Join us through the day in the Bridge House Theatre for a compelling, vibrant and hugely entertaining programme of plays and performances that celebrate the tremendous diversity of theatre within the Warwick Schools Foundation and beyond.
The day starts with our own Bridge House Young Company producing no less than three devised plays, created by the company themselves. In Tales of Adventure the company explore themes of friendship, myth and mystery – starting with our Juniors at 10am (Myths and Legends), before our Inters at 10.20am (Beyond the Lantern) and ending with our senior group at 11.45am (What Happened to Amy Brown?)
If unpredictability is your thing, then you must join Warwick's own student improv troupe for another adventurous show featuring favourite games and exercises that generate odd, unusual but always very funny scenes. Adventures in Improvisation is in the Drama Studio at 11.45am.
Tom Stoppard’s masterpiece Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (12.45pm) is perhaps more of an anti-adventure, and has been produced specially for the Festival, by a company of gifted Y11 students from Warwick School and King's High School. This absurdist, existentialist play recontextualizes Hamlet from the perspective of its two minor, confused courtiers, highlighting the futility of life, lack of free will and inevitable fate. Their ‘adventures’ are maybe more philosophical than physical and our ‘heroes’ rarely make meaningful choices, but the result is a hilarious exploration of friendship, frustration and fate.
In a celebration of some of our younger performers we are sharing excerpts from the recent Junior school production of We Will Rock You at 4.15. Set in a world where live music is banned and individuality is under threat, a group of young rebels dare to dream, defy the system and rediscover the power of rock.
Much like the lovable pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales, sharing stories full of laughter, mishaps, and larger-than-life personalities, our Middle School Drama Club embraces the same joyful energy and “planned” chaos you’ll witness on stage. Over the past seven weeks, 30 minutes at a time, students have been exploring Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, focusing on exaggerated characters, comic storytelling, and a range of theatrical styles to develop their comedic timing and ensemble work. They will share this adventure (The Canterbury Tales-ish) in the Drama Studio at 2.30pm
We are delighted to be welcoming back Midnite Youth Theatre (from Perth Western Australia) for their fifth visit to Warwick. The Dunes is a new Australian play about family, memory and the ghosts we carry. Set against the shifting sands of a coastal town, The Dunes is a haunting, intergenerational story where memory, myth, and family intertwine. When a fractured family reunites at their seaside home for Christmas, old tensions rise to the surface—along with something older and stranger buried beneath the dunes themselves. You have two chances to support our Australian friends as part of their adventure (touring UK and Europe) at 2.30pm and 5pm
As with all shows in the Festival seats are free of charge, unticketed and available on a first-come, first-served basis – so get there early, spend the day with us and share in a wonderous adventure in the theatre.
