Guest Review: The Epilogue

On Wednesday Night, the Yr10 BTEC Theatre Company 'Two Face', produced two contrasting pieces of devised drama from their original scripted piece "The Grey Angel" which they performed back in February.  The original play was about Elizabeth Fry, one of England's key prisoner reformers and was set in Newgate Prison.

 

The first group (Tonya Greenhill, Heather Buchanan & Stephen Sullivan) sensitively explored the fortunes of what happened to two sisters after they were released from prison and portrayed this in the style of a "Who Do You Think You Are?" documentary. The second group (Naomi Kemp, Amy Broadfoot, Lucy Phelps) took inspiration from one of our regular professional theatre companies 'Gonzo Moose' and came up with a very witty spoof entitled "I'm a Dying Prisoner, Get Me Out of Here!".

 

It's great to see the impact live theatre has on our students and I'm really pleased to see them striving to achieve their best each time they perform.

- Mrs Stimson

Guest Review: ‘Accidental Death of an Anarchist’

"It was an absolute pleasure to be entertained and notably educated by the Rambunctious Theatre Company’s performance of Dario Fo’s ‘Accidental Death of an Anarchist’ last night. The energetic, yet controlled cast did a superb job, it was easy to forget I was not watching a professional theatre company, but then again with this calibre of student... ‘watch this space!’  The cast of inspirational past and present students worked collaboratively in just a short space of time and achieved high quality theatre. Their witty and mature storytelling of the police corruption unfolding in Italy in the 1960s/70s transported us into their journey of investigation into how and why an anarchist in custody met his death through the window of the police headquarters’ interview room. The comical yet highly political performance was excellently executed with creative and convincing characterisation, impeccable comical timing, hilarious visual comedy, effective use of composite set and let’s not forget true understanding and appreciation of the well acclaimed script.

Each cast member, either past or present 'Bradoner'; Harley Viveash, Samuel Stafford, Anna Meares, Oliver Webb, Isobel Rowand and Fleur Calder were truly inspirational as they showcased the outcomes of their years of studying and practicing the craft of acting. Harley’s excellent multi role-playing skills made him ‘purpose built’ for the role of the Maniac impersonator, he can truly play his hand at any role with great success. The entire cast was a delight to watch and I am sure any tutor or teacher of each of these students past and present would be very proud to watch them perform and shine."

Miss C Parsloe

Where's the sun?

Unfortunately, due to the lack of 'Summer' in tomorrow's weather forecast, our Family Fun Day has had to be cancelled. Boo!

The Gonzo Moose performance will still go ahead though... that's inside. Yay!

I'm An Aristorcrat, Get Me Out of Here!

Showing tomorrow night as our very special opener

 for the Summer Arts Festival!

Also showing:

Monday 2 & Tuesday 3 July
- Rambunctious Theatre Company present Accidental Death of an Anarchist
Wednesday 4 July
- Two Face Theatre Company present The Epilogue
Thursday 5 July
- 'Staff Band' Night - featuring Coach, Lydia Twenty, Iron Donkey and Lords of Chaos. The evening will open with student band, Fez!
Monday 9 July
- In For a Penny presents Peg Legs and Dental Plans
Tuesday 10 July
- Bradon Forest PE Department presents A Dance Celebration
Wednesday 11 July
- Bradon Forest Music Department presents A Choir Celebration - featuring The Bradon Forest Singers, Purton Village Voices and choirs from both Brook Field and St Mary's primary schools.

For full details, including start times and ticket prices for individual shows, see our website.

It Could Be You!

This week the Key Stage 3 Drama Club have been performing their latest piece, It Could Be You. The group have spent the last few months looking at the idea of money and how it affects peoples lives, both for those who have lots and those who don't have any. In It Could Be You we meet a struggling single mum with little money, a winning gambler, an evil scientist who wants to take over the world looking for financial backing and a millionaire blinded by his hard earned fortune.

After being led to three 'chance encounters' with less fortunate people by three homeless people, the millionaire is taught to see the error of his ways before being overcome with greed and selfishness.

This imaginative exploration in to the value of money, was devised and performed entirely by our talented Drama Club and directed by Philippa Bradfield. The students all performed with confidence and really showed a maturity towards the topic. I'm looking forward to next years already!

It Could Be You turns out to be the first in a series of Bradon Forest Theatre productions based on the issue of poverty. Don't miss Molière's The Miser being performed by our new Year 10 students, on Wednesday 17 to Friday 19 October 2012.

The Little Mermaid Aquashow!

Bradon Forest Theatre are proud to support Curious Company's latest project. Get yourselves along to Devizes or Marlborough leisure centres to catch this exciting performance!

Bradley's Silver Arts Award Review

I watched Discombobulated at Bradon Forest Theatre, directed by Aitor Basauri and preformed by Angus Barr and Merce Ribot (Publick Transport).

It was a fantastic comedy performance about safety awareness at an airport and they turned the boring subject into a funky, funny play.

My absolute favourite part of the play was when they were doing the strip search and Merce Ribot got carried away and started to do a striptease.

It was a great experience to watch and be there it was directed and performed amazingly and it has taught me a lot more about drama because I used to think that drama always had to be serious, but the way they performed showed be that you should have fun with a piece of drama.

I would certainly recommend it to anyone it was brilliant it also was good family comedy and if I had the chance I would watch it again.

Ania's Silver Arts Award Review

Discombobulated
On March 1st at 7:30 PM I went to see a brand new play called “Discombobulated” by Publick Transport, live, at Bradon Forest Theatre. It was a hilarious piece containing dance, drama, music and some great special effects. Both me and the friends who I went with and in my opinion the whole audience loved it!

When I walked into the theatre, the first thing I noticed was the set: a security check scanner for people to walk through and a luggage scan complete with a security guard’s desk. I loved it because it really matched the entire theme of the play- airport security, and it looked really realistic, just like at a real airport. I also noticed there was a disco ball hanging of the top left corner of the theatre, and I was to find out what it was for at the end of the show…

Though the general theme of the play was airport security, it was clear that the actors had thought “outside the box”. All of the scenes were different, comical and full of surprises. Two security guards were making fun out of how over-the-top airport security is. The main scenes included an introduction to the theatre company’s point of view and rather extravagant take on airport security using song and dance, a scene at a French café and an ending which involved another musical piece and some special effects.

Overall, I loved the whole performance. They used a lot if physical theatre and even audience interaction- they were talking about what other places can be dangerous and when asked I replied ‘at a school’ since we were in a school theatre. If I had to choose a favourite part it would have to be the “French Café” scene because the characters used were those of stereotypical French people, all of their features exaggerated which made me laugh throughout the entire scene. They also said things in French with and exaggerated French accent, which made the characters more believable and in turn more comical. I also liked the ending because it all seemed so over-the-top romantic due to the music, fairy lights, disco ball and atmospheric lighting, which made the entire scene almost “magical”, almost surreal, as if the character were in a fantasy land of their own.

Any improvements? Make it longer so that there is more to watch! To sum up, I would recommend this play to anyone (teenagers up), whether they like theatre or have never been before. It’s fantastic for anyone who wants a good night out or have a laugh; I would definitely go to see this crazy show again!

Kirsten's Bronze Arts Award Review

The De La Warr Pavilion: Some history
The De La Warr Pavilion is classed as an international building constructed in 1935 by the architects Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff. It is considered by many to be in an art deco style whilst others claim it to be the very first major modernist public building in Britain. Much to my surprise when reading up on where I visited I found that the building itself was in fact a result of a competition in February 1934 and from this the two architects mentioned above went forward to produce this magnificent building. It was only in 2005 the it reopened with a new generation of contemporary and modern art.

On Monday 9th of April 2012, I completed task B by 'being the audience' whether that be a music concert a piece of theatre or a dance show. I chose something a little different and went to the De La Warr Pavilion art gallery. As well as being an art gallery with art in side it also has an amazing architectural design. Seeing the gallery and the atmosphere within really showcases well how much the gallery means to the community. Going to the art gallery was a new thing to me and me realize how still photo's and paintings can be so simple but yet so beautiful and made me feel content and closed off from the world for a couple of minutes with questions flying through my head like who where and why.

Review on Cerith Wyn Evans...
Cerith Wyn Evans, an archaeologist and aspiring artist has just completed his most recent work at the De La Warr Pavilion art gallery in East Sussex, Bexhill-On-Sea. Evans has a very unique style of work with many different dynamics and almost in a surreal way he makes the impossible possible. My favourite part of Evans work was the self playing flutes. These were both unique and interesting but at the same time rather unnerving to watch as you would be walking past and all of a sudden out of no where you would hear music above your head. Overall I enjoyed the art gallery as it was both inspiring and interactive, certainly something I would consider doing again.

Emily's Bronze Arts Award Review

Bristol Fashion Week

I went to Bristol Fashion Week on Sunday 25th March 2012 at 3:00pm, Cribbs Causeway. The show consisted of the top fashions found in the shops like John Lewis, JD Sports, French Connection, Marks & Spencer, Clive Ranger, Bank, Gap Kids, Claire’s, Radley, Monsoon, BHS, Hush Puppies, Ernest Jones, Coast, Warehouse, Miss Selfridge, Timberland, Next, kids outfits from The Disney Store and many more. I thought that the show was really entertaining and I learnt a lot about all the new styles in 2012 and I loved all the outfits shown. I especially liked the Festival Clothes and the African Themed outfits. The fact that I had a good seat made it better too because I could really see how detailed all the outfits where. I really like how all the models didn’t just walk around because they danced, sang and did a bit of acting whilst modelling the clothes. The only thing I didn’t like about the fashion show was that there was a lot of waiting around at the start to go in but I guess that it can’t really be helped as there were other shows earlier that day. So to improve maybe next time they could spread all the shows over a couple of days.