Drama
Drama at Northwood College has a high profile and there are numerous opportunities for girls to participate in both the classroom and extra-curricular activities.
Drama is taught throughout the Senior School as a discrete subject and by drama specialists. Girls have an hour of Drama every week throughout Years 7, 8 & 9. In Years 10 and 11 Drama is a popular option at GCSE. A Level Drama is also available and some girls continue with the subject at University or Drama School. We have a number of former students working professionally as actors including Carrie Hope Fletcher and also alumni working behind the scenes in design areas ranging from Costume, (Bridgerton) to Lighting and Stage Management. We run National Youth Theatre auditions every year and frequently have students gaining a place on this prestigious programme.
Drama is taught in a purpose-built Performing Arts Centre. The Drama Studio itself has a sprung dance floor, full length mirrors along one wall, a computerised lighting system, and full black-out facilities.
MAIN SCHOOL PRODUCTION
Girls from all years are encouraged to audition and although productions are cast on ability, everyone has the opportunity to be involved. Other recent productions have included: Jane Eyre, We Will Rock You, Daisy Pulls It Off, School of Rock, The 39 Steps, An Ideal Husband, Annie Get Your Gun, Oliver, Little Women and Fiddler on the Roof.
HOUSE DRAMA
In the Summer Term girls have the opportunity to audition for the house plays which are performed in front of the school. A prize is awarded to the winning house and individual prizes go to the best performers in Lower School, Upper School and Sixth form respectively.
KS3 STUDIO PERFORMANCE – YEARS 7, 8 & 9
In the Summer Term, girls in the lower school have the opportunity to perform in either a showcase of small scale production. This gives girls an additional opportunity to gain experience of performing, as well as preparing for GCSE Drama or taking on other roles within production. Recent productions have included: Bright. Young. Things, Secrets, Two Weeks with the Queen, The Tulip Touch and The Chrysalids.
DRAMA CLUBS
We run a variety of Drama clubs at lunchtime and often girls who find it difficult to commit to after school activities are keen to take part in the numerous activities including mime, improvisation, scripted work, drama games, work on voice and movement and recording and editing their own performances. Other more specific clubs including Stage Lighting, Audition Preparation, National Youth Theatre Support and Costume clubs are run as and when required according to demand.
THEATRE TRIPS AND VISITS BY PROFESSIONALS
The Department organises numerous theatre trips and encourages visits from professionals. Workshops have included: a make-up workshop run by a BAFTA nominated make-up artist, acting workshops run by the Donmar Warehouse and the acclaimed physical theatre company, Frantic Assembly. Recent theatre trips have included: The Woman in Black, A Taste of Honey, Frantic Assembly’s Things I Know to be True, An Inspector Calls and The 39 Steps.
GCSE DRAMA: AQA
In Drama, girls are encouraged to develop skills in a wide variety of areas associated with the theatre and their own personal development.
Whilst the majority of girls pursue their interest in acting through Scripted, Devised, and Improvised Work, and Physical Theatre, others choose to focus on the design skills available – costume (which includes make-up), sound, lighting, set design, puppetry.
Practical coursework and performance constitutes 60% of their final mark. There is also a 1 hour 45 minutes written examination worth 40%, in which girls are required to write about a play text studied from a performance perspective, (currently Shelagh Delaney’s A Taste of Honey) and to revise and analyse a live theatrical production that they have seen during the course, either at the theatre or an online recording.
Theatre trips occur on a regular basis for all girls and are essential preparation for the written examination, as well as providing girls with ideas to inform their own practical work.
Girls are required to :
- Create a devised piece and accompanying log (40%)
- Perform in two extracts of a published play (20%)
Performance work will require girls to organise rehearsals in addition to their lesson time, either at lunchtime and/or after school.
LAMDA
LAMDA is available to girls in both the Junior and Senior School as an extra-curricular option and is run by experienced visiting peripatetic LAMDA teachers.
We have been so pleased with the class overall and think her teacher is amazing as well as other staff whom my daughter has been in contact with this year.
— Current Parent