On Thursday 19 October, in celebration of Black History Month, the drama scholars (along with some other performers) organised and put on a Performance Showcase to celebrate the works and influence of black artists. Held in the Tithe Barn, the showcase provided an opportunity to raise awareness and introduce members of the Shiplake College community to perhaps not so well-known pieces of work by artists such as Maya Angelou and Ricky Beadle Blair.
Pieces included songs, stories, speeches, poetry and plays and it was wonderful to see so many of our drama scholars from across the College getting involved. For some, it was their first time performing in a Shiplake Showcase and while there were sure to be nerves, all looked at home on the stage.
Head of Drama, Mrs Emma Farrell, said the following:
‘We are so proud to present our second annual Black History Month showcase. It is our aim within the Drama Department to drive diversity and broaden the cultural experience of our scholars, our drama students and the entire Shiplake community. We aim to do this in the way that we know best, performing!
This event has been curated by the scholars themselves to celebrate the work of black artists, playwrights, poets and cultural figures. The majority of this work is rarely, if ever, seen in schools and never on our exam curriculum.
We recognise that there is a fine balance to be struck and sensitivity around the subject of race and racism - which is why it is important to open up discussion and debate by greater exposure to these works, so that everyone is more experienced and culturally educated and confident to contribute to the conversations that we know need to be happening.
We believe that our scholars must be stretched beyond Shakespeare, Blood Brothers and The Lord of the Flies not just in their performance skills, but in their ability to contribute to the conversations around racial ethics in the performing arts and beyond. We already teach that contemporary theatre is colourblind in its casting, but can our students truly participate in these types of discussions before experiencing it?
We hope that you enjoy the showcase, and you will leave keen to explore the work of Tonferai Munyeva, Ricky Beadle Blair or Kadiff Karwin with another, more diverse name on your lips in your next discussion about the theatre.’
Well done to following pupils who performed:
- Rory Collar - Rugrat’s Prelude, Arinzé Kene
- Albie Ball - Kang, Johnathan Majors
- Archie Parmar - I Want You Back, The Jackson Five
- R Pathak and Felix Collar - Still I Rise, Maya Angelou
- Will Griffith - Noughts and Crosses, Malorie Blackman
- Noah Scotchbrook and Kane O’Connor - I Ain’t Dumb, Ricky Beadle Blair
- Alec Veitch and Tom O’Brien - Death of England (Delroy), Roy William and Clint Dyer
- Darcey Knight - Graduation Speech, Viola Davis
- Felix Collar - Garden Boy from Home, Kadiff Karwin
- James Lucking - Annalise Keating Speech in the Supreme Court, Viola Davis
- Joe Filippetto - Go to the Back Rosa Parks, Unknown
- Danny Petrov - Mugabe, My Dad and Me, Tonderai Munyeva
If you missed the show and want to get a taste of the performances, you can catch all the performances in the video below:
