Performing
Each year we produce a School Play, two House Plays, a Prep School Play, a Middle School Play Festival, a Middle School Play, a Sixth Form Play, and GCSE, A Level and IB devised and scripted plays. Our extensive Costume Wardrobe, run by Mrs Thomson [Head of Careers] and members of the Sixth Form, is housed in four rooms and contains well over three thousand items. Our main performance space, the Concert Hall, is maintained by various groups of students: the Stage Store Crew, the Lighting team and the Sound team. In September, Fettes plans to appoint a full-time theatre technician to take on the role of overseeing this vital area of the department and the school. Over the last few years, our 'Fettes at the Fringe' companies have staged eight productions at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where their work is enthusiastically received by sell-out audiences.In the autumn term, two full scale productions were staged. Before half term, Carrington gave us Lee Hall’s A Servant to Two Masters, freely adapted from Carlo Goldoni’s original commedia dell’arte. This zany production, directed by Dr Aidonis, made good use of the talents of Oliver Nicoll [Truffaldino], Muzhaffar Petra [Beatrice in disguise as Federigo], Oliver Hunt [Florindo], Emily MacDonald [Clarice], William Shaw [Silvio] and provided great entertainment for enthusiastic audiences.
In late November, Glencorse staged Journey’s End. Set in a British dugout during the Great War, the play attempts to evoke a sense of the fear, disillusionment, friendship and loyalty that bound the young officers together as they tried to cope with the realities of life in the trenches. Douglas Riddle [Stanhope], James Gilbert [Osborne] and Calum Henderson [
The main focus of the spring term was the School Play, The Comedy of Errors, directed by Mr Richard Smith. In a departure from the norm, the Concert Hall was turned back-to-front so that the lighting gallery could be used as a balcony for the actors, and in an attempt to recreate Shakespeare’s Globe, the school audience was asked to stand. This production was set in an Ancient Greece that probably owed more to the classical worlds suggested by the likes of Up Pompeii, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Carry on Cleo than Shakespeare. All the action took place in front of a superb set designed by Lucy Clarke and the excellent costumes made by Mrs Thomson lent much to the busy atmosphere created by the energetic and committed cast. Oliver Hunt and William Shaw as the Antipholi twins, Natalie Simpson and Velocity Airey as their servants, the Dromios, and Emily MacDonald as the cuckolded Adriana gave fine performances in the principal roles and were well supported by scene stealing turns from Benjamin Cook-Northrop, Bethan Leckie and Muzhaffar Petra.
After half term, A Level students presented their practical work in front of a small audience of pupils and staff and the examination board’s moderator! This evening has now become an important annual fixture for the department, giving Sixth Form Drama students the opportunity to share their own work with their peers. This year both the new black-box space in the Drama Studio and the Concert Hall were used and this flexibility provided by now having two formal performance spaces is a huge boon. Once again, the audiences were treated to acting of an extremely high standard in a variety of different pieces that employed a range of theatrical styles and explored a wide range of contemporary issues.
The Middle School Play Festival took place at the end of the spring term and this year the organisation and hosting of the whole event was very professionally undertaken by Mr Peter Jenkins. Mrs Judy Campbell, our outgoing Deputy Headmistress kindly agreed to adjudicate, in the end crowning Arniston the winning house for its production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs for which the directors and cast are awarded The Butler Bowl. Honourable mentions went to Moredun for its version of The Jungle Book and College West for Greased Lightning.
This year has also seen the introduction of a Middle School Play, thereby filling a gap that has existed from some years now. Jointly directed by Richard Smith and Peter Jenkins [another successful directorial debut], the cast, drawn from the Third and Fourth Forms, staged a production of Tim Supple’s Beast and Beauties; a selection of European fairy tales. Although casting took place before the end of the spring term, work did not properly get underway until the middle of April and so the rehearsal period was little more than three weeks long. However, this would not have been obvious to the three hundred-odd audience goers who saw it over three nights. The large cast gave spirited performances in a highly stylised piece, which made good use of simple staging, clever lighting and theatrical imagery. In turn the actors were supported by a house band, under the highly professional directorship of Miss Charlotte Satow, which greatly enhanced the often unsettling moods of the five different stories. Particular mention should be made of Tara D’Agostino, Gael Hardie, Bryce Knox, Lisa McNicol and Joe Newman whose acting performances greatly impressed. This show took place in the Drama Studio and the smaller venue contributed greatly to the overall atmosphere. It is hoped that this event will become an annual fixture.
The recipient of The Smith Jug for the outstanding performance of the year on the Fettes stage goes to Oliver Hunt, for his portrayal of Antipholus of Syracuse, in The Comedy of Errors. Both the Butler Bowl and the jug were awarded at yesterday morning’s School Assembly.
After nine years as Head of Department, Richard Smith stands down from this role so that he can take up his appointment as Housemaster of Kimmerghame. He is to be succeeded by Mr Edmund Comer, formerly Head of Drama at
