Year 9 Actors take Game to the Screen

Alleyn’s Year 9 actors who were due to perform Mike Bartlett’s brilliant Game before half term did not let lockdown stand in their way. Unable to perform together in person, the pupils still delighted a socially distanced MCT audience with a film put together of their performance created in Teams.

The stirring play invites the audience to spy on a family as they embark on a dangerous new way to live. In a nightmarish world where the personal, political and past intertwine in a dysfunctional present, the numb thrills of video game violence spill over into everyday life. People seek the next level of entertainment, where a day or night out shooting people with tranquiliser darts for £500 is considered just a Game.

Alleyn’s Assistant Director of Drama, Victoria Arter-Furlong, said: “During the rehearsal process, which started in school and culminated remotely over Teams, I had the pleasure to witness this talented group of Year 9 pupils adapt to the challenge of our shifting world without letting this dim their enthusiasm for creativity.

“They have all demonstrated a resilience and flexibility to allow this play, written for the stage, to metamorphosize into one for the screen. Throughout the process they took on their roles and the play’s difficult themes with maturity and skill, investing the characters and story with a unique truth. I feel privileged to have undertaken this unconventional theatrical journey with such a gifted and dedicated company. If the currently stark future of theatre and creativity is in hands such as these, then I have no doubt that it will survive and flourish.”

Congratulations to everyone involved. You can watch a snippet of them in action in this video: