I’m still mulling over the production of A Christmas Carol, directed by Jolyon McCarthy, its recently appointed Director of Drama, which I’ve just seen in Benenden School’s new state-of-the-art theatre. This independent school in rural Kent has given us a good show, neatly directed and competently acted although a fuller house might have made for more atmosphere.
There is no doubt that theatres in schools - often run by professional practitioners so that the students are not just ‘learning drama’ they are being trained in practical skills by working on the edge of the industry - are beginning to play quite a big role in initial training as more and more schools build them.
20 years ago, at a dinner I found myself sitting with, and chatting to, Nicholas Rowe, actor son of Andrew Rowe MP who was hosting the event - and who has been in the news recently because he died in November. The younger Rowe, then 20-ish told me he was an actor and that he’d cut his thespian teeth in the theatre at school.
I was intrigued because, at the time a teacher in a Kent secondary modern school, I had never heard of a school having its own theatre, so naturally I asked Rowe where he’d been to school. I had to coax the truth out of him: Eton. Well it certainly did him no harm. Nicholas Rowe was Holmes in Stephen Spielberg’s film Young Sherlock Holmes. He’s also appeared in other films and TV programmes such as Longitude, Shackleton and The Fugitives.
In recent years many independent schools and some state ones have followed the example of Eton (and a handful of other far sighted pioneers) by building theatres. They give pupils splendid, quasi-professional experiences which go far beyond the traditional concept of a homespun school play in a lofty, ridiculously unsuitable school hall.
They can also act as receiving theatres which brings a double benefit. It means students see a range of drama. There is also lots of potential for healthy links between school theatres and the community. Tonbridge School and Oundle School, for instance, both have high street box offices in their respective towns to encourage the general public to come to shows in their rather splendid theatres.
And many school theatres encourage local schools and community amateur groups to hire/use the theatre as a performance venue - often ideal for an adult group during school holidays.
What are your experiences of school plays and school-based theatres? How much do you think they’re adding to the overall training and education of young actors, backstage practitioners and the general public?
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