Drama
Mr Thorn, Miss Potter and Miss Ogunbyi run the drama department here at Roding Valley. With two teaching spaces and the main school hall for productions - Drama at Roding Valley is very strong. The Drama Studio itself is a great space to devise work. It has a versatile lighting and sound rig installed and on the mezzanine level, a purpose built viewing gallery, media suite and clothes store.
The department has a long history of putting on large scale productions, including Oliver!, The Dream (adapted from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream) which played at Greenwich Theatre and subsequently at London's enormous Palace Theatre, normally home to Les Miserables.
Most recently however, the department embarked on a large scale production of West Side Story. After a mammoth casting and rehearsal process, the show smashed the record for audience figures and an extra night had to be added to cope with the demand. It also featured the largest cast in a Roding Valley production to date - sourcing all our dramatic talent from years 7 to 11.
In the run up to the opening night, local primary schools were invited in to watch a sneak preview of the show. Their reactions to the performance were a clear signal to the cast and crew that the production was going to be a huge success. Many of the year 6 students' comments can now be seen displayed in the music corridor - along with glowing reviews from parents and current RVHS pupils. All this praise will undoubtedly mean that the next set of auditions will attract even more students keen to get involved.
