The Fifth Form year group performed a double bill with Ghost Writer and Ernie’s Incredible Illucinations. The plays took the performers and the audience on a journey through theatrical history from a traditionally set straight-play to a performance in a ‘black box’. These two well-known, vastly differing styles called on the cast to be adaptable and creative within the use of staging and props.
Ghost Writer by Nick Warburton provided the opportunity for the children to explore the comedic value of going “off piste” with their acting. Playfulness and creativity sparked many happy accidents which were incorporated into the play, including inserted scenes featuring everything from ballet dancing gangsters to a rogue tsunami. Embracing the Shakespearean phrase ‘brevity is the soul of wit’, the cast played on both their physical wit and the use of intelligent, more subtle gags. As the play developed two play-writers watched their creation fall apart before their eyes in an orchestrated operation performed by the Ghost, ending in the comical death of the writers. One audience member commented that there was ‘moment after moment of ingenuity and well-rehearsed timing’, an extremely difficult skill for anyone, let alone a group of this age.
Ernie’s Incredible Illucinations by Alan Ayckbourn was explored in the more modern set of a ‘black box’. The lack of props and staging forced the children to be more creative and to inspire the imagination of the audience even more than usual. Ernie is a young boy who is taken to the doctors by his parents who clearly do not understand their son's brilliant (and completely normal) imagination. Throughout the play Ernie’s imagination comes to life, including scenes such as his Auntie May becoming heavy-weight boxing champion of the world and his dad heroically rescuing an explorer from a mountain. The fast pace of the play inspired moments of hilarity and a fantastic reaction from the audience.
The lighting was independently run by three cast members who did a fantastic job, even adapting some of the lighting live. The Choristers also played a crucial role during rehearsals giving well-constructed, advanced notes to the other cast members. The whole year group came together as a team to explore these plays and produced two well-polished, hilarious performances. These plays demanded a commitment from the children to their parts, ensemble and stylised scene changes, which the cast delivered. One audience member commented, “Children grasping artistry before our very eyes as they process the experience. I love watching the children becoming conscious of what acting is, and their joy in finding it is our joy as we watch.”