All of Year 8 were recently involved in a performance of Skellig, taking on the award-winning text as part of their Performance Evening. A packed audience in the Tithe Barn Theatre enjoyed a moving and memorable performance of the piece, which has won numerous awards since its publication in 1998.
All of Year 8 were involved with the performance, either acting, or helping with lighting, staging and sound. The play follows the story of a family having just moved to a new, decrepit, house, and the young son, Michael, finding a strange creature amongst boxes and debris in the garage. The story of Skellig, and his friendship with Michael, intertwines with the story of Michael’s family, as his baby sister is fighting for her life in hospital. The play was very moving, with the creature Skellig eventually appearing in Michael’s mum’s dream – which involved a very clever piece of physical theatre – and Michael’s baby sister being saved as a result of this.
The piece was performed by Titans and Olympians, as each house took on half of the play and swapped parts. The performance was quite physically demanding with a lot of movement onstage. Head of Drama Mrs Jenny Nunes, and Mrs Sian Pearson, commented: ‘We’re really proud of the pupils for getting so involved in this and putting on a great play for the audience. Skellig is a much-loved book, and so we tried to keep the poignant messages about love, family and friendship clear in the movement from page to stage. We were short a couple of actors unfortunately, but the pupils did brilliantly stepping up to the plate. We look forward to what these boys can achieve in Drama as they move up through the school.’