After a postponement on Friday due to inclement weather, 8L’s drama performance on the subject of Climate Change had an ironic edge to it on Monday 5th March in the Dulwich Prep London Concert Hall. Based around the hot topics of global warming, nuclear fallout and pollution, the boys of 8L tackled a plethora of contemporary plays such as Resilience by Steve Waters (premiered at the Bush Theatre in 2011), Greenland by Moira Buffini and Jack Thorne (premiered at the National Theatre in 2012) and Sarcophagus by Vladimir Gubaryev. On top of this were excerpts from classic texts such as Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening by Robert Frost, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. There was also an equally mesmerising ensemble version of Brit-Award nominated George The Poet’s “A Climate of Change” which showed just how together the class had become.
On a set based around a spilled oil barrel, complete with warning signs and flashing lights, dressed in protective clothes, and covered with ‘radioactive’ facepaint, the boys created a beautiful evening of drama, with a real edge of awareness and understanding as to the future of our planet with the current pollution levels and abandon with which it is treated. A thought-provoking, and at times distressing, reflection on our current climate, but one the boys attacked with maturity, dexterity, and fierce intelligence.
Click here to see a gallery of photos from the performance.