Rhubarb 2021

Covid would jeopardise everything. Funnily enough, all these constraints enhanced rather than restricted us, and we discovered creative solutions together

FEATURE

THE CRUCIBLE I n 2020, under extraordinary circumstances, the School put on a powerful performance of The Crucible by Arthur Miller, 16 years after the last production of the same play at Teddies.Thanks to modern technology the production was streamed virtually to current pupils, parents, former staff and OSE. Below we interview OSE and Head of Drama, David Aldred about this production.We also catch up with many of the cast of 2004 (some of whom watched the production online together) to ask about their experience of doing the same play and to find out what they are up to now.

The Crucible 2020

An interview with David Aldred (Segar’s, 1981-1986), OSE and Head of Drama at Teddies

Congratulations on a spectacular performance of The Crucible. Why did you choose this play? First of all, it had to be a modern play.We operate on a three-year cycle for main School productions: Musical, Classic (Greek or

pertinent to our times for all sorts of reasons; Miller nails and dissects a number of important issues that are not fixed in time (although he is writing allegorically about 1690’s Salem and 1950’s McCarthyism).The propensity for human communities to tear themselves apart seemed to me to be further aggravated by the rise of social media, and this is what I wanted to explore. I never imagined how prescient its themes would become in the context of lockdown. St Edward’s was one of a small number of schools that put on a play during lockdown.What was it like working on this production during Covid? Like the pilgrims before us, we faced a sea of uncertainty and had enormous challenges from the start. It was suggested that I should not stage a main School play at this time, and I did have to carefully consider whether this was the right thing to do. My colleague and producer Kat Eden trusted me completely with the decision. I took much confidence from her and from working in The NorthWal

Shakespeare), Modern. The Crucible followed in the footsteps of Cabaret and Antigone. With any school play, you look for something that will provide opportunity for a sizeable cast, but with enough weight to individual roles to challenge the actors. For this reason, I tend to like Brecht, and I have often staged work with large choruses.Typically, The Crucible requires 10 male and 10 female actors – ideal for a co-educational school such as ours, with some very hefty parts for serious young actors to tackle, and a good fit for The NorthWall theatre.Then there’s the zeitgeist, which is harder to predict. I had thought The Crucible’s message

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