The Wanderer: A Voyage Through Folk Tales
26th May 2023
Something different!
This year’s Key Stage 3 play was somewhat different! We believe it is important to always adapt, change, and try out new things; the importance of experimenting, making mistakes, and pushing the boundaries is a key skill that we like to teach our young people, for it is only by trying new things that we can discover what is beyond our comfort zone! In order, too, to keep expanding our understanding of the different types and styles of theatre we decided to move away from the traditional performances that we do in the Amphitheatre and experiment with Promenade Theatre. Sometimes also called Site-Specific Theatre, this type of theatre is where the audience moves with the action, following the performers through different parts of the venue. This type of theatre is also often more interactive than conventional theatre.
So, we welcomed the audience on a journey through different folktales from around the world. This play was written by ourselves; we took different folktales and devised the action and script around it. We also made all our own props, puppets, masks and some of the costumes.
To keep it very student centred, this year we also incorporated two BTEC Performing Arts units into this production. Shannon Cox has made this production part of her unit G18: Producing a Personal Project where she was in charge of the planning, the design, the script, rehearsal and overall production as a whole. Three other Performing Arts students, Bridget Chilambo, Deedat Omar and Clinton Mutuku have linked their A2: Creating Performance Material to this production as well.
The Journey
The journey started around the campfire at the clubhouse. The audience were entertained by the performers and encouraged to play some drums and enjoy themselves!
They were then taken on a journey by two ‘moving narrators’ as well as a group of ‘misfits’ - cheeky characters who were either written out of stories or who decided to leave their own stories because they were boring! These ‘misfits’ are mischief makers – trying to distract the audience and lead them astray!
On their voyage, the audience saw the trickster Anansi the Spider and the many animals he came across when challenged to capture Onini the python, Osebo the leopard, and the hornets. They learned about The Wise Old Man of the Village in a beautiful shadow puppet play; they were enthralled by the Wood Ash Stars, a story from the San people of the Kalahari, detailing how the Milky Way Galaxy came about; and they were involved in the story of Odysseus and how he heard the siren song. The last tale told us of the frog and the lizard, two siblings who are rivals for their father’s throne in The Race. The audience then moved to the Clubhouse for the finale!
