On Wednesday 18^th October, we held our annual House Drama competition. In total 33 pupils entered the competition, which was adjudicated by Ian Bartholomew, an award winning actor who has worked in T.V, Film, Theatre and Radio for nearly fifty years. He has worked at The National Theatre, The R.S.C, and Manchester Royal Exchange, amongst many others and has appeared many times in London’s West End, receiving four Olivier award nominations along the way. Ian has appeared in films such as Wonka, Operation Fortune, Denial and Eisenstein, and countless TV programmes, including Spooks, Minder, Wycliffe, South Riding, Endeavour, DCI Banks, Foyles War, and most recently as Geoff Metcalfe in Coronation Street. Our pupils were privileged to receive feedback from such an experienced and highly renowned actor.

When preparing for the competition, every entry had the opportunity to take part in a coaching session with our Sixth Form Drama Ambassadors to gain feedback on their use of skills and staging. It was a joy to witness some of these sessions, as Year 12 pupils worked with different year groups to support and develop their performance work. A huge thank you to Issie, Olivia, Katie and Dylan for their invaluable advice.

The heats were held during the day, where we saw performers in several different age group categories, including monologue, duologue, group and musical theatre, perform in a full auditorium of their peers. All pupils should be incredibly proud of the commitment and effort that they put in to creating their pieces and the adjudicator commented on how impressed he was with the preparation the pupils had undertaken as a whole.

In the evening, we held the Final, where the winners and highly commended performances of the day were invited to perform again in front of a jam-packed audience of their friends and family. Also invited to this event, were the winners of Junior House Drama which took place on Friday 13^th October, where J3-J6 pupils showcased the performance work from their weekly Drama lessons.

Watching the Final, I could not have been prouder of our pupils, who displayed confidence, maturity and sensitivity for the subject matter explored within their pieces. The audience were treated a very varied programme which ranged from the highly comical to the highly dramatic, with each performer taking us on the character’s individual journey. It was wonderful to hear the adjudicator comment on the amount of genuine talent the Abbey Gate College pupils showcased during the competition.

Particular congratulations go to the following pupils:

Special Commendations –

Noah and George (Junior 3)

Libby (Year 13)

Winners –

William (Junior 6) – Overall Junior Winner

James, Marcus and Ezra (Year 11)– Overall Duo/Group Winners

Issie (Year 12) – Overall Musical Theatre Winner

Olivia (Year 12) – Overall Acting Winner

Christina (Year 13) – Overall Runner-Up

Erin (Year 10) – Overall Competition Winner

Finally, congratulations go to Ripley, who won the House Drama shield!

Kayleigh Anger, Head of Drama