Recently, WA students participated in the Old Vic schools programme and watched a performance of A Christmas Carol. Today I will describe my experience with the programme.

On Wednesday 1st December, WA students embarked on a journey to watch a free performance of A Christmas Carol - along with 40 other secondary schools - performed by the Old Vic theatre company. Following that, we did a workshop in school where we talked about lighting design - skills we had seen in practice at the performance.

The performance was very enjoyable - they took several liberties in regards to adaptation but it was interesting seeing how they designed the stage and lighting and how the actors utilised it. Many of us liked the use of characters and props - especially the ghost of Jacob Marley, which had a book-accurate chain forged from ledgers and safes. It was also very fun being afforded a day out with friends and classmates.

The workshop had us partake in a variety of games centred around lighting, including modified versions of Grandma’s footsteps as well as creating our own lighting design. It had us utilise our knowledge from the performance. Overall I would recommend the Schools Programme as it helped us build depth of knowledge in the subject and was very enjoyable.

By R Stillwell, Year 10