Last week, our talented Performing Arts students took to the stage to perform ‘Anti Hero’ – a show exploring the most famous ‘antihero’ characters we have all enjoyed in musicals such as Wicked and Grease. We spoke to some of the performers to find out everything there is to know about preparing for such a complex show.
“We are performing two scenes from two plays, one of them is The Threepenny Opera and the other is Machinal,” says student Aiden Pattenden. “The whole theme of the play is antiheroes, the people that try to do good but go about it in the wrong ways.
“We have songs from Chicago and Sweeney Todd which are sung by the antiheroes in those plays. It’s a collection of different plays and we have interpretive dancers as well and we are deriving it from the practitioner of Brecht, so it’s a play that makes you question everything – we address the audience a lot and we break the fourth wall.”
Student Shelby Edwards adds: “We have all got different characters and because we are on a performing arts course there’s lots of different skills between us – some of us are dance orientated, some of us are singers and some of us prefer acting, so we have all got a part in each.”
Shelby says her highlight has been ‘seeing the whole production come together’.
“At the start we were doing scenes and songs from different plays and we didn’t really see how it all connected together,” Shelby continues. “But seeing it turn into one piece has brought us all together.”
Aiden spoke about the highlights and challenges their group has faced during the rehearsal process.
He says: “We starred in the Musical Theatre production and helped out with Rock Challenge but this is the first performance for just our group. We have had some challenges because we are all very different people, but it’s helped us all realise what it is going to be like going into this industry.
“This week we have been in the theatre every day from 9 till 5 and then we have had lessons where we have been running over our lines for three months. I have learnt how to be more of a team player because we have learnt to compromise on certain things. It’s definitely helped me become more patient.
“My favourite part of this show has to be the medley, which is a mash up of three songs ‘there are worse things I could do’ from Grease, ‘no good deed’ from Wicked and ‘it must be love’ from Our House.”
Read more Behind the Scenes Features of our students’ performances.