Miranda Pharaoh, a Year 8 pupil at the Royal High School in Bath, has won a competition that will see the first play she has ever written, Amazing Grace, performed at the Egg Theatre on Friday 30 March.
A drama scholar at the Royal High and utterly passionate about the subject, Miranda took lead roles in the Junior school under the Head of Performing Arts, Mrs Paula Millard. Since joining the Royal High School, she has taken main roles in a range of performance work, most recently being cast in the Senior School production of Oliver as Mrs Sowerberry. Script writing, however, was something she had not considered until the competition set up by the Theatre Royal Bath Theatre School came to light.
Miranda took inspiration for Amazing Grace from 2008 film Fragments, a viral video depicting the impact of the 2017 tornado in Georgia, and also The Weir, Conor McPherson’s play which portrays the powerful story of loneliness.
Working closely with the co-director of TRB Theatre School, Alex Duarte-Davies, Miranda is looking forward to seeing her play come to life, with parts now cast amongst Miranda’s fellow TRB School group. Director of Amazing Grace, Chloe Masterton, is guiding Miranda through the process. The Royal High School’s Head of Drama, Jo Bailey, commented, “We are all very proud of Miranda, she is an incredible talent and for a Year 8 student to write a play for production is an achievement to be celebrated. We are all very excited about seeing Amazing Grace in March.”