english and drama for years 7 and 8

The Three Musketeers

Macbeth

This term in English, Year 8 have been studying staging and performance and understanding how to adapt scripts into live scenes on a stage. The play script used was Shakespeare's famous Scottish play "Macbeth," about a murderous tyrant who, after hearing some prophecies from three witches he encounters on a heath, plots to murder King Duncan, with his scheming wife Lady Macbeth. It is a play about murder, madness, greed, power and the supernatural and enables the students to be really imaginative with their interpretations.

Year 8 first planned the staging of their scenes, thinking about use of the stage, costume and props, and then were given parts to adapt and learn. They worked hard with their final presentations which were staged in the hall. The scene here is at the start of the play when Macbeth first encounters the witches and hears what they have in store for him. - Nicola Prandle

Charlotte, Amy Lara, Chris, Oscar and Rohit from 8b

Year 7 students spent Term 2 working on a combined English and Drama unit, they read through the Ken Ludwig adaptation of ‘The Three Musketeers’ and learnt about stagecraft and acting. The unit culminated in the students performing key scenes from the play to an audience of Junior Secondary classes.

Our students did an amazing job bringing the play to life, the costumes looked great and it was really pleasing to see that the effort both classes put into rehearsals paid off on the day. Everyone gave their best and each group gave a performance that showcased the planning and collaboration that went into their scenes.

Nicola Prandle and I would like to congratulate both 7a and 7b on the hard work that they all showed, it is not easy to prepare a performance in a few short weeks, but both classes showed a real commitment to working together, they really did exemplify “All for one and one for all!” 

Students from Years 7a and 7b

- Stefan Hendry