Frantic Assembly Workshop Goes On

Year 12 students at the Stamford Schools have still been able to enjoy the Schools' annual workshop by theatre production company, Frantic Assembly, which has been hosted virtually this year.As part of the students' A Level Drama and Theatre courses, they are required to create a devised piece using the methodology of a notable theatre practitioner or company. The Stamford Schools study Frantic Assembly, an internationally acclaimed theatre company, who create innovative, contemporary works.22 pupils from Stamford participated in a workshop, hosted over Zoom, with Frantic practitioner, Felipe Pacheco, in which they learn about Frantic's devising methods and some of the key movement work developed for the productions of 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time' and 'I Think We Are Alone'.Our Drama Scholars have reflected on their experiences of the workshop:Jacob Young, said: "The experience was really good; i learnt a lot and even over zoom, it really did work. The warm up was very full on, really got us warm - it was challenging but afterwards we were really in the right mind set as to what we were about to do!"I most enjoyed how Felipe had us work as a group to produce something that looked really effective. I loved seeing the finished products of the 'Swindon Fives', which looked really professional...even if we did crash into each other whilst rehearsing!"Charles Morrison added: "The way the workshop was formatted and structured was very enjoyable, and all the activities very fun. My favourite moment was an exercise with chairs, which gave us a chance to be very creative but also make a slick and clean performance; the end result was very satisfying to perform. It was also great to watch other groups show their performances as well." Esme Hoorntje-Fisher said: "I particularly enjoyed the atmosphere and working with a group i wouldn’t usually work with. I was actually pleasantly surprised by how ‘in person’ the workshop felt. The enthusiasm of the instructor and the professional manner in which he held the workshop (despite the difficulties) made it interesting and his excitement kept us on our toes."Sasha Evans added: "I really enjoyed learning some new skills, especially from famous plays like Curious Incident, which will be especially helpful when it comes to devising our A level Drama pieces. I also really enjoyed the enthusiasm of Felipe even through a screen and how engaging he was for the whole duration of the workshop. All of the activities were built up from very basic things such as putting chairs down to creating a piece of drama with it, which was interesting to see how we progressed."For more news from the Drama Department at Stamford, click here.