Lewis Carroll’s classic fantastical journey down the rabbit hole – Alice in Wonderland – was brought to life onstage in June at The Tabernacle. The annual Year 3 School play is an unforgettable experience for the boys at Wetherby, a chance to get up on stage and transfix an audience of parents, peers and teachers.
Over the summer term the boys brilliantly developed their skills as actors, listening to advice and adapting it. They did particularly well at improvising and learning the songs. Mr Jason Smith said, “I saw the boys reaching their potential and following the different pieces of advice I had given. The boys sang beautifully and acted like young professionals.” Elliot, one of the young cast members, describes how during the rehearsals, “Mr Smith (Director) and Mr Lochhead (Pianist) would make us rehearse till it was perfect.”
The boys thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Leo, who was in one of the Mad Hatter parties, said that during the play “we all felt excited and nervous. Also, we thought we might miss one of our words. But we were fine all the way through.” Elliot says the boys did very well and during the play “all our parents looked like zombies watching brains on TV.”
Leo describes how the audience clapped like a horse galloping when we finished the last song. “After the play we felt proud of ourselves. We thought we might earn a trophy.” The performance was eleven out of ten according to Mr Smith. Elliot adds his parents “My parents said it was AMAZING and AWESOME. It was the BEST DAY EVER!”
Mr Smith was rightly proud: “This is something from your time at Wetherby that you will never forget and I am sure that we may even see a couple of you on the West End someday.”
What are your memories of Drama at Wetherby? Tell us about your favourite school plays