Lockdown is no barrier to college's drama performances

Drama students at Solihull Sixth Form College returned to face-to-face rehearsals, just in time for assessed practical performances.

Year 13 A-Level Drama and Theatre students have been exploring contemporary theatre and performing in the style of Stanislavski.

Rehearsing either a monologue or duologue, students started this component during lockdown and had to rehearse online using Microsoft Team.

Since the return to face-to-face teaching in March, students have been able to rehearse together with face masks and regular sanitisation of hands and equipment. This enabled them to complete this aspect of their course, including the final assessment, which will go towards their final teacher assessed grade.

The students chose a variety of hard-hitting performances for their focus on contemporary theatre, including "The Almighty Sometimes" (by Kendall Feaver), "Pests" (by Vivienne Franzmann), "The Quiet House" (by Gareth Farr), "Mogadishu"(by Vivienne Franzmann), "Pronoun" (by Evan Placey), "Deposit" (by Matt Hartley) and "Lava" (by James Fritz).

Drama teacher Nadia Kouhi commented: "I'm so proud of the students for the work they have done and the way they adapted to difficult circumstances.

"Despite not being able to rehearse together earlier in the year, the engagement online was great and the students made the best of things. Since they have been back in College they have worked hard and supported each other to ensure the performances were as good as they could be."

Pictured: Pupils finally performing in person