Mrs Horton (Drama Teacher)
Over the last fifteen weeks, a talented cast of 27 Year 6 students has undergone a fantastically imaginative creative process to produce their original performance of Downcast Academy, a completely original, devised play, made from scratch by the students. After some initial workshops exploring how to act with a mask, the students set about deciding what kind of character they wanted to play. They then made their own masks to communicate their characters in what would later become the “reality scenes”. With these opening decisions made, the cast were able to embark on devising the plot!
The play is set in Downcast Academy, the most boring, miserable school imaginable. All the staff and students are deeply unhappy and spend their days either bullying others or living in fear of the more terrifying members of the school community. Until, one day, a new girl arrives and brings with her the concept of “imagination” - a previously unheard-of concept at the school! As Poppy’s influence starts to spread around the school, the pupils and staff find themselves having “fantasies” - imagining things they had never previously thought possible. At first, they dismiss these ideas as unrealistic, because everyone at Downcast Academy is miserable and always will be. However, slowly, but surely, Poppy’s optimism starts to seep into the other characters’ psyches and magical changes start to happen. People start to believe in themselves, believe that they can be happy, and believe that they have the power to implement positive change.
The final performances were an explosion of energy, sound, colour, movement and eccentric characters. The cast were wonderfully engaging, at times gloriously funny, and at others beautifully moving and magical. Here are some thoughts from the cast:
Holly – “It was fun how we got to make up the whole play ourselves and we all got our own scenes where we were the star.”
Poppy – “It was fun how we got to make the play up by ourselves and it was very fun communicating and making up ideas.”
Lizzie – “I loved it all, I loved the fact that we could make up our own scenes and do it how we wanted to.”
Olivia – “I’m really proud of our show and how we got there and the progress we made every week and how our collaboration skills improved.”
Ella D – “I found doing the show really inspirational and it's inspired me to do more performing arts.”
It has been a fantastic process working with such imaginative and inspiring students. The cast have worked extremely hard on this challenging project and have brought energy, enthusiasm and joy to every rehearsal. I am so proud of them and all they have achieved in this demanding and exciting play. They have produced something truly unique and this experience is something to be treasured.
View photos from the production here.
