By Miss Elsom (Drama Theatre and Events Technician)
During the first week of the summer holidays, 38 students took to London to experience the Drama residential of London Theatre; two days jam packed full of theatre shows, tours and workshops.
Day one started with a backstage tour of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, which currently has Frozen in residency. As we entered the historic building, which has stood for over 400 years, we marvelled at the beautiful portraiture and stunning aesthetic design. After its £60 million renovations, funded by Lord Lloyd Webber, the whole theatre was revamped for the demands of 21st Century Musical Theatre productions and re-opened in 2022 to the spectacular venue we saw on our first day.
After dinner in Covent Garden, taking the scenic route down The Mall and onto the Victoria Palace Theatre, we arrived for our first show. We were treated to the spectacle Hamilton, from incredibly choreographed musical numbers to stunningly designed period costumes. The show was a real hit with our students, Polly Taylor (Upper Sixth) commented: “It was an amazing experience to go and watch Hamilton. I was really excited to get to see David Korin’s set design in person and see how the whole design impacts the full performance. It really sparked my interest in set design.”
After an early morning breakfast, we made our way to Pineapple Dance Studios for our workshop with cast members of Hamilton. The sessions included teaching the students choreography from the show and a Q&A session about the show and the sector. One group got to tackle the grit of My Shot and the other explored the wonderful world of The Schuyler Sisters. Everyone was thoroughly energised after their sessions, so after a quick lunch break, we headed across the river to The National Theatre.
At the National, we had the incredible opportunity to see Mnemonic by Complicité in the Olivier Theatre, a revival of the original showing just 25 years later. The story asked us to think about our origins, our memories and about what we have lost. The cast captivated the audience for two hours and took their final bow to roaring success.
And just like that we returned to the hotel to grab our bags and made our way back home after having a full on two days of theatre and fun.
