Richard the Third

Behind the scenes

Cast your minds back.
What were you doing on Sunday the 6th?  Were you at a party, or doing homework, or watching TV?  You probably weren’t changing into medieval costume, I bet. But that is exactly what me and the rest of the cast of Richard the Third were doing.

It’s the final dress rehearsal before the play. At last, we will get to try on the costumes we have heard so much about. If you saw the play, no doubt you thought they looked
realistic. I can tell you with absolute certainty that the felt totally authentic, too. No wonder people were so violent back then- after wearing my costume for more than an hour every day for four nights in a row, my temper has
not improved, and they had to wear it every day of their short, miserable lives. It certainly put us in the mood for the play.

The props are also frighteningly realistic. ‘If I catch any of you mucking about with your weapons, or even holding someone else’s, I will have you straight to Mr Levin and be pushing for expulsion.” said Joe Oliver, Production Manager. To add weight to his words, he took two drama department blocks and placed a beam of wood between them. Having
told everyone to stand back, he took one of the swords, lifted it and hurled it against the wood, which snapped. Needless to say, everybody took the props very, very seriously.  Fortunately my own prop was a basket of fake strawberries, only dangerous to anyone stupid enough
to try and eat them.

Taking part in Richard the Third in performance was a lot different from what you might think. There isn’t room backstage for all the cast and their costumes.  Most of the time when actors aren’t on stage, they are actually down the corridor in the sixth form common room, nervously listening for cues over the intercom.  This by the way, increases your chance of missing your cue by a factor of ten. But on the other hand, sprinting down the corridor in order to deliver our entrance lines kept us all in shape and added to that breathless battlefield realism.

So the next time you are watching a school production, spare a thought for the people acting in front of you.  They are the only ones in the school who will never be able to watch the play.

Alex Panagiotopoulos