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Drama Year 10 - Great Expectations

We had ‘great expectations’ of our Year 10 Drama students this week and they didn’t disappoint, bringing Dickens’ story of hope, vanity, snobbery and love to life in two fabulous performances.

Over the past term, our Year 10 Drama students have been working very hard with Ms Crittle and Mr Colyer to perfect their performance of Great Expectations. On Monday and Tuesday evening this week, they finally had an opportunity to showcase their talents to family and friends at the Independent Theatre.

Here is what Grace (Year 10) had to say.

 “Year 10 Drama has been working very diligently on the dramatic play Great Expectations, based on the novel by Charles Dickens.

The story follows the life of Pip, a curious, young boy whose life is changed upon meeting an escaped convict. He is later thrown into the midst of British aristocracy, following the support of a mysterious benefactor. We portrayed many complex characters designed by the clever, eccentric mind of Dickens. These characters include Pip himself; Miss Havisham, a deluded, old woman left at the altar; Mr Jaggers, a cruel, manipulative lawyer; Magwitch, a terrifying but kind-hearted convict; and Estella, the love interest of Pip who claims she lacks any form of the human emotion. These complex characters were extremely difficult to portray and took many rehearsals to perfect.

With an addition to the other characters, the script that we followed was designed to hold a chorus, in which we commented on the events occurring during Pip’s life. The chorus held the most major role in the play, and was made up of all of the cast when they were not portraying other characters. When acting as the chorus, we had to maintain focus and take on the character of Pip, hence taking on his emotions and reacting to Pip’s difficulties and struggles. It was challenging as we had to remain on stage at all times and continue acting as Pip throughout the play.

The play was split into two acts, divided by the two classes. 10DRA2, directed by Ms Crittle tackled the first act. We portrayed the early events in Pip’s life, such as his simple family life, the first encounter with Magwitch and his first feelings for Estella. As a chorus member, the girls used chorus and play-building skills to narrate the story and form the set of each room, changing places and body language in order to portray different locations.

In the second act, 10DRA1, directed by Mr Colyer, took over. They developed the story of Pip’s life and followed him into the British aristocracy and revealed Pip’s benefactor. It was extremely challenging for the second act, having to portray the busy, intense nature of life in industrial London. Ultimately, both classes were able to project and convey Dicken’s true intentions, a comment and satire of the British social hierarchy.

As a whole, both classes came together very well, and we all had such a fun experience. Some highlights included: seeing all the girls improve in the characterisation; trying on our costumes for the first time; and fully becoming our characters. Our most exhilarating experience was seeing all our friends and family coming to watch us have fun and showcase our talents on stage.

Overall, we are so proud of each other and are extremely happy that our audience enjoyed our performance, as we know that we enjoyed preparing and performing it.”