Boarders will rock you!

"Anywhere the wind blows..."

With those iconic lines and a dipping of the stage lights, the cast of 'Ashford will Rock You' closed a superb, rock strewn, uproarious opening night's performance of this adaptation of Queen's epic musical. Glow sticks waved, feet stamped, hands clapped until they were sore and, as one, the audience rose to its feet to acclaim another superb night's entertainment put on by students of Ashford School.

The school drama production is always one of the highlights of the Ashford year and there has been a buzz about the place since it was announced that it would be this piece being put on. For some, this wouldn't be the first time.

"It's been on my bucket list to do this musical again." ASIC's Maria told us one afternoon. "This is a dream come true."

As with all dreams though, it came with a lot of hard work. For months and months staff in the Drama and Music departments and students from across the Ashford Community had met and rehearsed songs, dance moves and lines until late in the evening and this was the culmination of all that work.

The aforementioned buzz reached fever pitch when, early in the term the cast received a signed photograph and note of encouragement from the living legend that is Queen lead guitarist Brian May. "Are you ready to rock?" it read. They certainly were!

For those not familiar with the story, the play is set in a fictional future Earth known as Planet More, ruled over by the despotic Globalsoft corporation that - led by it's leader, the scarlet-haired Killer Queen - has removed any trace of individuality from society. Music is sanitised, pumped through the internet, all dance moves are the same, musical instruments banned. Rebelling against this are a group, known as the Bohemians, a rag tag bunch, who cling to an ancient prophecy that 'a dreamer' would some day bring back the spirit of rock.


Killer Queen and the Ga-gas

Rockers: Galileo, Scaramouche and Pop

That dreamer comes in the shape of one Galileo Figaro, who hears snippets of songs in his head without knowing what they mean. Aided by the Bohemians and his 'don't call me' Chick' Scaramouche, they battle to thwart Killer Queen and her maniacal lieutenant - Commander Kashogi - and bring the prophecy to pass.



The Bohemians

Killers: Queen and Kashoggi

The play is littered with razor-sharp one-liners and in-jokes about the banality of reality TV - "We've only got this bit of the video, the rest is an episode of Britain's got Talent." - punctuated by the timeless rock anthems of Queen, including: 'Seven Seas of Rye', 'This crazy little thing called love' and of course 'We will rock you'. These were accompanied brilliantly by Mr Hall and his invitation rock band.

What many would have noticed on the night was that, among standout performances by the main cast: Jess, Jamie, Dexter and others, the majority of the chorus line was made up of members of Ashford School's boarding community. Daria, Tom, Jane, Maria, Kristina, Renata, Caroline, Katya and the irrepressible Timur, who raised smiles aplenty by just being himself in his dungarees and bright yellow socks. Yet another example of what we talked about last time, the whole community coming to together to produce some magic.



 



Behind the scenes the cast were aided by a proficient team of 'techies': lighting, stage hands and sound staff, as well as costume manager, Sister Jo, without whom none of it would have been possible. Others - including Ochuwa, Mo and Tini - helped out front of house, helping people find seats and keeping them refreshed in the interval. A big hand to them, the Drama department of Mrs Dinsdale, Mrs Dengate and Mrs Allum, the Music department: Mr Hall, Mrs Powell and Mrs Brown and above all, to the performers themselves.

To badly misquote another Queen classic: "They are the champions, my friends." Break a leg for the rest of the run and have a great Easter break afterwards, you've all deserved it!

BREAKING DRAMA NEWS: the ASIC Year 11s have been given one of less than 50 places to perform a small part of A Midsummer Night's Dream, in Stratford, as part of the Dream Team 2016 festival to celebrate 400 years since the Bards death in July. Watch this space for updates!

48 hours at Ashford School

As we have mentioned on many occasion before in this blog, we are a very strong community here at Ashford School. Almost every week there are occasions when boarders and day students come together with outstanding results to create something amazing or thought provoking.  These two adjective can certainly be applied to the events of the end of last week when, in just 48 hours we had ‘Dare to be Different Day’, the whole school Creative and Performing Arts competition and the Spring Concert.

Every year, the Amnesty group, headed by Miss Ball, runs Dare to be Different Day to focus people’s attention on the cause for human rights across the world. Every year students can raise money for great cause – this year, the Save the Children Syrian Refugee Appeal – by being silent (to highlight the right to freedom of expression), wearing a mask (the right to an identity or to highlight the plight of the many politically ‘disappeared’) or even blindfolded (the right to freedom of movement).

 

 

Last Thursday our students, and teachers, displayed just how much they care about these issues. There were many sporting Guantanamo-style orange prison jump suits (Yuki and Tini for example); Timur chose to be miserable all day (an amazing feat if you know this student!) but for many, the high point was Mr Newth sitting a lunchtime detention (‘Ode to a Water Droplet’ soon to be published!) There was a hearty bake sale too and Lukas’s Patriotic Pavlova was auctioned off for the princely sum of £18 to Mr Young.

We all look forward to seeing how much was finally raised, but you can be sure we’ll be trying to top it next year!

House competitions are always fiercely competitive and the CPA event didn’t disappoint. This year the theme was ‘Shakespearean’ as it is the 400 anniversary of the Bard’s death. Each house was given a play and asked to create a poster, a storyboard, a costume (mad out of wastepaper and bin liners) and an item of cookery based on it.

What’s great about these events is the buzz that runs through the house areas – we were lucky enough to be with Pilgrims this year and everyone was doing their bit. Chak was chopping, Kuso creating, Charlotte producing a marvellous manga representation of the climax of Romeo and Juliet and Bradley…well, his costume had to be seen to be believed! Each house then paraded their model and showed off their creations in front of a highly appreciative audience in Brake Hall.  After a weekend of much deliberation, Merchants ran out the winners  (by a single point) with their iPad-centred interpretation of Hamlet. Many thanks to Mr Barnett and the CPA faculty for all their efforts and to all the houses for bringing Shakespeare back to life.

The grand finale of the week was the much-anticipated Spring Concert. Throughout the last term the many music groups and soloists (under the tutelage of the school’s peripatetic teachers, along with Mr Hall, Mrs Powell and Mrs Brown) had been putting in the hours and wow, it showed on the night, as they produced a fantastic evening’s entertainment!

At 19:30 sharp Mr Hall, Mr Vafidis, James and Matt sung a cheeky four-part acapella to welcome everyone and to remind them to please turn their phones off. The theme of music bringing staff and student together was one that echoed throughout the performance. The school orchestra kicked off proceedings with a rousing suite from Handel’s water music.  Now, there are half a dozen boarders who play in this elite group – Kewen, Demi, Conan, Mook, Celini and Miso - it just goes to show the depth of talent we have. Many of these then went on to play in either the String Orchestra (with the appropriately titled ‘Plink, Plank, Plunk’) or the Wind Band (with a great set of marches from John Williams).

We are blessed here in Ashford to have incredibly talented pianists in James, Jervis and Govind. Where Jervis’s Prelude in G Minor by Rachmaninoff was stylish, skilled and nuanced, James’s ‘Cakewalk Smasher’ was gloriously bolshie and Govind’s three pieces imperious.

One of our favourite moments was the performance of the ‘Elastic Band’ made up of musicians who have only begun playing recently, playing music specially arranged for them by Mrs Powell. William and Rain joined in the joyful Pavan with Mrs Rylands, Mrs Odysseas and Mrs Cox. If these were beginners, the future of music here is very bright indeed!

The main event after the interval (no glass clinking please) was Haydn’s Nelson Mass sung by a 40-strong choir made up of the school Chamber Choir (including Shiyu, Maria, Mrs Hawker and Mr Vafidis) a group of guest singers and a number of brave souls from both the staff and student body who had just joined in at the beginning of the term to try something new. This group included Maths teachers Mrs Odysseas and Dr Britton, Development Director Mr Young and Head of EAL Mrs Sagastuy. These were privileged to be accompanied by four fabulous soloists and a superb orchestra (including Miss Leonard on the violin).

The mass was a masterpiece, with everyone giving their all in a performance that could have graced far grander stages with aplomb. To take on a piece like this requires courage and determination, particularly when it comes to singing in front of peers, friends and colleagues. Congratulations to all and a massive thank you to Mr Hall et al for your support.

When we look back at this amazing 48 hours in the life of Ashford School, it is incredible, but nonetheless true, to think that the preparation and practice for these events (lessons, meetings, activities) are a day-to-day part of our school and the boarders are in the thick of it and working with their day colleagues to make it happen. Now that’s what we call ‘Adventurous Learning’!

NB: We continue the creative buzz with the amazing ‘Schools Will Rock You’ rockin’ out Brake Hall on 17^th-19^th March. Be there!