At Gordon’s School, we pride ourselves on the range of Co-curricular activities provided across the school. Each of these sessions are delivered by specialists and continually adapted to challenge all students in all aspects of performance and production.

Some of the activities provided are listed below:

Acting for Stage
Audition Technique
Year 7 Taster (Drama)
Year 7 Taster (Dance)
Year 7 Taster (Technical Theatre)
Playwriting
Tech Club
Musical Theatre

Throughout the year, our students are able to get involved in many of our School Productions. Students are able to be involved as a performer, director, designer or as part of the technical team. We aim to provide opportunities for all students across the school through whole school productions, junior musicals, senior plays and Year 7 productions.

Sweet Charity

The ever-hopeful romantic Charity burst onto the stage at Gordon’s School for the sequinned, glitzy and glamorous Sweet Charity.

Playing to capacity audiences, the musical packed a powerful punch with hits like Big Spender and If my Friends Could See me Now, accompanied by a live orchestra, with students demonstrating that age is no barrier to professionalism whether they were singing, dancing, playing an instrument, or acting. The production team was also made up of students!

Made in Dagenham

Girl power stormed Gordon’s with pink-apron clad students taking to the stage to tell the true story of the Ford sewing machinists of the 1960s who brought the Dagenham factory and workforce of 55,000, to a standstill and paved the way for the Equal Pay Act of 1970.

Transporting audiences back to an age of inequality, misogyny and the difficulties faced by women, Made in Dagenham centres around the women whose skilled job of sewing car seat covers was classified as unskilled. They were paid just 87 per cent of the unskilled male rate. The women stood up for their rights, bringing their fight to the notice of Parliament and ultimately proving a vital force in women workers’ rights.

Gritty and compelling, Made in Dagenham was also humorous and touching and demonstrated the exceptional ability of those singing, acting and dancing. Many of the production team were also students.

Mary Poppins Jnr

Practically perfect in every way, Mary Poppins brought her magic to Gordon’s this week for the Junior School production featuring both dance and song in this familiar family favourite.

Performing to capacity audiences, the students in Years 8 and 9 brought the professionalism of the West End in London to the West End in Surrey, for two consecutive evenings, demonstrating wide-ranging talents that brought the audience to their feet for standing ovations.

Similar to the original Mary Poppins, the Junior musical features a statue brought to life by Mary, as well as the much-loved characters of the original Walt Disney production such as Bert the chimney sweep and the bird woman. The production also featured the classic favourite songs such as ‘Let’s go Fly a Kite’; ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’ and ‘A Spoonful of Sugar’

Leading the student cast, supported by Sixth Form students in the technical team, was Kate Brazendale who gave a convincing performance as Mary,  bringing discipline, magic and fun into the lives of her charges, Jane (Jessica Murphy) and Michael (Phoebe Schollick) Banks. Also reminding their parents, George (George Mallek) and Winifred (Milly Kirtley) that anything can happen if you let it.

Martha Banks-Thompson, who directed the show said: “The cast have been working together for the past 12 weeks and have given up weekends and evenings to dedicate themselves to the show.

Beauty and the Beast

The Disney classic ‘Beauty and the Beast’ roared onto the stage at Gordon’s School, terrifying and enchanting capacity audiences.

Colourful, macabre and romantic, this family-favourite musical production based on a French fairytale featured a talking duster, clock, light and teapot as well as the gruesome beast and kind-hearted Belle.

Coming just one month after the lower school’s hit musical Matilda Jnr, weekends and evenings have been packed with rehearsals for both the cast and student crew.

For several of the cast leaving Gordon’s this year, the play was a triumphant swansong before they set their sights on drama school, with all agreeing that the rehearsals had been the best fun.

Ryan Knight as the Beast described the musical as “an amazing experience” and while admitting the character had been “highly demanding”, spoke of the fun of the rehearsals.

Molly Campbell, who starred as Belle concurred adding: “There was not one point where I felt like I was ‘at school’ at the weekend, besides it was amazing to see the pieces of everything we had done so far come together. This was my last school production and I am going to miss it terribly.”

For Georgina Fowler playing the cheeky, playful character Lumiere, Beauty and the Beast was her second school production and she relished the chance of putting on her French accent!

 

Matilda Jnr

The popular children’s classic Matilda, played to capacity audiences at Gordon’s School, proving that age is no barrier to a professional performance.

The cast and production team were KS3 students aged 11-14 years old, some of whom were taking part in their first ever show, but the professionalism they showed in their polished performances wowed the hundreds of people who came to watch.

With auditions beginning in June, it was September before the enthusiastic cast of 23 finally started their rehearsals.

Since then, they have been spending weekends and any free time practicing for the opening night.

The musical, based on children’s author Roald Dahl’s much loved book, featured not only songs but dances and of course magic!

Playing the lead, Matilda was Jessica Murphy. She was convinced to audition by her mother and to her surprise was picked: “Playing this role is so fun as it’s a completely different character to who I am in real life and it has forced me to step outside of my comfort zone.

“The rehearsal process was so much fun. All the other cast members are so kind and supportive” she added.

Elliot Watson, playing Mr Wormwood enthused: “My highlight of this journey was definitely during the weekend rehearsals, when we first ran through the whole show with no stops (though there were a few mistakes and laughs!). It was really good watching all our hard work finally come together.”