The thrill of taking part in a large scale drama production leaves a lasting impression on every pupil, whether this be as an actor, stagehand, painter, costume designer or lighting technician.
There is a strong tradition of drama at Hampton Court House and a long line of pupils who have acted professionally in musicals and plays in London’s West End, as well as in film and television dramas.
Students also develop specific skills for acting on film; all pupils would usually make at least one film a year.
“Full-length” drama productions
School plays in recent years have included:
- And Then There Were None (Agatha Christie)
- Androcles and the Lion (George Bernard Shaw)
- All’s Well That Ends As You Like It (Michael Green)
- Arms and the Man (George Bernard Shaw)
- The Bacchae (Euripides)
- The Barber of Seville (Beaumarchais)
- Bugsy Malone (Alan Parker & Paul Williams)
- The Crucible (Arthur Miller)
- DNA (Dennis Kelly)
- Ernie’s Incredible Illucinations (Alan Ayckbourn)
- Fly Away (new play by Helen Blizard)
- The Frogs (Aristophanes)
- Hay Fever (Noel Coward)
- HCH the Musical (Amy Brandis)
- Julius Caesar (Shakespeare)
- Lord of the Flies (William Golding) two productions 2002 & 2012
- Macbeth (Shakespeare)
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare), two productions 2009 and 2012
- Mostellaria (Plautus) performed in Latin
- Oxygen (Carl Djerassi & Roald Hoffmann)
- The Merry Wives of Windsor (Shakespeare), two productions 2002 and 2006
- Oedipus Rex (Sophocles)
- The Physicists (Friedrich Dürrenmatt)
- Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare)
- Tamburlaine the Great (Marlowe)
- Twelfth Night (Shakespeare)
- The Visit of the Old Lady (Friedrich Dürrenmatt)
Drama Evenings
In addition to full-length theatrical productions, the school also produces a number of ‘drama evenings’, during which students showcase their work by staging excerpts from a wide range of plays.
For example, recent drama evenings have included excerpts from:
- The Bear (Anton Chekhov)
- The Circus (Charlie Chaplin)
- Fallout (Roy Williams)
- Fawlty Towers (John Cleese & Connie Booth)
- Les Fiancés en Herbes (George Feydeau)
- Henry V (Shakespeare)
- An Ideal Husband (Oscar Wilde)
- The Importance of Being Earnest (Oscar Wilde)
- The Inbetweeners (Damon Beesley & Iain Morris)
- An Inspector Calls (J.B. Priestley)
- Les Justes (Albert Camus)
- Macbeth (Shakespeare)
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare)
- Les Misérables (Boublil & Schönberg)
- Octavia (Seneca)
- One For The Road (Harold Pinter)
- Pygmalion (George Bernard Shaw)
- Ruy Blas (Victor Hugo)
- The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
- That Face (Lucy Prebble)
And many original sketches written by pupils.
