Range High students took part in the National Theatre Connections Festival

Taking part in the National Theatre connections festival has been a fantastic experience for all involved. We performed ‘Musical Differences’ a new play written by Robin French (creator of Cuckoo on Netflix). Our home performance in the Arts Theatre on 2nd March was a great success. The matinee audience, a mixture of pupils from Years 9-13, really connected to the characters presented, while the parents who came in the evening were able to reminisce about their high school experiences.

Psyche Stott (an associate director at the National Theatre) said of the performance: “There was some lovely detail in all the performances and they appeared comfortable in themselves and at ease in this direct address storytelling. They owned the storytelling and made the dialogue their own. I was particularly impressed with how confidently they moved in and around the audience.”

We performed at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton on Thursday 23rd March. The cast were absolutely incredible and brought an energy and confidence that transfixed the audience inside the beautiful venue. The audience was awestruck and the sense of excitement the cast created was tangible.

We received an e-mail from an audience member saying:

“I had the pleasure of witnessing the performance this evening and wanted to express how fabulous the cast were. They were incredibly professional and very entertaining. A real credit to your school! Well done to all involved!!! Thank you for a fantastic performance! Hats off to them all!”

On a personal note, It has been a pleasure to work with this hugely talented cast since October, rehearsals have been great fun and it has been lovely watching pupils grow into confident and gifted young actors. Louisa Burns (Y12) said: “It was fun to perform in this different style of play and to work with other people from other year groups.”

Professional actor Michael Peavoy, who watched the play, tweeted: “HUGE Congrats to the @NTConnections gang