“There are lots of exciting things happening in the Drama Department at the Clarendon Academy at the moment,” explained Head of Drama, Abigail Ibbetson. “We are very lucky to have students that go above and beyond their drama lessons – both in school and further afield!”
As Christmas draws near, students at Clarendon in Trowbridge are preparing for the season through rehearsing Nativity, an adaptation from the film, written by their very own year 10 student, Darcy O. After last year’s school festivities were sadly cancelled due to Covid, the school is looking forward to celebrating with an audience.
“Drama has always been a hobby for me but taking drama at Clarendon has really given me the chance to push myself further than before,” said Darcy. “I’ve been able to write plays and see them performed, taking on a directing role and bringing the script to life! Drama at Clarendon has given me loads of opportunities, it has helped me develop as an actor and grow in confidence.”
“We are also in the process of launching our next whole school summer show Mary Poppins,” added Abigail. “Last year, we performed High School Musical, with over 50 students from Year 7 to 13, both on stage and behind the scenes. We are honoured that we have a fantastic group of students that take on creative responsibilities such as stage management, lighting and sound design and set design.
“Students get to be involved in the whole process, from start to finish and get to experience the achievement of seeing their hard work pay off.
“At Clarendon, we love celebrating student successes; two of our Year 7 students, Evie and Lily, have been launching their professional acting careers already with both of them working on different professional film projects! Evie not only won the Royal Wootton Basset Arts Festival Year 7 solo acting class this term but has also been filming for the feature film The Wasp.
“Excitingly, she has also been cast as lead role in another feature film which will begin filming next year – we look forward to seeing these when they are released!
“What’s more, Lily has also been involved in film projects and has recently had a thrilling trip to Elstree Studios for a costume fitting, prior to filming in central London a few days later for a huge Netflix series. This is the third Netflix series Lily has been part of this year, alongside filming at Shepperton & Pinewood Studios.
“We look forward to when these projects are released, and we can share their success and will be able to tell you much more.”