Drama
St John's pupils took America by storm with a California tour of Shakespeare's The Tempest. The visit included performances at The Stella Adler Academy in Hollywood and the Marjorie Luke Theatre in Santa Barbara. The actors returned to perform The Tempest as the School production, culminating in a highly successful Gala Performance.
The popular Inter-House Drama competition took place in March 2009 with the Houses being set the challenge of producing a number from a Hollywood, Broadway or West End Show. A packed PAC enjoyed numbers from shows as diverse as Grease and My Fair Lady. Mrs Dee Vanstone from Downsend School had the unenviable task of choosing winners but, after a brief deliberation her final adjudication was: Churchill won Best House performance, Barney Banks of West House was declared the Best Actor, Anya Gordon Clark of South House won Best Direction and the Best Performance in a supporting role went to Max Hillier & Robbie Ventham (Churchill) for Pumba & Timon in The Lion King.
Other past performances include Fawlty Towers, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth, The Wind in the Willows, Romeo & Juliet, My Fair Lady,The Diary of Adrian Mole, The Crucible, Animal Farm, Daisy Pulls It Off, Equus, Bouncers, Shakers and The Hound of the Baskervilles. St John's also offers qualifications in LAMDA, Trinity College London / Guildhall as well as piloting the new RADA certificate.
Contact:
Drama Department: Mr Mark Probert Tel: 01372 373000
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The Tempest
The Wizard of Oz!
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Music
The Music Department is now firmly established within the Performing Arts Centre. It offers opportunities which cater for all standards and tastes. These include the Chapel Choir, Chamber Choir, Choral Society, Training Choir, Orchestra, String Quartets, Wind Band, Jazz Band, Junior Jazz Band, Dance Band, Brass Group and Rock Ensembles.
The success of the California Choir Tour demonstrates the rising standards and popularity of choral singing, and the singing in our own Chapel allows over 70 pupils to sing in public on a regular basis. Other events throughout the year include informal concerts, workshops, Guest Nights and scholars' recitals.
An opportunity for the whole school to involve themselves musically comes in the form of the House Singing and Instrumental Competitions. Two Gala Evenings offer a number of performances of rock and pop music alongside more traditional music and some scenes from musicals.
Contact:
Head of Department: Mr N Smith Tel: 01372 385463
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Music at St John's
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The Library
The School Library is housed in the Old Chapel. Over 12,000 books and other resources on a wide range of subjects are held in the Library. Details of these are now on the Library computer catalogue and can be accessed through the OPAC (On Line Public Access Catalogue) which is networked throughout the School and includes links to useful websites for a wide range of topics.
The Library also takes a number of newspapers and magazines, including foreign language journals. Back copies of newspaper and magazines can be found in the Still Memorial Gallery which also provides additional study space for students. Videos, DVDs and CDs are also available for loan. Reference books, dictionaries and directories are kept in the Derek Pitt Memorial area under the former organ loft in the main Library. Networked computers are provided for research and word processing, and a stand-alone machine runs a library collection of CD-ROMs. A scanner and a photocopier are also available for use.
Debating
Debating is conducted through a House Competition, a Senior Debating Society and participation in a number of prestigious national competitions - the Cambridge Union, the Oxford Union and the ESU Mace. The last Prep School Debating Competition took place in April 2008 and was won by Aberdour School. Six teams from prep schools around the area took part.
