Our school has a well-established tradition of theatrical success. Under the leadership of Lauren Overs, our head of drama, we’ve worked tirelessly over the years staging numerous productions including full-scale musicals, Greek tragedies, immersive pieces and even new writing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. This year, we are doing a first - a pantomime where all roles are played by members of staff.
Like all state schools, we’ve suffered huge funding cuts in recent years and we’ve attempted to mitigate the impact in a number of different ways. We’ve not only tried to save money, but to raise it, too. As our budgets have got tighter and tighter, we’ve attempted to use the resources we already have to raise money in creative and interesting ways.
Equally, we think it’s more important than ever to show our pupils that theatre, design and the arts are fundamental to society’s emotional and creative growth.
In drama, we’re noticing the pressures of the English Baccalaureate and the negative press surrounding arts education. Nationally, these subjects are shrinking. Even the creative, leafy, artist-filled town of Muswell Hill where we’re based is scrambling to encourage young people to pursue the arts. All students desperately need to increase their cultural capital and we need to find lots of opportunities for them to engage in theatre.
Putting on a panto of Aladdin seemed the perfect way to make our wishes come true. (If only we could rub a lamp and see our school budget balanced…)
Lauren spoke to pupils about the concept early on and found there was overwhelming interest and support. They were excited about the prospect of seeing their teachers in a panto and this was only amplified by the fact that we included staff from a variety of subjects - the vast majority of whom had never done anything similar.
Both past and present pupils are genuinely looking forward to seeing the professional and responsible adults in charge of their education well out of their comfort zones. Lauren even managed to persuade teaching assistants, teachers, the librarian and even the co-headteachers to take roles in the performance.
Community support
Our community has also been overwhelming supportive. The Hackney Empire has donated much of the wardrobe from their Christmas panto of Aladdin (a lucky coincidence!); renowned playwright Joel Horwood (who wrote the panto) kindly allowed us to perform it; a local estate agent offered sponsorship; and award-winning comedians Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith from The League of Gentlemen make an appearance in the show.
It has been a fantastic way to unite different stakeholders in a common project. Staff who had previously not worked closely with each other now have experience of “treading the boards” together.
Pupils, too, have been heavily involved and instrumental in the creation of the show. The chorus, gymnasts, stagehands, assistant directors, live band, costume designers, lighting/sound designers and choreographers are all pupils from Years 7 to 13, and it has been refreshing for them to take the lead in guiding us. A photography student created the marketing material, which has now been plastered on every available notice board at the school as well as on social media.
There was so much interest, that we’ve increased the performances to four consecutive nights. Tickets have been on sale since the beginning of December and 60 per cent were sold with weeks to go before the show opens in late January.
It has been rewarding and tremendous fun to be involved. Raising a substantial amount of money for the school is very gratifying, but perhaps even more meaningful is how our school community has come together to help us do so.
Miren Jayapal is a maths teacher and Lauren Overs is head of drama at Fortismere School
