Thursday 4th March 2010
King Lear is often the pinnacle of an Actor’s life work, so for Howard Horner (JH5), and the rest of the School Play Company to stage this challenging play so successfully was a remarkable achievement. The production was overwhelmed with compliments and accolades from boys, staff, parents and theatre professionals, particularly for the clarity of the story telling and the way the E M Forster’s space was transformed. Apart from the superb range of acting talent and ensemble commitment on the stage, the production was supported by a wide range of artistic and technical abilities from different areas, in and out of the school: Mrs Chisholm’s stunning set design; Mark Davison’s (MH5) superb lighting design; Larry Thornbury’s gory props and weaponry (!); and even school catering department’s beautiful cakes! King Lear also involved Film & Theatre make-up students from West Kent College and professional fight choreographer, Kevin Rowntree. The production performed to nearly 1200 people, which for a school play, and a so called ‘difficult’ Shakespeare, is quite some achievement.
