AN ENLIGHTENMENT EVENING OF HOME THEATRICALS
THE ORANGERY, BLENHEIM PALACE, Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 30th March
Latest Ticket Information
The evening perfomance on Wednesday 30th March is now sold out. Tickets are still available for Wednesday's afternoon performance.
Tickets may be obtained directly from Blenheim Palace (click for details) or from the school (full details below.) A concession of £10 from all ticket prices is available for MCS pupils, MCS staff, students and over 65s.
On 29th and 30th March 2011, Blenheim Palace will be transported back to England in 1779 as MCS lays on an Evening of Home Theatricals in the style of those put on by the 4th Duke of Marlborough in the Orangery. Merchants, lecturers, musicians, jugglers, actors and all manner of attractions will fill the Orangery and surrounding rooms, before a production of R.B. Sheridan's biting satire, The Critic, rounds the evening off with a version appropriate to the period, including the end-of-play Masque performed in its full glory.
This ambitious project is a collaboration between the Palace, MCS pupils, staff, parents and outside experts. The evening is being put on by pupils throughout the senior school, with roles of lecturers, musicians, entertainers and actors being taken by the company over the course of the evening. The enterprise is directed by Joanne Pearce, well-known actress and Associate Artist of the RSC. Joanne is the wife of Adrian Noble, the renowned director and former artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, who will also be co-directing in the weeks running up to the performances. Committed to an 'authentic experience of home theatricals in the late eighteenth-century', it is the provision of a plurality of experiences for the audience which attracted the Nobles to the project and which promise to make it a unique opportunity for both company and audience.
The Nobles have been able to use their contacts in the theatrical world to enlist the support of other leading professionals: the Designer is Annie Gosney, former Production Manager and Designer for the National Theatre, while the music is receiving the expert attention of composer and actor Philip Pope. The MCS Parents Association is also involved, both with financial support and an army of volunteers to assist with preparation of the set and costumes.
The running order for the evening performances is as follows:
5.45pm Arrival
6.00pm Pupil lectures on the historical and literary contexts of the production
7.15pm Musical reception with champagne and canapés
8.15pm The Critic
There will also be a matinee performance of the musical entertainment and show only at 3pm on Wednesday 30th March.
Ticketing
If you would like to book tickets, please fill in the booking form, available for download here (MS Word) or here (PDF) and return to 'Blenheim Box Office', Magdalen College School, Cowley Place, Oxford, OX4 1DZ. Tickets may also be obtained directly from Blenheim Palace (click for details.) A concession of £10 from all ticket prices is available for MCS pupils, MCS staff, students and over 65s.
For further information, please ring the school on 01865 242191 or contact reception@mcsoxford.org.
For directions to Blenheim Palace, please visit www.blenheimpalace.com.
The school is very grateful to Blenheim Palace for allowing MCS to use the World Heritage Site for the project. We look forward to seeing you at what promises to be a unique evening of entertainment.