Cranford Review 2019

A Level Drama
The Foreigner
“Electric, Captivating Theatre”
“They have really grasped
Complicité here, both as a
concept and the group’s work.
The imagination was excellent
and they pushed the boundaries
of what they could do as a
group and through doing that
were able to take the audience
on a journey”.
Katie Turner (Creative Arts
Drama practitioner)
In
December 2018, year 13 A level
Drama students performed the first
of their two exam performance components
to an invited audience of staff, students
and parents. The devised piece entitled
“The Foreigner” is based on an extract
from the Greek mythology play “Medea”
by Euripides. Katherine, a foreigner, enters
an unfamiliar rural village with hopes of
finding shelter, a job and place of safety.
However the unpleasant greetings she
receives from the local townsfolk forces her
to turn to extreme measures in order to have
her voice heard.
This was an original ensemble piece of work which had been developed
over the autumn term and had evolved through an organic process of trial
and discovery. A requirement of the work was for the group to choose
a practitioner to use within the devising process and for them to create
a portfolio of evidence to demonstrate their learning. Their chosen theatre practitioner was Complicité
known as one of the most influential theatre companies in the world who prioritise learning and process
to its work. They focus on not having a fixed pattern when it comes to devising. By initially completing
workshops using the practitioner’s ideas and methods it helped play a great role in terms of stimulating the
students’ thinking. In addition, the group researched costumes, music, sound and 17th century language
to make it appropriate to the time period setting and how to link back to the original play “Medea” and
include ritualistic themes. It was truly an inspiring process which created “electric and captivating theatre”
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Jessica Joyce (Creative Arts – A Level Drama)