DRAMA

Drama plays an important part in the curriculum throughout the school; all students in Years 7-9 have a lesson each week, and then have the opportunity to take up the popular GCSE and/or A level courses further up the school.

Those who particularly enjoy this branch of the performing arts have many opportunities to further their interest and develop their skills as there is also a strong tradition of extra-curricular drama at Beaumont. Years 7, 8 and 9 each have their own Drama Club and perform annually to appreciative audiences. Students at GCSE and A level rehearse regularly after school for examination presentations. In addition, there is at least one major production each year; the reputation for professionalism and entertainment that has been built up by the performances put on by successive groups of students ensures that these are always ‘sold out’. Productions in recent years have included Honk!, The Wind in the Willows, A Midsummer's Night Dream, Miracle on 34th Street, Treasure Island, An Evening of Roald Dahl, Oliver Twist and Animal Farm.

Joint ventures with the Music Department have recently become a major element of both departments’ extra-curricular activities and productions such as Steven Sondheim’s Company and the schools’ version of Hairspray have left audiences stunned by what the students can achieve through talent, hard work, and the unbounded enthusiasm and skill of the members of staff who work with them. Professional musicians and actors who have worked with our students to help them prepare for their performances are full of praise for them. October 2011 sees us taking on the challenging Songs For A New World with KS4 and KS5 students. A lower school musical will be performed in Summer 2012.

Drama at Beaumont gives students other valuable opportunities and experiences which challenge and encourage them to grow in their confidence and abilities. At the end of 2008 innovative physical theatre company Tangled Feet undertook a week-long “artistic residency” at the school; drama enthusiasts throughout the school benefitted from demonstrations, workshops, and performing, whilst the whole school community had their curiosity aroused by ad hoc performances around the school during the week. Tangled Feet returned to spend another three days here in 2011. Our Year 10 students have also worked with professionals from the Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage and Matthew Townshend Productions Ltd rehearsing and performing Keeping It, a production exploring the issues around teenage pregnancy. Having performed in school and run workshops with their peers, the drama students then took the production into the community and performed for an appreciative local audience.

We also run a sixth form Gifted and Talented physical theatre company called ‘AL4’. We run a large number of theatre trips to professional theatres. In April 2012 we will be taking KS4 students to Lake Garda follwoing the success of a similar trip in 2010. 40 students will have taken part in each trip.

We are fortunate to have and to encourage some very talented students, many of whom achieve success both with local drama and theatre companies, and in some cases nationally through being accepted into the National Youth Theatre. Students from Beaumont have also won a year’s scholarship to a local theatre arts training company. We also have a number of students who go on to study Drama at University, taking with them the experiences and skills they have learned and developed here.

A full list of extra curricular clubs and activities, including those of interest to drama enthusiasts, can be downloaded here.