Year 11 Students Dive into the World of the Bear Pit

November 30th 2023

It's another thrilling week for the Drama Department as our talented pupils enthusiastically embrace the opportunity to flex their creative muscles for the much-anticipated Bear Pit.

The Bear Pit is a small scale but quite intense drama production that is student led and directed. It's a chance for our 11 students (who are quite ready) to take on more responsibility, step into dealing with adult themes, and to have a chance to write, direct, produce and perform. The Bear Pit is about so much more than the final performance; it's an all-encompassing opportunity for students to take the reins with all aspects of a piece. It’s an experience which empowers them with a remarkable degree of creative freedom, coupled with the responsibility that naturally comes with leading a performance.

In terms of the pieces performed, pupils can work on anything they'd like to. Staff are there in facilitatory producer roles, but the aim is to give the pupils as much autonomy over their pieces as possible, and to empower them to do all the above on their own. The Bear Pit is an opportunity for pupils to stretch themselves, to try out new things and to take risks, all of which are hugely valuable both theatrically and educationally.

For this week's Bear Pit performances, we have a rendition of Let Them Eat Chaos by the renowned English poet and spoken word artist, Kae Tempest, and performed by Elizabeth. Chaos is a searing, state-of-the-world challenge to the audience.

Then there is an original piece written by one of our students, Matilda, called Romeo Prince of Denmark. This is a mash up of various Shakespeare plays and is exactly the kind of experimentation the Bear Pit is here for. It’s amazing to see Matilda experiment and learn through this piece; she's had an idea and she's got the place to try it out.

Finally, we have an excerpt from Biblical epic drama-poem Salomé by Oscar Wilde which is being performed by Manny. Manny gave a stunning performance in Legally Blonde last week, and now he gets to try something with a completely different temperament and pace.

The magic of the Bear Pit lies in the diverse and imaginative pieces of theatre that emerge from the students' dedication and passion. It's wonderful that the Bear Pit can have the kind of writing found in Salomé right up against something very contemporary, like Chaos and something original like Matilda's Romeo. This alchemy is exactly what the Bear Pit is about.

Ultimately, the Bear Pit is about the journey, the growth, and the collaborative spirit that defines the creative process, more so than the final performance. As we witness our students immerse themselves in a Bear Pit, we anticipate yet another performance of tremendous and thought-provoking pieces of theatre that showcase the incredible potential within our school community.

Stay tuned for updates on other upcoming Bear Pit productions and join us in celebrating the boundless creativity and artistic excellence of our students!

- Mr. Marshall; Teacher of Drama & Film; Teaching & Learning Lead

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