Drama Blog - Theatre is good for the Soul - November 2023

It’s a bit like chicken soup. Warm, inviting, nourishing, and a good chicken soup might just change your life for the better! 

Dolphin has always taken our students to the theatre; it’s part of the school’s DNA.  But the  current Drama department’s ambition is to introduce these young theatre goers to new writing, cutting edge theatre companies and productions that push the boundaries.

This term Year 6 visited the Oxford Playhouse to watch The House of Chicken Legs performed by Les Enfants Terribles, a theatre company that focuses on imagination, developing crafty characters and twisted tales to transport their audiences to very different worlds. They are known for their lyrical gothic storytelling, theatrical daring and unpretentious sense of fun. Below are some thoughts from individuals in Year 6:

My favourite part of the show was the Old Yagas New Orleans jazz number with the saxophones because I like jazz and they had great American accents.

I thought it was really funny when the houses started to sing and dance.

When Baba passed through the gate, it made me cry

I loved all of it, but I was very impressed when the whole house started moving and they had a house party - it was really funny.

The Watermill Theatre just outside Newbury is a charming converted watermill and is the perfect place to take Year 3 to watch their winter productions.  This year we saw The Wizard of Oz but not the traditional musical that is broadcast every Christmas on the TV; this was an updated version with a new score and script.  For Niamh it was her very first time in the theatre and she sat on the edge of her seat, unwilling to even blink in case she missed something.  The magic of theatre.  Once back at school, we were inspired to develop our own characters that might accompany Dorothy on her journey to meet the Wizard of Oz.  They included:

Emma Tate was particularly excited to jump on the coach with Year 5 to watch The Royal Shakespeare Company performing The Box of Delights in Stratford.  The book by John Masefield had always been a firm favourite of hers growing up and now she had the opportunity to watch it on stage adapted by the contemporary children’s writer, Piers Torday.  Masefield drew on the folklore of his Victorian childhood to conjure up a half world of prowling wolves in the snowy shadows, antlered gods and muttering statues.  But the story is also packed with bang up to date thrills for his time - criminal gangs, machine guns, telephones, aeroplanes and time travel.  Dramatic stuff!

Year 5 was extra lucky this year because we had the opportunity to do an insight session before the show with the assistant director and two of the main actors playing Kay and Peter.  The RSC had heard of Dolphin and knew that we were doing our own original production of Wolves this term so spent some time questioning us about our school.  Then the children had the opportunity to be directors and interpret various scenes from the production in different ways.  It was very cool and we impressed the director and the actors with our many creative ideas.

I have a sneaking suspicion that these productions might just have changed our lives a little for the better!