Full-throttle
Claremont students race to the theatrical finishing line
A robot, a tortoise and a forest… plus a rubber duck. What does it all mean? The return of the Drama Department’s ever-popular ‘Play in 7 Days’ of course!
The concept is simple: students have just seven days to devise a piece of drama - two minutes in length for groups, one minute for solo performers – responding to one of three given stimuli. They then rehearse their mini-plays for a week and perform them in front of a panel of judges, plus their peers, on the seventh day. It started on Friday 12th September this year and the final performance was a week later.
To inspire the young creatives, they were presented with three different stimuli: an illustration of a robot sitting in the branches of a tree clutching a kite; a newspaper headline stating, ‘Tortoise found a mile from home nine months after going missing’; and the start of a story about magical creatures in a forest. And, just for fun, each play had to include the line: ‘Don’t forget the rubber duckie!’
What would be the result? Friday 19th September provided the answer… An afternoon of fun, creativity and theatrical daring. After much debate, the judges finally awarded first place to ‘Beaten by a Rubber Duckie’, devised and performed by Year 8 students Mehdi Abbas, Loran Aljarad, Samantha Rose Otaruoh and Armaan Sharm. Acting Awards went to Mehdi Abbas in Year 8 and the following Year 9 students: Khushi Agravat, Ryan Gandhi, Aarisa Patel, Johan Poulloura and Maya Sidar. In addition, Creativity Awards were given to Year 10 students Siya Bedi, Alyson Newman-Stewart and Shayna Varsani and to Year 12 students Mariam Al-Shdifat and Jaanvi Bharj. And Best Newcomer Awards went to Reeva Arjan, Risha Bhudia, Freya Dodhia and Maahi Patel, all in Year 7.
‘I was shocked and thrilled to learn that I had won an award,’ admits Mehdi Abbas. ‘It certainly made all the practising worthwhile! Although I was initially a little anxious on stage, I soon found that I enjoyed it and felt proud of myself.’
‘Leading up to our performance, my team and I spent many restless days and nights practising and revising,’ explains Armaan Shah. ‘Overall, “Play in 7 Days” was an exhilarating and enjoyable competition. I will definitely be participating again next year!’
‘When you’re on stage, you feel nervous initially, but once you get going it feels exciting and fun to perform to an audience,’ says Khushi Agravat. ‘The experience teaches you to throw yourself at something full-throttle and enjoy the journey it takes you on, because you don’t get the opportunity to do it anywhere else.’
Ms Norrish, Head of Drama, was certainly very pleased with this year’s event: ‘It was such a joy to see the students’ creativity and enthusiasm throughout the week. The department was full of energy, with rehearsals happening daily and a real sense of excitement! From Year 7 right through to Year 13, it was brilliant to see so much collaboration - pupils writing scripts, directing, sourcing props and supporting one another every step of the way. The students' hard work really paid off and they absolutely delighted the judges - Ms Woolford, Mr Lipman, Ms Nirodi and myself - as well as a full and very appreciative KS3 audience. This year’s challenge was to include the line, “Don’t forget the rubber duckie!” in every performance and, as always, the students rose to it with great humour and imagination!’