On Wednesday 22nd February 2023 the Year 10 and Year 12 Drama students visited the Theatre Royal Brighton to see Pilot Theatre’s stunning production of Noughts and Crosses. The play, based on the bestselling young adult novel by Mallory Blackman, explores a world where racism and prejudice impact everyone’s lives and where young people have to struggle to fulfil their dreams and ambitions. Loosely based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the play follows the story of Callum (a Nought) and Sephy (a Cross) and their doomed interracial relationship. The Pilot Theatre production was very impressive with outstanding performances from all the principal actors, the Contemporary Epic Theatre style of performance enabled the cast to intimately connect with the audience through direct address and narration techniques and also saw highly dramatic use of lighting effects to highlight mood and atmosphere and to create tension. The flexible versatile set enabled a wide range of settings to be displayed including an execution scaffold, a school dining hall and a shopping mall. Attending the live performance was of huge benefit to Year 10, who are studying this as their set text for GCSE Drama, giving them a much deeper understanding of the plot, characters and themes of the play and providing inspiration to them for ways to approach bringing the text to life. For Year 12, who are studying the practitioner Brecht who created the concept of Epic Theatre, this production was particularly helpful for them to visualise the ways in which a range of Epic techniques can be used within a didactic theatre experience.

I enjoyed the theatrical trip to see Noughts and Crosses very much, the acting was incredible, and I appreciated the birds eye view of the actors. I took in the symbolism of the plot deeply, reflecting a social change of perspective and I took home crucial messages towards morality. I will be looking forwards to going on more theatre trips in the future. Deborah (Year 12).

Thank you so much, TDF, for funding us to see Nought and Crosses production in Brighton. I was amazed at the skill of the actors and how they used these to display the themes and ideas of the play. It was a great opportunity to see how professional actors work to produce such an excellent production that portrayed a complex story relevant to events today as well as a moral message that gave the audience and myself inspiration and ability to leave thinking. So, thank you so much again. Joanna (Year 12).

I liked the GCSE drama trip. I felt that watching the play in person helped me string together all the reading we did of the play over the past term and put it into perspective. I felt that watching the play in person has helped me understand the events and characters in much greater depth. EliJah (Year 10).

I really enjoyed the play. I think when you see actors do the play as it should be done, it really brings it to life, helping you to understand the emotions of the characters a whole lot better. Also, I liked the seating because you could see the play from an overhead view. (Morayo, Year 10).

I really enjoyed watching Noughts and Crosses. The way the actors interpreted their roles was good and the passion they had could really be seen. My favourite character watching the play was Meggie who was the mother and this is because I really loved the way she expressed the emotion through her voice and facial expressions.  (Hannah, Year 10.

These experiences are vital for students to help them understand the text they are studying and bring the characters to life.

If you are inspired by the feedback from the students and would like to contribute to The Dukies' Foundation to help fund projects such as this or the STEM Day (also featured in our News stories) please visit the support us page on this website or contact me to find out more.

Rachel.Robinson@doyrms.com 

TEL: 01304 245080