Drama

Drama thrives at MCS, with a huge range of opportunities available for pupils of all ages.

During the course of the year, we stage as many as 14 productions, with annual highlights including a Greek play, a large-scale musical, various studio productions including an Edinburgh Fringe transfer, a mainstage production at Oxford Playhouse and an outdoor Shakespeare on the banks of the Cherwell. The aim is to expose pupils to a mixture of classic texts and new writing, and older pupils are encouraged to gain experience of directing, producing and even writing their own pieces of theatre. With an equal emphasis on enjoyment and quality, there is definitely something to suit all tastes and abilities.

At the cutting edge

We produce an unusually large amount of new writing and pride ourselves on continuing to develop our Drama programme with ever more challenging projects. Recent successes include:

• A new adaptation of The Three Musketeers at the Oxford Playhouse: ‘in a word…joyful!’ said the review.
• The Odyssiad, a new adaptation of ‘The Iliad’ and ‘The Odyssey’, by Head of Drama Alex Thomas, set against the backdrop of a 1900s archaeological dig at Mycenae.
• The Hobbit, our new musical adaptation of Tolkien’s classic, which we set in the First World War. This was performed to great acclaim at the Oxford Playhouse, earning a 5* review.
• Birdland, work we commissioned from composer Bob Chilcott and poet Charles Bennett. The opening performance included over four hundred primary school children and featured on BBC South.
• Reflections, a large-scale collaborative project between pupils and staff at the heart of our 2018 commemorations for WW1, which resulted in an original stage production.

Pieces of original writing by Sixth-Form pupils are frequently performed, while the hotly-contested House Drama competition, which sees each house perform a fifteen-minute piece of theatre, is directed entirely by Upper Sixth pupils.

A professional touch

We enjoy long-standing partnerships with the Pegasus Theatre and the Oxford Playhouse (with whom we share two one-year residencies), giving access to impressive performance spaces and professional direction.

Our Theatre Academy, run with the Pegasus, focuses on developing core skills in voice, movement and stagecraft under the direction of professionals. Visiting practitioners deliver exciting workshops in everything from stage combat to puppetry and mask-work. Academy places are also available to a number of external pupils.

Our resident professionals have gone on to have remarkably successful journeys in the theatre industry, as writers, directors, producers and actors.

“It was whilst working with the Theatre Academy that I decided that I wanted to pursue a career in the Performing Arts; the opportunity to work with professional directors in professional venues has gone a long way to preparing me for acting at university and beyond” – Hugh Tappin, OW 2016

Drama scholarships are available for boys and girls entering the Sixth Form, please click here for details.

Technically speaking…

All shows involve pupils on the technical and backstage crews, and in 2018 MCS set up a Technical Theatre Academy based at Pegasus Theatre to develop this side of the school’s provision. Our older pupils take full ownership over lighting and sound designs for our major productions, and gain invaluable experience from working alongside industry professionals at Oxford Playhouse and elsewhere. Younger pupils are mentored by Sixth-Formers, taking increasingly large roles in technical and backstage capacities.

A taste of recent productions