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Leicester House won the end-of-year drama competition with a compelling tale of below-stairs intrigue and the murder of an abusive master – all told in less than 10 minutes.

Each of QE’s six Houses created and performed a short piece entitled A London Mystery, which they had to base on a short extract of the play, Sherlock Holmes, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and William Gillette.

The performers were from Years 7-9, with the directors mainly from Year 10. They performed to the rest of Year 7 and a panel of staff judges.

Drama Co-ordinator Elaine White said: “I was delighted with the amount of effort and creativity that went into these performances. The boys had very limited adult input and had to learn a great deal about how to turn an idea into an end-product.

“They came up with a broad range of plots, characters and c oncepts, from the disappearance of families from High Barnet station through to the theft of the Crown Jewels on the eve of the Coronation.

“The judges unanimously adjudged Leicester House to be the winners for a particularly praiseworthy performance of their murder mystery. The staging was simple, the dialogue clear and the acting strong: Leicester delivered a piece which gripped audience and judges alike.”

Leicester’s plot saw two servants becoming the prime suspects in the murder of their master. Two police inspectors ‘explained’ what had happened, giving motive, means and opportunity – yet each came up with a different version of events although based on the same evidence. The suspense was maintained until the end, when the denouement revealed that the cook was the culprit.

Stapylton were the runners-up, with Underne in third place.

All the Houses had begun with a single-page stimulus document. This started with some brief tips – “Don’t include too many storylines or characters” – and simple instructions, including the 10-minute time limit. Further requirements were that the finished piece must: tell a well-defined story; include one piece of music, and feature one ‘freeze-frame’ moment.

The document featured brief stage directions from the 1899 Sherlock Holmes play, including the setting, “the drawing-room at Edelweiss Lodge, an old house, gloomy and decayed, situated in a l onely district in a little-frequented part of London”.

Boys had to include the following lines of the play’s dialogue at some point in their piece:

‘Pardon, Sir, but one of the servants wishes to speak with you.’
‘I can’t spare the time now.’
‘A nice cup of tea.’

The Leicester House directors were Year 10 pupils Mahdin Choudhury, Maanav Patel and Ryan Ratnam. The actors were Aadarsh Khimasia, of Year 8, Arjun Nirmal (Year 7), Ayush Patel (Year 8), Shivas Patel (Year 8), Yuvann Sayandan (Year 9) and Ethan Solanki (Year 8).

The technical directors for all Houses’ performances were Thomas Mgbor and Hugh Westcott, both of Year 9.

Actors and crew preparing for their forthcoming performance of Henry V enjoyed an exclusive workshop with experts from the Shakespeare Schools Festival.

Usually two schools would take part in the workshop, but because the other school due to attend was unable to be there, the 26 QE pupils from Years 10-13 had the undivided attention of the SSF facilitators.

Mark Thomas, of Year 13, who is the student director, had prepared one scene from Henry V with the ensemble to present and work on with the SSF staff. Members of the crew enjoyed the opportunity to meet with the theatre technicians at the Arts Depot in North Finchley. And boys working towards their Trinity College Silver Arts Award also benefited from discussions with SSF professionals to discuss their own route into the arts. In addition, the boys worked on percussive sound and on battle cries to enhance the tension and passion of the scene.

“During the workshop, the facilitators looked at different aspects, including vocal delivery and physicality,” said Elaine White, the drama co-ordinator at QE. “They spent time developing the performance until it was really powerful and almost threatening. It was quite a thrill to watch the older boys working alongside the younger ones, sharing their knowledge and coaching them in performance.”

The Shakespeare Schools Foundation, which runs the annual festival, was set up to enable young people to perform in professional theatres. The foundation provides curriculum resources and workshops to help school children improve their literacy and develop their confidence and teamwork. In their mission statement, the foundation says it wants to show children that “Shakespeare is not just fun, it can also be terrifying, hilarious and deeply moving”. Its patrons include Jenny Agutter, Hugh Dennis and Ralph Fiennes.

QE’s final 30-minute, abridged performance of Henry V will take place as part of the festival at the Arts Depot in North Finchley on 20th November, at 7pm. Three other schools will also perform their own abridged versions of Shakespeare plays. Tickets are available from the Arts Depot.