Two Plays in One Day

If one outing to the theatre was not exciting enough, on Wednesday 20th October, the Drama Department made their way to London to catch two plays in one day. “It was a day full of laughs and thoughtful discussion” remarked Theatre Graduate, Jack Robinson.

On their first stop, the group caught The Beauty Queen of Leenane at the Lyric Hammersmith. Described as a ‘major revival’ of the darkly-comic, award-winning play by Martin McDonagh, The Beauty Queen of Leenane is about Maureen, an unmarried woman caring for her sickly mother, Mag. The two share a turbulent relationship in which Mag taunts and insults her daughter, while Maureen blames her mother for her unhappiness.

Later, grabbing a bite to eat along the Southbank, students fuelled themselves for their next treat; East is East at The Royal National Theatre. Ayub Khan Din’s comedy drama, also deals with the subject matter of family relationships. As put by Les Gutman, “East is East beautifully harmonizes the bedlam of life in a large family and the personal crisis of its conflicted immigrant father. The former is at once touching and very funny; the latter, tormented and ugly.”

Peter Scoggins, Head of Drama, commented “These productions were chosen to further students’ learning in GCSE Drama, A Level Drama & Theatre Studies and IB Theatre. This is a great opportunity for students to write about a production and be inspired by excellent work.”

Max who is currently working towards his GCSE in Drama, reflected “I thought that both plays were very good and they both had amazing actors who portrayed their characters extremely well. They both had their funny moments but they both simultaneously showed their deeper meanings within them very well. My favourite part of the trip was going to the theatre for the first time because unfortunately we have been unable to see live performances so to finally see live theatre was just amazing.”

He continued “Seeing the productions has helped me with my studies in the way that it was very helpful to experience and actual live performances. It is because I saw the productions, I am now able to describe the experience and the play itself in greater detail.”