the ashteadian - music & drama pg 56-67:layout 1 ashteadian/2009-10... · playing a star wars...

As the pupils returned from the summerbreak, many seniors auditioned for theproduction of Stephen Sondheim’snotoriously demanding musical SweeneyTodd. Soon we had a cast of 60 goingthrough their paces, learning the difficultscore with enthusiasm and comparativeease. Our GCSE musicians were also busyearly in the term with a visit to ReadingUniversity for a workshop, playing aBalinese Gamelan. World music is now akey element of the examination syllabusand this trip provided a marvellous‘hands-on’ experience for both pupils andstaff alike. All our musical memories weretested to the full as none of the music isnotated.

The department was delighted toparticipate in the first major school eventof the year, Party in the Park. After threefrantic weeks of rehearsal, Cantabile,Phoenix, Lower Junior Choir and theSenior Jazz Band all gave polishedperformances on an open stage in frontof a large, enthusiastic audience.

During October was the first Sir MalcolmSargeant Practice-a-Thon week raising moneyfor cancer research. Our hard-workingmusicians rose to the challenge raisingwell over £1,300. We were delighted topresent a cheque to Emily Jenkins of theorganisation. My thanks go to Ms Krawecand Ms Pritchard who masterminded thishighly successful and worthwhile event.

In November, all ensembles and choirsperformed in a series of concerts. TheSenior event featured the Senior Orchestraplaying a Star Wars medley and the SeniorWind Band performing a selection fromCats, as well as solos from new musicscholars, Rebecca Baker and AlastairCockrem. In the Junior Concert it was adelight to hear such depth of talent in theJunior Strings, Junior Wind Band,Cantabile and Phoenix. Form 1 gave aninspirational concert of their own,performing with great confidence.

In late November, Sweeney Todd reached itsclimax with three performances. The scoreand the dramatic production was by farthe most demanding ever attempted onthe Freemen’s stage. A huge set of half aton of steel was erected on the AssemblyHall stage, adorned with scenery from theNational Theatre, including the infamousbarber’s chair. Undeterred by the demandsof the show, the cast gave threeoutstanding performances. The choruswere so well focused that they providedexcellent support for our leading players. Iwill never forget the superb interactionbetween James Trinder and MaddieDempsey playing Sweeney and MrsLovett. They in turn were ably supportedby Charlie Duke, Graeme Du Plessis, WillNash, Danny Riley and Laurence Belcherin the other leading roles. Once again theproduction was Freemen’s at its best, with

Music ReviewHas a year ever been so busy for our musicians? Two musicals, amajor concert in Dorking, the Junior Choirs at the O2 Arena, HouseMusic plus countless other concerts and services gave our talentedpupils plenty of opportunities to display their musical prowess.

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over 200 pupils making a contributioneither on or off stage. My personal thanksgo to Mr Phil Tong, who masterminded yetagain a thought-provoking and highlyvisual production. He was greatly assistedby his wife, Barbara, who created such amemorable ‘look’ with countless red, whiteand black costumes. Mr Chris Ruby, totallyunflappable, solved countless technicalissues with sound and light. It was anexperience none of us will forget. Theproblem we now face is what to present asthe next senior show in November 2011.

Within two days of striking the Sweeneyset, the music staff took 90 juniors inCantabile and Phoenix to the 02 arena tosing in Young Voices 2009. They joinednearly 8,000 other children to form a hugechoir. It was a great day out culminatingwith a concert in front of 17,000 people.My thanks go to Ms Krawec for organisingthe event of behalf of Freemen’s with greatefficiency and calmness.

And so to December and carols. Onceagain the Camerata was delighted to beinvited to sing for the Guild of Freemen attheir carol service at St Martin-within-Ludgate. This annual event marks the startof the Christmas season at Freemen’s.Within a few days, various choirs hadperformed at seven carol services in StGiles’ Church, as well as carol singing inAshtead Village. We were delighted tohear that three of our singers had gainedplaces in the National Youth Choir ofGreat Britain: Ellen Timothy, KatieRutherford and Samuel Strijdom.

Ellen was invited to be a soloist at AshteadChoral Society’s January concert at StMartin’s Church, Dorking. Confidently

singing the solos in Rutter’s Magnificatand Jenkins The Armed Man, she wasjoined by Old Freemen, Kate Aitchison andLeo Morrell. Freemen’s also made itspresence felt in the accompanyingensemble with current pupils, Becky Johnsand David Pearce playing trumpet, JeremyCole playing organ and music staff, MsKrawec on piano and Mr O’Carroll onpercussion. I was at the helm conducting.

The Spring Term is dominated by HouseMusic. A record number of performanceswere heard in the audition rounds,culminating in two keenly contested finals.It was a particular pleasure to welcomeback Mr Richard McElwaine (formerAssistant Director of Music), now Directorof Music at Heathfield School, for theJunior Final. For the Senior Final Mr PhilipAldred (OF) Chief Examiner, LondonCollege of Music, had a demanding jobranking three different and original houseconcerts. The cup winners performed in apacked Ferndale a few days later in theGala Concert, with Yoo-Eun An as overallJunior winner and Lucy Cole winning theSenior competition.

Throughout the term all the schoolensembles were preparing for Class Act 2at the start of the Summer Term. Followingthe success of A Class Act in 2008, thedepartment decided to repeat the event onan even larger scale. Over 200 performersgave a varied and entertaining evening toa packed house. From the initial brassfanfare to the closing bars of the seniororchestra item, the standard wasconsistently high. It was a particularpleasure to hear several groups makingtheir Freemen’s debut. In the Senior

School, Polyphony and Viva! and in theJuniors, African Drumming and the JuniorCombined Ensemble. Following the successof the latter, a new Junior ConcertOrchestra has now been formed under theenthusiastic direction of Mr DaveEaglestone. Other highlights included theconcerto performances by Sam Matthey(viola) and Tim Peters (trombone).

Since January, we prepared for our secondmusical of the year, Smike! For the firsttime the music and drama departmentscombined to present a show by KS3pupils. A huge cast, ably managed bydirector Ms Sarah Chamberlain-Webber,gave three performances in late June. Wewere all delighted to have the interest andinput of composer Simon May, whosework includes the theme tune forEastEnders. Simon attended rehearsals anda performance and was thrilled with ouroriginal take on the show.

Also in the latter part of June, our buddingbrass players teamed up with Surrey Brassfor ‘Brass Extravaganza’. The concertfeatured solos by Tim Peters and DavidPearce with the ensemble. The concert hada rousing finish with all playersperforming Mambo No.5.

The term concluded with our secondJunior concert of the year, two concerts onPrize Day and the two Soirées. And so2009/10 came to end. On reflection havewe ever had such a busy and varied year?

Mr Paul Dodds

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Key Stage 2 Music

Young Voices but GreatVoices at the O2 ArenaOn Tuesday 1st December, the Music Department took 90 childrenfrom the Junior School to the O2 Arena to take part in a Young Voicesconcert. This is the first time the School has taken part in one of theseconcerts, but Young Voices is now in its 13th year.

Cantabile and Phoenix Junior Choirs hadbeen working very hard learning thehuge range of songs for the event. Therewere songs about animals, songs in thecurrent charts by artists such as TakeThat, Taylor Swift and the Sugababes,songs from the Classical genre such asPanis Angelicus by Cesar Franck andeven songs from the 80s.

The enormity of the event did not reallyhit until we arrived at the arena andstepped inside the venue. Over 8,000children from a variety of schools werethere with us, and after a lunch break, wespent the afternoon rehearsing with thelive band, ably led by resident conductor,Mr David Lawrence.

It was during this amazingly exhilaratingrehearsal that we truly saw the effect thatYoung Voices has on all those involvedand the sheer excitement generated by somany working towards one goal. Theevent in the evening was quite simply anunforgettable experience for all of thechildren. The pupils, who were the starsof the show, performed to a capacityaudience of thousands in one of thebiggest arenas in the country. They werejoined by singer V. V. Brown, Classicalvocal quarter All Angels and street dancegroup Urban Strides. It was a fantastic,fitting end to the rollercoaster ride thatwas Young Voices.

Ms Natalka Krawec

It has been an exciting year for musicin the Junior School. The curriculumhas been revamped, giving childrenthe opportunity to compose andperform in a range of styles. Therehas been an explosion of talent, withmany more children learninginstruments at a higher standard, asshowcased in the Lower JuniorSummer Concert and the MidsummerNight’s Dream Orchestra.

Form 1 began the year in style, performingin the Autumn concert with old favouritessuch as An Austrian Went Yodelling. Form1W performed their own originalcompositions, inspired by Autumn images.As the year progressed, they created theirown junk instruments from objects foundat home, giving a whole new meaning torecycling. By the Summer Term, Form 1became accomplished performers, singingwith gusto in both the Lower JuniorSummer Concert and Snow White and theSeven Dwarves.

There was a wealth of talent among Lower2. In lessons, they experimented with woodenand metal objects, creating ‘KitchenOrchestras’ to perform classics such asRobot Walking in a Stormy Forest. The yearculminated in the Lower Junior Summerconcert with woodwind, brass, strings,percussion and singing all represented inthe solo and duet performances. L2DC

performed an instrumental version of If IWere Not Upon the Stage giving childrenwho do not have individual instrumentaltuition the chance to shine.

Upper 2 began the year by performing aPolynesian Sasa from Samoa. Thisinvolved drumming and body percussion.They learned how to use rhythm and pitchnotation, writing and performing their owncompositions and finished the year bycreating their own versions of Copland’sFanfare for the Common Man. Many of themusicians involved in A MidsummerNight’s Dream were from this year groupwhich augurs well for next year’s projects.

Lower 3 studied a range of genres of musicincluding Extended Techniques and,inspired by Berio’s Sequenzas, they looked atclassroom percussion instruments and howthey might extend the range of soundsthey produced. The resulting compositionswere written down in graphic scores andperformed in groups. Alexandros Kanavosand Stephen Cockrem managed to takeextended techniques to new levels in theircomposition by playing the cello and violinsimultaneously with one bow!

The Orchestra for A Midsummer Night’sDream provided another showcase for thetalents of Middle Junior musicians and Ilook forward to enjoying moreperformances from these talentedchildren as they move up the school.

Mrs Sarah Gillespie


The Music Department joined forceswith Surrey Brass, the innovativeand entertaining brass ensemblebased in Cobham, for a brilliant andbold Brass Extravaganza.

During the concert brass pupils performeda variety of solo and ensemble items,prepared with them by their teachers, andthey played alongside Surrey Brass. Theevening was somewhat of a celebration forSenior Brass, who work tirelessly all year,playing in Carol Services, City Visit andPrize Day. This was an opportunity forthem to really shine and take centre stage.Led ably by maestro, Mr Dave Ward,Senior Brass performed two sets, withmusic as diverse as A Toye from FanciesToys and Dreams, by Farnaby, arr. Howarthand Dog Gone Blues, by Henderson.

Becky Johns, Philip MacDonald, JamesMacDonald and Timothy Peters, joinedDave Pearce, trumpet playerextraordinaire from Upper 6, in his final

soiree with Senior Brass. After many busyyears at Freemen’s, Dave’s departure willbe a real loss to the brass department. Heleft the audience and fellow musiciansmesmerised by his wonderful rendition ofthe technically demanding Carnival ofVenice by Arban, arr. Muscroft.

It was encouraging to witness the future,in performances from Junior Brass whobravely took their solo slot in the first halfand then sat back to enjoy the music andimagine themselves being that good in afew years. Rosie David, Stephen Gordon,William Joy, James Ellis, Hannah Froude,John Morrison, Georgina Chapman,Freddie Cox, Nicholas John, JamesLawrence, Jonathan Lott, Molly Message,Marcos Penteado and Nicholas Thynnealso performed alongside Surrey Brass andSenior Brass in the finale of Mambo No. 5.

Ms Natalka Krawec

Boldly Brilliant Brass

On 2nd February, CLIC Sargentrepresentative Emily Jenkinsvisited the school to meet themusic staff and some of thechildren who participated in theMusic Department Practice-a-Thon in the Autumn. Childrenacross the Junior and SeniorSchool managed to raise thegrand sum of £1,349.55.

Emily was delighted with the finalamount, thanking the children for theirefforts and hard work. She also gavethe department food for thought abouthow even more money could be raisedin the future.

It is a perennial task trying to getchildren to practise daily, but we weredelighted that so many children tookpart and helped to raise money, and bydoing so were able to improve theirown playing. They really got behindthe scheme.

Pictured around the piano (above)with Emily Jenkins (back row, far left)are the music staff, Mrs Pritchard, MrDodds and Ms Krawec, and some ofthe children who helped thedepartment raised over £1,300. Fromleft to right are Abigail Bruce,Stephanie Elstub, Natalya Robinson,Emily Elstub, Andrew Brinkworth andAlice Witt. Together, they managed toraise over £350.

Well done and thank you to all thefundraisers and those who donated sogenerously.

Ms Natalka Krawec

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The tough challenge facing theMusic Department was how doyou better A Class Act? In thiscase, you produce a sequel, andunlike most sequels, Class Act 2did not disappoint. At the wholeschool musical extravaganza heldat Dorking Halls on Thursday29th April, the school musicians,from age 7 to 18, not only performedfor the 700 strong sell outaudience, they entertained, takingthose lucky enough to be presenton a rollercoaster of emotions.

Starting off with a bang was Senior Brassplaying Fanfare for a Dignified Occasion.The audience had no idea what anoccasion they were indeed in for as thefirst half of the show continued withsinging from Viva! and performancesfrom Polyphony, and the Senior WindBand including soloist Timothy Peters,the School’s 13 year old music scholar. Itwas fitting that the Junior Africandrummers and then the Phoenix andCantabile choirs took us into the breakwith the final song being Feel Good. It wasclear that as everyone headed into theinterval, they all definitely felt good.

The Senior African Drummers got theshow swinging straight after the returnwith three thumping renditions from theIvory Coast and Guinea. A more mellowpassage followed of Combined JuniorEnsemble, Senior Strings and SeniorChamber Orchestra, including soloistSamuel Matthey, one of our senior musicscholars. The Jazz Band then took centrestage with diva Claire McCarthy blastingout Orange Coloured Sky, before Camerataand the Senior Orchestra brought thecurtain down on a truly magnificentevening.

Ms Natalka Krawec

I had never actually performed as anorchestral soloist before in any venue, anddecided it would be a valuable experienceto have before going to university. I camebefore Ms Krawec hoping that shewouldn’t have too many plans for theorchestra for Class Act 2 just yet.Fortunately my hopes proved to be correct;Ms Krawec had just ordered copies ofPassacaglia and Fugue in C Minor by Bach(from Milan, Italy no less) which shewanted to use as the grand finale for theconcert, but otherwise was open tosuggestion. I told her that I had another

piece coming up, Romance in F Major byBeethoven, a wonderfully romantic piecewritten for Violin with a chamberorchestra. There was only one catch, I waslearning the piece on the viola. We bothagreed that it would be an interesting twistto do it with the viola, since neither of ushad heard many performances of the piecewith a viola in pole position.

In order to get the piece to as high astandard as possible, I turned to myteacher, Mrs Jana Sims. Jana has been mymusical mentor for 12 years, and knewexactly where work was needed. We spentalmost every lesson I had up until theconcert pruning it in order to get it justright, but it did not come without itsproblems. Those more clued into musicalperformance may think differently, but asfar as I can tell there is at least one verygood reason why the viola is not favouredas a solo instrument over the violin; it’slow, mellow sound, whilst very sweet, isvery difficult to project in a concert hall,especially with a large musical ensemble inthe background, without compromising itsquality. This was my main area of work,and it took a large chunk of my practicetime to get it right. I don’t know howmany times I worked over that piece, butstress grew each time, and I was interestedto see the reaction when I first presentedthe piece to the rest of my peers.

As accompaniment, a chamber orchestrawas formed out of the main seniororchestra, and we began to rehearsetogether. The result was certainly pleasing;I enjoy playing the Romance very much athome, but it sounds ten times better whenplaced with a background orchestralaccompaniment. Everyone was very

appreciative and supportive of the result,and we progressed with the work throughspring. The question of volume stillplagued me though, and I even foundmyself openly debating whether I shouldattach a microphone to the viola, an ideathat only added to the worry.

Other groups in which I was participatingstarted to come together as the dateapproached. All the while however, mythoughts were fixated on the Beethoven,and whether I could do such a fantasticpiece the justice it deserved.

The day of the concert came, and in orderto relax I took the time during the day toobserve the rehearsals of other groups thatI had not heard before whilst waitingaround in Dorking Halls. It was great tosee such variety, and also to learn thatthere were other soloists tonight who I feltsure would shine themselves, even if Ididn’t. Fortunately my own rehearsal wentsurprisingly well. Everything that neededto be right was right. Ironically this onlyadded to the tension; my old superstition(based on experience) is that when a finalrehearsal goes well, especially on the sameday as the performance, the performancegoes very badly.

When the concert itself came, it wasunsettling to see how my performanceswere balanced. Only Polyphony took placein the first half, which went very well, butthen all of my other performances were inthe second half. String group came first,allowing me to warm into the viola. And atlast, after months of preparation andpanicking, the stage was set for myswansong with Freemen’s. I waited whatseemed like an age in the wings for theorchestra to tune, before walking out to a

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packed Dorking Halls audience. I am gladto say that all my fears of soundprojection, tone perfection and the wantof a microphone were unfounded; theperformance went better than I couldhave ever hoped, everything seemed togo just as I had planned and wanted, andit’s not often that I can say that about aperformance. The first 20 seconds ofinitial terror developed into nine minutesof passionate, romantic performance,which was met with much appreciatedapplause from the audience. To cap it all, Ireceived a humorously over-sizedbouquet of flowers from Kate. You knowthings have gone well when a good friendpresents you a large bouquet in front ofhundreds of people.

I’m pleased to say I pulled it off. At least, Ifeel this way, and I hope (and am entitledto believe, from what I have heard), thatmany others do too. My thanks go to allthe friends, family and fellow performerswho gave me so much support in the runup to this memorable and thoroughlywell orchestrated concert (no punintended), to which credit goes to MsKrawec and Mr Dodds, both of whom Iknow have experienced many sleeplessnights over this event. Their toils have notgone unnoticed by any of us, and all thestudents I’m sure appreciate the workthey have done for these concerts. Lastly, Iwish to thank Jana, who I’m glad to saywas able to attend the concert. Withouther support, I would never haveaccomplished this.

Sam Matthey

Ms Krawec asked me if I’d play RimskyKorsakov’s Trombone Concerto with theFreemen’s Wind Band at a concert inDorking Halls. Being fairly new to theschool, I wasn’t really sure what I’d beletting myself in for, but I felt honouredto have been asked. The music staffknew that I knew the first twomovements of the piece, as I’d playedthem as part of my music scholarshipaudition. It was time for a bit more of achallenge and a great excuse to startlearning the final movement.

The Spring Term was extremely hectic,the snow gave me the time I needed tostart getting to grips with the 3rdmovement (when I wasn’t outtobogganing). I also had various otherconcerts to prepare for, not to mentionsorting out a different piece for HouseMusic. The second half of term flew by.Mr Eaglestone, my trombone teacher,taught me new techniques to conquerthe staccato tonguing required in thefast parts of the 3rd movement – thishelped me take my playing up a level.My parents bought me a CD of theNorthern Wind Band playing variousRussian pieces, I started playing alongwith this to get used to theaccompaniment – very different toplaying with piano. The wind bandrehearsals for this piece were also in fullflow by now.

Ten days to go, I was beginning to feel alittle anxious, I’d never been to DorkingHalls before and it was beginning todawn on me that Class Act 2 was quite abig deal. Mr Smith who was conductingthe wind band seemed fairly relaxed atrehearsals, so what was there to beworried about? The day arrived. I lefthome at 7.15am as usual to catch mytrain and have to admit to a fewbutterflies in my stomach. The stage atDorking Halls was so professional, this

was serious. The rehearsals went well,I felt as ready as I’d ever be.

The concert opened with Fanfare for aDignified Occasion played by theawesome Senior Brass – as I walkedonto the middle of the stage my heartwas in my mouth – the auditorium waspacked, not a spare seat in the house. Iinstantly relaxed and began to enjoymyself. I had a quick breather while thelovely Viva! sang. The Senior WindBand took their seats and the audienceapplauded as Mr Smith and I walked onstage – we were off. The band playedbrilliantly making my bit a pleasure toplay; we started off with the secondmovement, a slow lilting movementbefore the third movement which istaken at quite a pace. I was very pleasedwith the way it went; even my cadenzaswent as well as they’d ever gone. I wasaware of the huge grin on my face whenwe finished; being presented with abouquet of flowers was definitely a first– I felt extremely proud. No time to restthough, Polyphony were next, a chanceto sing instead of blow. After the intervalit was time for the second solo item –Samuel Matthey with the SeniorChamber Orchestra. Sam was excellentas usual, it was a lovely piece. This wasfollowed by Senior Strings while theJazz Band assembled back stage. TheJazz Band is awesome, one of myfavourite groups – we were lucky to bejoined by Claire McCarthy who is anamazing jazz singer. I put my trombonedown again to come back on withCamerata to sing a few pieces. Theconcert ended with the Senior Orchestraplaying Passacaglia and Fugue in C minorby J S Bach – this had taken a lot oflearning and is a fine piece – a fittingend to a fabulous evening.

Tim Peters

In September the Music and Dramadepartments took on a seeminglyimpossible task: Sweeney Todd waschosen as the Senior Schoolbiennial musical. However, threeperformances of Christopher Bond’sadaptation, with music by StephenSondheim were put on from 26th-28th November to great applause.

From the very opening of the show withthe full company of 63 13 to 18 year-oldson stage it was clear that this would be noordinary school musical. The cast wereaccompanied by a 23 piece band. Led byMr Paul Dodds, Director of Music atFreemen’s and the show’s musical Director,the band comprised talented staff, pupilsand professional musicians who playedSondheim’s infamously challenging scorewith ease. Pupils, lead by Mr Chris Ruby,were also responsible for the professionallighting and sound systems which effectivelydramatised the events of the show. The redand black themed Victorian costumes,designed by Mrs Tong and managedthroughout the performances by Mrs Dodds,set a macabre scene for the gripping tale.

The story begins in 1849 London with abitter Mr Todd returning from exile inAustralia in search of his family. Upon hisarrival at the flat he used to occupy onFleet Street he meets Mrs Lovett and learnsof the suicide of his wife and adoption ofhis daughter. Between Todd’s determinationto seek revenge on Judge Turpin andLovett’s desperation for her pies to be asuccess the pair get carried away withtheir cut throat plan. The gruesome plotunfolds in a collection of complicated songswhose harmonies were tackled expertly bythe entire cast, mixing the menacing toneseamlessly with the comic lyrics. The leadof Sweeney Todd played by James Trinder,managed to capture and maintain the eerieand sinister qualities of the murderousbarber. His partner in crime, Mrs Lovett,played by Maddy Dempsey, perfectlycharacterised the pie shop owner with thecomic timing of a very accomplishedactress.

The set, described by Mr Dodds as ‘Themost expansive set we have ever had’,belonged to Royal Holloway. It expertlytransformed the scenes between London’sFleet Street, Mrs Lovett’s pie shop, thebakehouse and Todd’s barbershop,complete with a mechanised chair whichcleverly led to the ‘disappearance’ of manyunsuspecting men in need of a shave.

Thursday night’s audience included NickBailey, Dr Truman in the UK soap opera

EastEnders, who said: “Seldom have I seenan amateur production presented with asmuch joy, group support and clarity. Thelevel of commitment was palpable and thecharacterisations clear. You all made a verycomplex piece concise and enjoyable. Theperformance was excellent.” The entirecast and production team were thrilled tobe praised so highly on the opening night bysuch an accomplished actor.

Despite being even more of a challengethan the school’s highly memorablemusical production Les Miserables in 2003,many members of the audience whowitnessed both thought Sweeney Toddoutshined all previous musicals everperformed at Freemen’s. Mr Dodds said:“I did my first show here 21 years ago andI do believe this is the best cast I have everhad.” Mr Phil Tong, Head of Drama andthe show’s Director, described just howmuch of a challenge Sweeney Todd was toperform as a school musical: “Sometimesyou have to be brave enough to tackle thereally daunting things in life. For me oneof the most exciting things was thateveryone who worked on the show wasbrave enough to take on the mostambitious musical project ever performedat Freemen’s”.

The audience, who gave the company astanding ovation, were left amazed atwhat had been achieved in such a shortspace of time by such an talented set ofyoung people.

Hannah Sareen

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Drama ReviewOnce again, this has proved to be a very busy yet successful year in Drama. It began in November with ‘SweeneyTodd’ by Stephen Sondheim, a joint production with the Music Department, that was the best musical Mr PaulDodds and I have created here at Freemen’s since my arrival. A really imaginative stage set designed and built byMr Chris Ruby; a wonderful ‘red and black’ theme signalled in the costumes designed, sourced, and purchasedby Mrs Barbara Tong; a really complicated musical score by Sondheim expertly delivered by Mr Paul Dodds andsome of the very best central performances ever in a musical delivered by Maddie Dempsey and James Trinder asMrs Lovett and Sweeny Todd respectively. Charlotte Duke too showed her versatility as an actress in taking on thehigh soprano of Johanna, and Graeme Du Plessis was also excellent as Anthony.

“These are exciting times for drama atFreemen’s and there is much more to come.”

House MusicThe final of Senior House Music isa time when the creative musicaltalent of the school really comes tothe surface, providing a number ofpleasant surprises. All houses thisyear produced outstandingperformances but it wasWhittington’s stylish and wellorganised concert that wasawarded first place, and alsogained cups for their House Choir,Wind Quintet and House Band, thelatter providing a polishedperformance of the Stevie Wonder

number, Superstition. A new cup,The Jeremy Cole Cup for the bestaccompanist, was appropriatelyawarded to Lucy Cole who wasalso nominated the Best OverallPerformer.

An extra dimension was added to theday by the return of an Old Freeman asadjudicator. Philip Aldred, now ChiefExaminer at the London College ofMusic, attended Freemen’s in the 70sand his perceptive and highly humorouscommentary included entertainingreminiscences of his days here as a

pupil. Interestingly, he was taught theorgan by Gibson Russell who retired atthe end of the year after having taughtthe piano and keyboard for many years.

The adjudicator of the Junior HouseMusic Competition was RichardMcElwaine, the Assistant Director ofMusic a number of years ago. Amongst anumber of fine performances were Yoo-Eun An’s Beethoven Adagio for Piano andCelia MacDonald’s Souvenir de Sarasatefor Violin.

Mr Michael Bird

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In December we had the re-launch ofHouse Drama. Actor Bradley Fricker wasthe judge and he was very complimentaryabout the work produced by the students.The result: a tie between Whittington andHale. It was great to have the competitionback.

In the first week of February were twodevised theatre productions by our A2students who produced two astonishingshows based on the Lewis Carroll novel,Alice in Wonderland: Not Guilty by Virtue ofInsanity and No Time to Say Hello/Goodbye.The students took this stimulus andcreated two very diverse and challengingpieces, both of which were something of atribute to the work of the physical theatrecompany, Frantic Assembly. Devised work issomething we have excelled in over thepast few years, but these two piecesprovided two of the very best we haveseen in the last decade. No Time to SayHello/Goodbye was particularly strong,designed by Maddie Dempsey, whodespite her acting pedigree chose to useher skills as an artist to design the set,costume and make-up for the show. Theperformances showed strength in depthwith Ollie Raggett excelling as the centralcharacter and he was key to the physicalstyling of the piece too. He was ablysupported by Millie Chapman as his ‘deadwife, Alice’ and Jennie Williams as his newrelationship. Jennie has to be the bestactress I have never managed to get into awhole school show and it’s a shame thather wonderful work over the years has notbeen seen by a wider audience. Theabsolute revelation in this show wasBrittany Draper who was outstanding asThe Cheshire Cat, a real tour-de-forceperformance that combined physicalitywith great humour.

Not Guilty By Virtue of Insanity took a verydifferent approach to the material andproduced a drama centred on onecharacter’s struggle with her sexuality andthe ‘shifting sands’ of her homeenvironment as a child. This too was aterrific, if a more traditional, approach tothe piece and produced some terrificperformances from Hannah Baker andHannah Walker in particular. HattieKnight was also impressive as theboarding school bully.

The students in our Lower 6 AS Dramagroup have, since the early days of GCSEDrama, announced themselves on thestage at Freemen’s, many of whom arealready ‘Edinburgh veterans’, and with theadded national experience of performingin the Shakespeare Schools’ Festival, muchhas been expected of them. Without adoubt they delivered in a Polly Stenhamdouble bill in May. In That Face CharlotteDuke was quite sensational in herpersonification of Martha, managing tocreate a relationship with James Trinder,her son, that was both tender anduncomfortable at the same time. JamesTrinder, too, is a brave actor, and all of thecast in this show deserve plaudits for theway in which they embraced a very difficultand modern play. Next up was Tusk Tuskanother play with controversy at its heart;a play about children abandoned by theirdepressive and suicidal mother. Here too,the students rose magnificently to the task,with Ollie Hampden terrific as theprotagonist Eliot, a performance mirroredby the performances of Elise Wilkinson asMaggie, his younger sister, and Finn, hisolder, but autistic, brother played by GraemeDu Plessis. These young actors are certainlyworth watching over the next year.

These shows were closely followed by theGCSE productions. The GCSE studentsreally ‘stepped up to the plate’ with thepieces they presented to the examiner andto a public audience over two nights ofproduction. I was thrilled with the workthey all offered and feel that they chosethis showcase to demonstrate the maturitythey have developed over the two yearcourse.

Ms Sarah Chamberlain-Webber broughttogether the Junior and Upper School ina joint Key Stage 3 venture, with her newproduction of Smike!, a musical based onthe story of Nicholas Nickleby by CharlesDickens. Adopting a ‘cross-arts’ approachto this venture she collaborated with theMusic and Art departments to produce areally exciting project that embraced film,music and the visual arts. This resulted ina tremendous marriage of these three artforms and even brought about theinvolvement of Simon May, the composerof the show who attended a rehearsal anda performance of the project in June. Joseph

Lott, in particular, should be singled out forhis film-making and editing skills on thisproject, with Angus Gillan, a promisingnew young actor in Year 8 taking theeponymous lead and Jack Flammigerproving that he will be an actor to watchin the next few years.

The reputation of drama at Freemen’scontinues to grow, demonstrated by theinvitation made by Deloitte to providean introductory piece of theatre for theConsumer Goods Forum: a globalsymposium for close on 1,000 seniorexecutives of companies across the worldconcerned with retail at the QEII Centrein London on the subject of ‘The NetGeneration’. With the Lower 6 students Ideveloped a piece that gives a youngperson’s perspective on ‘what they buyand why they buy it!’ This project hasgiven these students a monumentalchallenge, working to create a piece oftheatre, to a tight brief, in order to challengean audience about key issues of commercialpolicy. We all went through an enormouslearning curve in this project, but, I think,we all emerged the wiser for it.

In light of this performance we have sincereceived invitations from Tesco and Barillain Milan to create new pieces to ‘front up’conferences within their organisations overthe coming year. Freemen’s Drama hasgone international in a big way and theopportunities now for students to sharetheir work on a national and internationalstage look to be increasing daily.

And in Edinburgh this year the school hada triumph with the production of TheTyphoid Marys. Audience response to theshow was terrific with four out of the sixshows sold out and the critics wrote:

‘……the play dovetails the parallel tales of theoriginal 'Typhoid Mary', Mary Mallon, anIrish immigrant to the US in the early 1900sand a group of women identified as typhoidcarriers and held in isolation in London. It's aclever technique as it highlights the genuinedilemma faced by the authorities – particularlyin the days before antibiotics. The central castare outstanding, with Maddie Dempsey giving ashow carrying performance as Mary Mallonthat gives her a personality beyond hercircumstances. Charlotte Duke as chef's wifeMay, Millie Chapman as young mother


Florence and Elise Wilkinson as teacher MaryBrooks bring three of the London interneesvividly and movingly to life. They are supportedby a strong ensemble cast. The treatment of aclearly emotive issue is sympathetic to all thoseinvolved, and while a stance is taken on society'sfailure of the women in later years, there'sunderstanding shown for those responsible.With several plot elements to draw togetherthere is a serious risk of things feeling disjointed,yet the direction moves deftly from woman towoman while clearly establishing every character.

City of London Freemen's School have broughta production to Edinburgh that they can berightly proud of.’

When reflecting on the progress of pastFreemen’s Drama students one has topoint out the growing careers of:

Caitlin Thorburn (class of 2006) who madeher debut in Coronation Street. Sincegraduating as the top graduate actor atManchester Metropolitan University in2009, and featuring in ‘The SpotlightAward’, she has been working non-stop.She has just appeared in a ‘site specific’show called ‘Bentwater Road’ with the‘Eastern Angles’ Company.

Andrew Garfield (class of 2001) has madethree new films this year: ‘TheImaginarium of Doctor Parnassus’, the lastfilm made by Heath Ledger, ‘Never Let MeGo’ with Keira Knightley and CareyMulligan and ‘The Social Network’, thestory of the development of ‘Facebook’ inaddition to taking a leading role in ‘RedRiding’ an award winning hit for Channel4. The key news about Andrew is that inJuly he was cast as the new ‘Spiderman’.

Faye Winter (class of 2001) has completedthe London/Broadway tour of MichaelGrandage’s Donmar Warehouseproduction of Hamlet, where she playedOphelia to Jude Law’s ‘Hamlet’. She hasalso appeared in ‘A Comedy of Errors’ inRegent’s Park Open Air Theatre.

Yiannis Charalambous, Natasha Hicks andWill Adolphy all gained places in theNational Youth Theatre this year.

These are exciting times for drama atFreemen’s and there is much more tocome.

Mr Phil Tong

MUSIC & DRAMA

75 Key Stage 3 pupils performed the musical Smike! by Roger Holman andSimon May for a run of three nights. The performance on Wednesday 23rdJune was attended by Mr Simon May himself, who had taken a keeninterest in the production from the outset. Director Ms Sarah Chamberlain-Webber and musical Director Mr Paul Dodds were delighted that he wasable to attend a performance and Simon also dropped into one of therehearsals to see how the pupils were getting on and to offer words ofencouragement. Simon was impressed with the warm welcome he receivedfrom the pupils.

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Smike!

Year 9 pupil Jack Flammiger impressedwith his dark and, at times, disturbingportrayal of Wackford Squeers, expertlywielding a cane to beat pupils ofDotheboys Hall. Jack certainlydominated the stage and the pupils asthe brutal Head of the School. GeorgieChapman was excellent as his equallyvicious wife, spooning the horridbrimstone and treacle down the haplessboys’ throats and never missing anopportunity to beat any boy she cameacross. Their offspring, the bullyWackford Junior and daughter, Fanny,were brought to life by Alex Duke andJessi Hampden (one of the youngestmembers of the cast) respectively. Theyperformed energetic routines as theconstantly bickering children of Mr andMrs Squeers and certainly entertainedthe audience with their physicalsquabbles which were frighteninglyrealistic at times.

The 18 pupils playing the parts of theboys at Dotheboys Hall shivered andcowered their way through theperformance until they were set freefrom their ordeal by their horrfiedteacher Nicholas Nickleby.

An element of feminism was added tothe production with the part of NicholasNickleby being played by a female Year9 pupil, Jo Sneller, whose clear voice wasa joy to listen to. Jo perfectlycommunicated Nickleby’s growing rageat the injustice of the situation. Year 8pupil Angus Gillan, playing the part ofthe lonely Smike, moved many membersof the audience with his singing,especially in the plaintive song Better OffThe Way I Am. Angus rose perfectly tothe challenge that this role gave him.

In addition to the many on-stageperformers, pupils played the roles ofVictorian street sellers and mingled withthe audience before the show andduring the interval. A troupe of dancersperformed in the opening of the pieceand in the lively finale, 'DotheboysRock', which was accompanied by a

band of both staff and pupils. The finaleliterally gave the dancers theopportunity to 'let their hair down' withan 80s feel to it – there was plenty ofcoloured hair and hair spray to contrastwith the dull tones of Dotheboys Hall.

The set was designed by artist Mr SamJeffereys who came into school to workon it with a group of talented Sixth Formstudents. Sam created the imposing formof the central character by referring topost WWI German Expressionisticimages. The brooding, dark feel to theentire piece evolved around theDickensian characters. The set took twosolid days to complete. In addition to theset, art teacher Mrs Rebecca Housemanproduced side panels which greeted theaudience as they entered the Hall.Chalks and pastels were used to createan old blackboard feel. The images werebased on silhouettes created around theDickensian era.

Being a Key Stage 3 production meantthat pupils from both the Junior and theSenior Schools were working together toproduce the final result which itscomposer, Simon May described as"special and unique".

Ms Sarah Chamberlain-Webber


The Lower Junior Talent Show tookplace on the last Friday of term. Asusual it was a big hit with family,friends and children. Manyauditioned but 23 lucky acts gotthrough. The Return of TheHamsters and Japutcha performedextremely well, and so were askedto perform in assembly in front ofthe Junior School.

On the night, every act sang, danced, andperformed a poem or a sketch. All 23 actswere well practised and very interesting towatch. The lighting was terrific and so wasthe music, which made the acts extra special.

When we arrived for the big event wemade our way to the Ferndale Theatrefeeling nervous and excited. We were putinto our rows to sit in for when we enteredthe Senior School Hall. Once we performedwe got a big encore from the audience.

We would like to say to say a big thankyou to the lighting, music, and back stagehelpers, the compères and especially toMrs David, Mrs Wilby and Miss Page fororganising this amazing talent show,which you already know was great. Sothank you so much, everyone, we loved itvery much.

Natalya Robinson and Thea Walter

Lower Junior Talent Show

The Upper Junior Talent Show was on thelast evening of the Spring Term. Againthere was a terrific atmosphere and theevening was very entertaining. The soloistswere very good this year, the group danceswere slick and there were some very funnysketches. Two forms from Lower 4performed. L4T performed their version ofthe TV programme ‘Take Me Out’ and L4Bsang ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’. Nearly 100pupils went up onto the stage to take partand others helped backstage and with thelighting. All those involved thoroughlyenjoyed the evening. A great end to atiring term!

Mrs Helen Irwin

Upper Junior Talent Show

MUSIC & DRAMA

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