Drama Curriculum

The Drama Department at King’s House School is vibrant and thriving. Each year group has a large scale production to look forward to, with a part for everyone on stage or behind the scenes.

Our prop and costume stores are well stocked, ensuring each show is professional. Past productions include James and the Giant Peach, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Comedy of Errors and Hairspray.

Extra-Curricular Activities

LAMDA lessons are very popular with the pupils, and lessons led by specialist tutors provide guided tuition towards graded drama examinations. Two specialist tutors deliver 1:1, duo and group lessons, and pupils can also perform in assemblies and showcase to practice their pieces before exams.

For pupils interested in technical theatre, there is the chance to operate our advanced lighting and sound equipment at performances. Drama clubs also provide a space for the increased development of performance and improvisation skills and LAMDA lessons offer guided tuition towards graded Drama examinations, led by specialist tutors.

Year 4

Pupils are introduced to performance and story telling, learning the basics of staging, characterisation and script writing. Each pupil produces a radio play and in the Autumn Term there is a whole year production.

Year 5

In Year 5 we begin with an introduction to Shakespeare, exploring his characters and themes in the run up to a whole year production in the Spring. In the Summer Term pupils learn about collaboration, exploration of creative ideas and improvisation.

Year 6

Year 6 begins with status and more detailed character work through the exploration of text. We produce a full year production in the Spring Term, which may be devised or scripted. In the Summer Term we explore site-specific theatre and ensemble work.

Year 7

Pupils in Year 7 start the academic year with a large-scale production, a highly anticipated event in the King’s House calendar. The Spring Term sees the pupils look at issue-based theatre. This leads to the creation of student-led workshops and performances. In the Summer we explore Murder Mystery, script writing & devising from a stimulus.

Year 8

In their final year at King’s House, pupils look at puppetry and physical theatre. Employing techniques from world-class companies such as Frantic Assembly and Gyre & Gimbl, pupils devise their own group performances for peer evaluation. In the Spring we look at text & sub-text as well as advanced skills in monologue and performance, and in the Summer Term produce a student-led comedy cabaret, showcasing the wide array of talents on offer.