14th June, 2017
Year 12 student, Julia Conley, is in the publicity team for A Midsummer Night鈥檚 Dream, and she spoke with the Director of the play about selecting the script and context for this year鈥檚 Senior School production;
Head of Drama at Girton Grammar, Mr Nicholas Pease, decided that for Girton鈥檚 2017 Senior School Production, he wanted to tackle a play written by one of the world鈥檚 greatest playwrights, William Shakespeare.
鈥淓ver since I started teaching, I鈥檝e wanted to direct one of Shakespeare鈥檚 plays,鈥 he said.
Mr Pease said that he chose A Midsummer Night鈥檚 Dream with the current Year 12 cohort in mind.
鈥淎part from the poetic language, the play offers comic moments and plenty of physicality for the students to work with. It鈥檚 a challenge but the students are doing a great job.
鈥淭his play gives Girton performers a lot of opportunities to try out their comedic skills, but experiment with some deeper dramatic moments,鈥 he said.
The shift in setting for Girton鈥檚 take on the play, from Ancient Greece to New York City in the 1920鈥檚, was something that Mr Pease decided on with his Year 12 Theatre Studies class.
鈥淚t is important that the students stamp their own signature on the plays that they perform so that they take complete ownership of it.
鈥淭he students loved the idea of taking a play that is over 400 years old and transporting it to a time and place that had its own very distinct style and culture.
鈥淚 have much admiration for the energy, ideas and enthusiasm that has come from all the students involved in this year鈥檚 production and I can鈥檛 wait for the curtain to rise on the Capital Theatre next week.
鈥淧erforming Shakespeare also ties in well with curriculum at the school,鈥 Mr Pease said.
Girton Grammar has five Shakespeare texts on its current curriculum book list: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, The Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night and Macbeth
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Mr Pease with students at the publicity photo shoot
Mr Pease in rehearsal mode
