjoyed the chance to get out into the countryside, raising £5,000, to be split between the Teach Sri Lanka charity and the School’s Robert Dudley Studio project.

During the walks, the boys devised some creative solutions to the issue of carrying their bags, while also enjoying tree-climbing, picnics and some impromptu games of football and cricket.

They slaked their thirst with water delivered to them en route by Assistant Head (Pupil Involvement) Crispin Bonham-Carter and Extra-curricular Enrichment Tutor Katrin Hood, who organised the walks.

Year 10’s Enrichment Week featured the performance of a French play, as well as animation and drama workshops. The animation was based on Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, which the boys will study next term, while for the drama, boys created tableaux from Romeo and Juliet, learned how to stage-fight, and used a Shakespearean insult generator to practise their Elizabethan English.

This year’s School Play, originally set on the hottest July day in the USA in 1954 and staged at QE in one of the hottest UK Julys on record, proved a tour de force.

12 Angry Men was written by prolific playwright and TV dramatist Reginald Rose and turned into a critically acclaimed film by multi-award winning director Sidney Lumet. Although penned nearly 70 years ago, the themes of prejudice, race, status and justice still resonate strongly today.

Set in a jury room during a case where the death penalty looms, the play gives the cast the challenge of delivering compelling drama through tense and heated debate in a claustrophobic environment with inhibited movement – a challenge they pulled off with consummate dramatic skill, according to Crispin Bonham-Carter, Assistant Head (Pupil Involvement).

The play hinges on juror 8, played by Henry Fonda in the 1957 film and by Year 10’s Augie Bickers in the QE production. This character is the first to seek a non-guilty verdict and sets out to persuade the other jurors of the gravity of sending a young man to his death.

Staged ‘in the round’ the audience were drawn into the taut atmosphere around the deliberating table as Augie set about consensus-building amongst peers who had to confront their own preconceptions and prejudices.

“Augie was a picture of calm, as he gently unpicked the easy assumptions of the other jurors, while the Bhowmick brothers – Krishn and Koustuv, of Years 9 and 10 respectively – were exceptional in their portrayal of embittered, middle-aged jurors 3 and 10,” said Mr Bonham-Carter.

“This was real ensemble acting, with great American accents, too! It provided yet more proof, if proof were needed, that drama at QE is flourishing!” he added.

The play focuses on the personalities and prejudices of the jurors as much as on the details of the crime. Unusually for a court drama, the defendant, a young man accused of murdering his abusive father, is not one of the main characters,

The cast were unanimous in their enjoyment of exploring the play’s themes and the rehearsal process leading up to the performances.

Juror 7, Saim Khan, of Year 10, said: “Drama has been a uniquely amazing experience in that it has enabled me to work closely with people from different year groups. Whilst there have been many challenges such as learning lines, the length of the play and learning cues, it has been immensely rewarding.”

Rehaan Shaikh, of Year 8, who was juror 11, said: “I’ve really enjoyed being able to rehearse every week with people I’d never known prior to the play. It was great as we all were making progress while having lots of fun. The funniest part of rehearsals was just saying something wrong and everyone breaking character.”

And Year 9’s Suhaas Sabbella, who played juror 1, said: “We were given a lot of freedom to develop our characters and think about their personality traits and then perform around it.”

Mr Bonham-Carter added: “My special thanks go to the director, Mr Gavin Molloy, for his creativity, inspiration and support.”