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Drama at St Benedict's

Published on isbi School News dated Tuesday 7th of January 2014

Upper Sixth Drama students at St Benedict's School, Ealing presented two thirty minute productions in the Glendyne Theatre at the end of last term, each one written, directed and now acted by the students as part of their A Level assessment. '5 Words' revolved around the murder enquiry following the death of a schoolboy and was set in the 60s. 'Symptoms' was a powerful period piece set in the Victorian era which explored the psychological symptoms of a music teacher. Mrs Pauline Lightfoot, Deputy Head, enjoyed watching both plays.

'From the very beginning the music and the simple but carefully thought out set gave this performance of '5 Words' a very authentic period feel. The plot was cleverly constructed to be a vehicle for the tangled relationships and barely contained jealousies and resentments bubbling away under the surface of the major characters playing the roles of three journalists. However, Oliver Maynard, Ilayda Nijhar and Alfie Godfrey also took multiple parts, playing the boy's parents and others, and the quick fire conversation between them, as they effortlessly switched roles and accents, was truly a wonder to behold! An excellent and original performance and I thoroughly enjoyed the undercurrents of tension reined in by convincing performances and a tight structure. Well done!'

'The costumes, set and subdued background lighting in 'Symptoms' all contributed to a gloomy and atmospheric mood. This well-constructed performance very cleverly threw in clues in a deliberately disorganised way as the music teacher (played by Holly Horne) moved in and out of the multiple personalities that her mind had created. The journalist (Stefanie Kotonou) managed to create a very cool exterior that left you guessing as to her real intentions while the doctor (Emre Kose) could have been a young Freud! This performance was very well crafted and well-acted to draw on significant developments of the period in psychoanalysis.'
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