A visiting theatre company performed a play in French to the whole of Year 8.
The production staged in the Main Hall was given by the specialist troupe, Onatti. Their comedy, Les Garçons, is a farce about the relationship problems of a young couple who babysit together for an evening.
The 50-minute play performed by two native French actors featured audience participation and drew much laughter from the boys.
Christopher Kidd, Head of Languages, said: “In other schools, this play is normally performed to pupils in Years 9-11 so I was particularly pleased to see how well our boys understood it – and to observe that they clearly derived so much enjoyment from something performed entirely in French.”
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Onatti Productions, who are based in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, write their own plays, aiming to make them modern and relevant to young people.
They endeavour to ensure that all the plays are pitched correctly, training the actors to present the performance in a specific style to help pupils follow the play. Mime and repetition are used extensively to enhance audiences’ comprehension and enjoyment.
In addition to the French productions, Onatti also put on plays for language-learners in German, Spanish and English. Before arriving at schools, they send ahead a vocabulary list and part of the script.