Newsletter

July 2017

Another wonderful year at CENTRESTAGE

We have come to the end of another fantastic year at CENTRESTAGE. We hope the students have enjoyed it as much as we have.

Although we did not have a Showcase this year, we have managed to fit in so many other exciting performances! When starting this newsletter, Rebekah and myself started by looking back over the year in detail, and we can’t believe all of the things we have managed to squeeze in! Over the course of this newsletter, we shall remember and celebrate the highlights of the year!

Goodbye Kieran and Ali!

It is, with great sadness, time to say goodbye to two lovely members of the CENTRESTAGE team. They have both been an absolute joy to work with, and we know the children will miss them just as much as we will.

Alessandra Davison

Ali joined CENTRESTAGE when she was just 5 years old, and was one of the youngest students ever to join. Ali took Creative Drama, Acting and Speech lessons from this age right up until she was 18 years old.

Ali played some brilliant roles in our productions. Most memorable of all would be Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice in March 2015. Ali was also an important part of CENTRESTAGE @BVGS and played the main role of the Landlady, in our production of Two in December 2015. This production was placed in the top 5 school productions in Birmingham.

When Ali left school, she became part of the CENTRESTAGE staff team and was a wonderful teacher, in particular leading Speech classes in Bishop Walsh and Bishop Vesey’s Secondary Schools.

Having obtained places at both LAMDA and RADA, both being very prestigious Drama Schools, she will be attending LAMDA from September onwards. We are so excited for her, and wish her the best of luck!

Kieran Jenkins

Kieran joined CENTRESTAGE when he was just 6 years old, and stayed right up until he was 18. He took many fantastic roles in CENTRESTAGE plays, including Mr Bingley in our production of Pride and Prejudice in March 2015, Boxer in Animal Farm in March 2016, followed by Salty in our most recent Upstage production of Teechers in March 2017.

Kieran was made Head Boy at Bishop Walsh Catholic School in his last year of school, and we can definitely see why!

Not only has Kieran been an invaluable participant in his own Drama lessons, he has also been a terrific support in the younger lessons and productions, often leading lights and sound, as well as directing. We really appreciate everything he has done!

Kieran is off to study English Language and Linguistics at hopefully Sheffield or Liverpool University. We wish him the best of luck in his future and we shall miss him very much!

Newsletter

July 2017

PCertLam Success!

Following the success of Gunjan Sain, who was the first CENTRESTAGE student to receive her PCertLam Diploma, we are delighted to announce that the following students have also completed this challenging award: Helen Goaley, Lucy Oakey (nee Bartley) Aoife O’Dowd and Ella May McGrail!

A Note from Rebekah

It has been a packed year at

CENTRESTAGE, and a very exciting one. There

have been so many highlights, clearly evidenced in

this newsletter. I feel both proud and privileged to

be leading CENTRESTAGE at a time when Drama is disappearing from school curriculums and arts funding is being cut.

We are hoping to hold a reunion of past CENTRESTAGE pupils in December, so please spread the word to any former teachers or pupils that you know, and ask them to get in touch by emailing admin@centrestageschool.org.uk.

Many thanks to Ella for compiling this newsletter. I hope that you all have a happy summer, and I look forward to seeing everyone again in September.

Thank you Aoife!

It has been absolutely wonderful to have Aoife O’Dowd back to help out this term. Aoife came back especially from Edinburgh University where she is studying English and Theology to re-join the team. She has been working in the primary schools and at BVGS for the production of Toad where she took charge of props as part of the stage-management crew. We really appreciate all your work Aoife!

Aoife

Highlights of the Creative Drama Classes

Juniors: Juniors performed their wonderful production of “The Clown Who Couldn’t Smile” in June. The class worked so hard on this circus-themed play and made it so much fun, complete with clowns, acrobats, strong men, trapeze artists and of course, the Ring Master. For any children, this was their first performance. We are so proud of you Juniors!

Intermediate: Inters have been very busy this year. They performed the spooky “A Ghastly Ghostly Play” back in November, and then, more recently, the Arabian Nights inspired “Scheherazade”, complete with songs! They really are growing up into a talented bunch!

Year 7 and 8: In April, the class performed their workshop production of Peter Pan. Directed by Simon, this performance showcased some of the technically advanced skills the students had been working on, such as stage combat.

Year 9 and 10: Year 9 and 10s created their own gruesome modern Murder Mystery which was performed in February. Set backstage in a theatre, during a rehearsal process of “Macbeth”, this was so much fun for the students, as their imaginations were set on fire as the whole play was devised by themselves!

Upstage: In March, Upstage performed their energetic and lively production of “Teechers”. No one can say it’s all doom and gloom at CENTRESTAGE! Some audience members even commented that this was their favourite Upstage production ever! Upstage took this production out into the community and performed for the young people at St Martin’s Youth Centre.

More recently, in July, with the addition of the talented Year 10 group, Upstage performed their very own “Shakespeare in the Park”. This was a roaring success and a really wonderful event, (mostly because it didn’t rain). Location drama is so much fun and we hope to be doing some more next year!

What have we been doing in Speech?

At the beginning of the academic year, all Speech classes prepared for Group Trinity exams. The group exams are always very popular and a lot of fun. In January all groups performed in the Speech Recital for lots of parents. It was brilliant to see all of the classes together and the development in skills throughout the school. The results were wonderful and we were very proud of every class.

Since then, each class has been preparing for individual LAMDA examinations which were taken at the beginning of July. We ae still awaiting the results for this examination session but we are hoping to have them in September ready for the students.

No matter the mark, we are already incredibly proud of every single child!

Newsletter

July 2017

Easter Passion

At Easter, some of the Silver and Gold Medal students took part in a dramatised reading of The Passion at St Michael’s Church. This was a beautiful event, well done everyone.

Hannah Bennett

A massive well done to Hannah Bennett, who is the first sixth form student at BVGS to take a medal LAMDA exam! We wish you every success in your result!

New Oscott, St Nicholas and Coppice

Primary Schools

We are extremely lucky that we are able to teach Speech and Drama in three lovely primary schools. They are all a pleasure to work in.

Around Christmas, all three schools performed in their own Speech Recital, based around the theme of “Space and Aliens”. This was such a fun event and every child performed beautifully.

Since then, I have seen such a boost in confidence in many of the children – this has been a joy to watch.

Just like our Saturday Speech classes, the primary schools all then started work towards their individual LAMDA examinations, except for Year 1 classes who took part in a “Mock” exam with Rebekah (well done Year 1!). Coppice went first with their exams, followed by New Oscott and then St Nicholas.

We have already received and awarded the children with their results and certificates at New Oscott and Coppice. I am so pleased to say that we have received 100% pass rate with Merit or Distinction at these two schools. Well done everyone!

We have not received results for St Nicholas yet, but hopefully they will arrive soon. No matter the marks, we are already extremely proud of the St Nicholas children.

We look forward to a new, exciting term at the primary schools in September 2017!

Drama @ BVGS with CENTRESTAGE

We have been teaching drama in Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School for the last two years now, and it has been fantastic. We have run lunchtime drama clubs, after school drama sessions and have produced three school plays.

Following the success of the 2015 performance of “Two”, at Christmas, we mounted the production of “Find Me” with years 10-13 taking the lead. The play, which deals with mental illness, was challenging to work on and we had some lovely feedback from the audience. Since then, we have found out that we have, again, been placed in the top 5 school productions in Birmingham with “Find Me”. We are delighted!

After this, it was the turn of the Year 7-9 students. “Toad” (based on “Toad of Toad Hall”) was performed on 6th and 7th July and was a pleasure to work on, from start to finish. We have seen such a development in skills and confidence from the lads involved and we are extremely proud of them!

Bishop Walsh Catholic School and Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School LAMDA Lessons

As well as the three wonderful primary schools, CENTRESTAGE also runs LAMDA lessons in Bishop Walsh and Bishop Vesey’s.

Bishop Walsh – Around Christmas time, the students at Bishop Walsh took part in a fun and lively Speech Recital at the school, all based on the theme of “School”. This was the first Recital a lot of the pupils had ever performed in, and it was a fantastic event. Following this, the students have just taken individual LAMDA exams and for some pupils this is the second exam they have now taken at Bishop Walsh with us. We are excitedly awaiting the results. No matter the mark, we are already incredibly proud of these students. We hope they have enjoyed the year as much as we have.

Bishop Vesey’s –LAMDA lessons at Bishop Vesey’s started for the first time in February and it has been an exciting journey so far. The boys are all working extremely hard towards their first LAMDA examination which they will take in November. We wish them the best of luck.