Form 3 take to the stage

26th March, 2010

The whole school was treated to a morning's theatrical entertainment on Wednesday 24th March when the 3s presented a series of short plays.

This was a new initiative introduced by Mr Westlake with the aim of giving every child at Packwood the opportunity to perform on stage during their time at the school. The children worked on the plays throughout the spring term, rehearsing when time permitted during their English lessons.

First on stage were 3 Class, directed by Mr Webster. The audience was transported to a saloon in the Wild West where hard-drinking cowboys, dancing girls, the sheriff and others waited anxiously for the notorious Frisco Kid to ride into town. There were many superb performances here notably Jacob Rand's authentically American-sounding cowboy, Archie Connolly as the rather slow-witted and indecisive sheriff, Chan Kathuria's eager undertaker and Andrew Tudor as the cunning Frisco Kid who managed to deceive everyone and disappear with the bank's money.

3W and Mr Lee took over from here with three short scenes, each with a pertinent message for the audience. The first saw an obstinate and self-important ship's captain (played magnificently by Edward Beard) sailing recklessly through a fierce storm, ignoring the advice of his crew and ultimately leading them to shipwreck and disaster. Next the stage became a dentist's waiting room with four rather nervous patients being scared off by Simon Waterhouse shamelessly exploiting their fears to jump the queue. He received his comeuppance though, in the dentist's chair, once his deception had been discovered! Finally, four girls delivered a wonderful piece, exquisitely acted by Ella Downey, Bea Mostyn-Owen and Ce-Ce Whittingham as three imperiously haughty ladies and by Alice Rees as their more down-to-earth colleague. The message was clear: snobbery makes a person look unkind and small-minded; it's much better to recognise the value of humility and be accepting of others.

The courtroom scene from Wind in the Willows followed, again directed by Mr Webstser, this time working with 3E. An exceptional performance from Harriet Bibby as the judge was complemented by great acting from Jack Ashworth as Toad and by an assortment of woodland and countryside creatures. Harriet had by far the largest number of lines to learn among all her peers but she had mastered them to perfection and delivered them with confidence and great comic timing. If these short plays were also an opportunity to seek out acting talent, then surely in Harriet we have found a star of the future!

Finally 3L had their chance to step into the limelight. Directed by Mrs Hughes, they performed an excerpt from Roald Dahl's BFG. Hugh Davies took the title role and coped superbly with some challenging dialogue. The part of Sophie was played by Harry Marshall in a flame red wig and little girl's nightdress much to the amusement of the audience. The rest of the class were marauding, bloodthirsty giants intent on catching some 'chiddlers' to sate their hunger. They had a marvellous time stomping around the stage, angrily waving their clubs and running out into the audience in search of their supper. This was a lively and memorable finale to our morning's entertainment.

The quality of all the performances clearly showed the tremendous effort put in by the children and their English teachers (and by Mrs Jones who produced the wonderful costumes that helped to make all the performers look the part) and also showed how much they had all enjoyed the experience - one that is sure to be repeated in future years.