Main School Productions
The Main School Production is one of the highlights of the school year and involves up to 100 students. Productions are often staged in collaboration with the Music Department and staff across the school help with various aspects of the production. We aim to give the students experience of being involved in a professional production. Students can apply to be part of the cast or the technical/backstage crew. In recent years, the lighting and sound have been programmed by HBS students. Recent productions have included: ‘Daisy Pulls It Off’ (2010), ‘Guys and Dolls’ (2011), ‘Cabaret’ (2012), ‘Oh What A Lovely War’ (2013), ‘Our Country’s Good’ (2014), ‘Broadway’ (2015) and ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ (2016), Magic of the Musicals (2017, Grimms Tales (2018) and most recently ‘A Christmas Carol’ (2019).
Musical Theatre Society
The musical theatre society has been running since June 2019 and is organised by HBS Year 11 students with a passion for musicals. Students from across all year groups are involved in both performing and backstage elements. It runs on Thursday lunchtimes and students work on musical theatre songs and ensemble pieces with the aim of performing informal cabarets and showcases in the school’s main hall.
Shakespeare Club
The Shakespeare club is run by Year 11 students but open to all year groups and runs on Wednesday lunchtimes. In the club, students explore Shakespearean acting skills and techniques through games and dramatic exercises. As well as this, they explore one text per year which they perform in full costume in the Drama Studio. This year the students are working on Twelfth Night. (2020).
LAMDA COURSES
LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) courses are geared towards improving students’ confidence in communication and performance skills. We currently offer LAMDA to students in Years 8 and 9 and are hoping to include Year 12 later in the year. The courses are taught by our LAMDA specialist teacher. Students have the opportunity to regularly share and evaluate their own and each other’s work whilst working towards graded LAMDA examinations.
The LAMDA Youth Leadership Scheme enables students in Key Stage 4 to mentor the Key Stage 3 candidates as they prepare for their examinations. Youth Leaders may use this experience as Volunteering for the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, with the LAMDA specialist guiding leadership development and acting as the assessor.
DRAMA CLUB
Drama Club runs on Tuesday lunchtime for Years 8 and 9 during the first half of the year. After this, we invite Year 7 to join. In the club, students build on their creative and performance skills as well as working towards a showcase performance where they share their scenes in the Drama Studio space. Key Stage 4 students are offered the opportunity to become Drama Club Youth Leaders, and again, this may be used as part of their Volunteering for the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.
Greek Theatre Enrichment Year 8
Year 8 Drama students take part in a Greek Theatre enrichment day at the end of the Autumn Term where they create their own Greek Theatre pieces in full mask and costume inspired by Greek Myths they have studied in Drama lessons. They perform these ‘in the round’ in the main hall in front of teachers and their year group. This year (2019), Drama students were also supported by the Greek Club, Classics Club and the Mythology society. They were able to get further knowledge of Greek Theatre as well as explained how important it was in Ancient Greek society. The students are challenged to incorporate some ancient Greek language into their performances.
Hampstead Youth Theatre
This year (2019), our local theatre has started its first youth theatre company which runs on Wednesdays after school. Many of our Year 10 and 12 students have signed up to take part and will be founding members. The group are working towards a performance in the prestigious Hampstead Theatre Downstairs this Spring.
Theatre Visits and Trips
Students across year groups are offered theatre trips as enrichment opportunities. With HBS being on the West End’s doorstep, it is a great opportunity for shared theatre experiences. GCSE Drama students visit a production as part of their preparation for the Live Theatre Evaluation section of the course. Recent theatre trips at HBS have included La Boheme at the Royal Opera House (2018), Everybody’s Talking About Jamie at the Apollo Theatre (2018), Six Musical at the Arts Theatre (2020) and Come From Away at the Pheonix Theatre (2019).