Drama at Redland High

Redland High School recognises that Drama has a unique contribution to make to the school curriculum.

At Redland High we see Drama as an academic and a social pursuit: it generates links between different Year and House groups; it encourages girls to expand, explore and consider their own experiences; it promotes skills of physical and vocal expression, cultural understanding and analysis, personal awareness and empathy.

Drama is a popular and successful subject throughout the school. In our Foundation Stage we begin with storytelling and acting out with costumes, and story creation and character improvisation is developed through Years 1, 2 and 3. By Year 4 our pupils are studying duologues and solo pieces from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and in Years 5 and 6 our young thespians are performing their own versions of much loved stories. From our Foundation Stage in the Junior School right through to Sixth Form,girls are encouraged to participate in assembly presentations.

The Senior School Drama curriculum and the components of the A-Level course are outlined on the relevant pages. Redland High old girls have gone on to considerable success in the arts. Currently we have an old girl who is a member of the RSC, another who has been involved with the independent and highly regarded 'Love and Madness' theatre company. Others are working in prominent positions at the Barbican, Sadlers' Wells and Tate Modern. We have nurtured individuals working in stage costume design and cinematography.

A wide range of Drama activities is offered at Redland High. Our annual school production ranges from Shakespeare to straight Dramas to musicals. Recently we have presented Romeo and Juliet, Bugsy Malone, Grimm Tales and Sweet Charity, while past productions include Great Expectations, Noel Coward's Hay Fever, Little Shop of Horrors, Calamity Jane and The Importance of Being Earnest.

We have been involved in local and national Drama and Arts festivals. Our most recent and ambitious venture was taking a production ofEuripides' The Trojan Women to the Edinburgh Fringe. Past glories include an unbroken 6 year winning streak at the Bristol One Act Drama Festival, and a version of The Taming of the Shrew presented at the Shakespeare Schools' Festival which featured talking horses!

Theatre trips are part of our regular school life with a number of trips run every academic year. Again, the emphasis in on diversity: the Department aims to take girls to see theatre that they might not otherwise access for themselves. With this in mind, we have seen Danny Boyle's Frankenstein at the National Theatre, Punchdrunk's The Masque of the Red Death at the Battersea Arts Centre, Tim Supple's multi-lingual A Midsummer Night's Dream and the recent Cirque du Soleil production, Totem. We have also been to see the highly regarded National Theatre production War Horse on two separate occasions!

In addition to taking girls out of school, the Drama Department also has a tradition of inviting specialists into school to run workshops with the girls that enhance their curricular studies and expand their general knowledge. We have worked with the improvised comedy group 'Instant Wit' and we have had stage combat and circus skills workshops run by specialist practitioners.

Girls at Redland High who enjoy Drama and Theatre are guaranteed an experience that is vibrant, exhilarating, challenging and diverse. Their cultural awareness will be expanded, and their practical experience enhanced. And they will have a tremendous amount of fun.