LATEST NEWS

Jeremy Lemmon Project

The Jeremy Lemmon Project was established to support drama training, creative collaboration and access to higher education across secondary schools initially in the Borough of Harrow. Jeremy was an inspirational teacher and director of Shakespeare at Harrow School, staging a series of productions exploring shared-light playing conditions, and bringing the work to life for generations of students. This year the Globe Theatre opened the project to other schools in the London area, and we were invited to send six students along to audition. The competition for this project was very high, so it was with immense pride that the two were chosen to join the project in the next academic year. The project will result in the two Year 12 performing arts students involved in workshops and eventually a performance at the Globe Theatre.

National School Theatre Awards

The National School Theatre Awards is a prestigious ceremony dedicated to honouring outstanding full- and part-time school productions. It celebrates talent and acknowledges the dedication behind these productions, highlighting the hard work invested in them. This platform provides pupils with a unique opportunity to showcase their skills and gain recognition from industry professionals. In February of this year the judging panel came to watch our production of Animal Farm at Watermans Arts Centre and were blown away by the complexity and power of the piece, one judge describing it as the best show she had seen all year!

On the night of the awards ceremony we headed into central London, and took our seats surrounded by the great and good of theatre and TV, including actor David Bradley (Harry Potter) and actress Monica Dolan (Mr Bates V The Post Office)

We were overcome with delight when Chiswick School were announced as best Play/Drama for 2024! The award is offered to all schools across Great Britain.

Pub in the Park/Bedford Park Fete

The Pub in the Park is an annual event at Chiswick House and Gardens and this year, along with the music department, we were invited to perform! We took around 30 students who sang songs from the musicals to quite a large and very appreciative audience who clapped and sang along, on this occasion the weather was on our side and the whole event turned out to be a sunny and happy event. The weather however, was not on our side the weekend after when we performed in the rain at Bedford Park fete! However despite the constant wet and wind, our students still performed extremely well, and really enjoyed themselves (as always). The appreciative audience of residents and children all joined in... and we were all rewarded with hot drinks and free burgers!

The Crucible Tabard

Earlier this year the Year 12s performed The Crucible at school. We were then given the opportunity to perform at the Tabard Theatre (a regular venue for us now). So for one night only, the cast performed again. The show adapted to the space very well, with some minor changes to the narrative structure and a few extra scenes added. They performed to a full house and received a standing ovation! It was clear that after a year of acting study they the students had grown not only in skill but also confidence with some extremely powerful performances from all.

Ballet Rambert School

Ballet Rambert is Britain's premier ballet and contemporary dance school. It was therefore a given that we would attend when we were offered places for their boys' dance workshop. The performing arts prides itself in being an open department where everyone is encouraged to participate, whoever they may be, and our boys' dance troupe is growing from Year 7 up.

The workshop included four dance styles, hip hop, ballet, lyrical and contemporary. Our boys performed extremely well and had many compliments from the students and facilitators. At the end of the day they were treated to a show of dance from the BA dance final year students, which was inspiring as well as beautiful. It is hoped that this experience will encourage boys to join dance and see it as a viable option for them for the future.

Wizard of OZ

Our BIG show!

With a cast of about 40 students, ranging from Year 7- 13 The Wizard of OZ was our big show of the year. The students had been rehearsing for about 8 weeks, during the evening and weekends. Costumes had been acquired and set had been built, painted and carried. Props were secured and lines had been embedded into memory! The show was performed over two nights, and to two full houses, with a yellow brick road down the centre of the hall (where most of the action took place) and continued use of projections and special lighting. The munchkins sang their hearts out, and the Ozins danced their feet off! At the end of the show the whole cast took a well deserved standing ovation.

Review 'n' New

As is now a regular fixture we end the year's performance calendar with Review 'n' New, a show celebrating the year's achievements and including a few new numbers. The evening included numbers from every show this year from Aberfan at Watermans right up to Wizard of OZ. The cast from these shows returned, some of whom had not performed with us since October. The final number of the evening, SHINE, included all of the cast, around 50 students. It was, as is always the case, an emotional but exciting evening with plenty of goodbyes and a few new hellos!

The Arts Awards 2024

Classic cars in the playground. Champagne on ice. Tuxedos and dresses. Glitter cannons and presentation films. And a table full of awards. It can only be the annual Chiswick School Arts Awards. The evening consisted of four areas of the arts: Music, Dance, Drama and for the first time Performing Arts. As well as special awards for Inspiration, Arts community and Headteachers' Award as well as the coveted ARTIST OF THE YEAR AWARD. The evening started with a speech from Mr Robinson, who spoke about the journey and the importance of never giving up. This was the theme for the rest of the evening, with music and dance making regular reference to this important aspect of what we do. The evening also included a live performance from music, a cello piece, The Performing Arts Choir singing Purple Summer and some dance students performing "Tilted". We also had a very special guests this year, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Cannes Film Award winner actress Rita Tushingham. She addressed the audience with a speech about her life and the struggles she had starting in acting, and reminded the students that with a lot of luck but with even more dedication and tenacity they can make it in this business. The evening was the last time our award winning Year 13s would be together at Chiswick School, and a special film was presented to them as a fitting goodbye. They are all now going to university or drama schools to take their studies further, and who knows, maybe return as our special celebrity guests in years to come! The evening ended with the presentation of Artist of the Year. This award is hotly pursued by everyone across the performing arts, and often disputed! This year the award went to a well deserving Year 13, who dances, acts and sings and has been the stand out performer for us for the past four years, that student was Jonathan U.

And that's a wrap for the performing arts for 2023 -24. It has been an extraordinary year for us (again) with 25 public performances, seven professional venues, a short listing for department of the year at the Drama and Music Awards, fourth place at the national Big Dance Off competition and winning Best Play at the National School Theatre Awards. We have also seen 100% of our Year 13s leave to go to university and a huge uptake in extra curricular across the school. We will be back in 2024-25, and will continue to inspire, create and share.

Please watch our end of year presentational film to remind yourself of what a year it has been.