The Vickers Project is an annual event, established in 2017. That year a Lower Sixth student, Katie Vickers, undertook the daunting task of writing a musical for her Extended Project (EPQ). The outstanding and mature score was far too good to stay on the page and it was imperative that the musical be brought to life and The Vickers Project was born!
In the first half of each Summer Term, the Performing Arts Studio is available for any Year 9, Year 10 and Lower Sixth pupils to rehearse and perform a play or musical of their choosing. This event is entirely student-led, allowing budding theatre directors, designers and performers their chance to work together on a project they feel passionate about. Drama department staff support the process, and applications to take part open in March.
This year the chosen piece was the opening scene from Heathers the Musical, directed by Year 10 Robinson boys James Roberts and Dev Sharma, which was performed on Tuesday 23 May.
James and Dev said:
“We have really enjoyed the entire process of directing the Vickers Project this year. We knew that we wanted to get involved due to our love for drama, but we didn’t know what to do at first. Dev had the idea of doing the opening number from Heathers the Musical, and we went from there.
“Our auditions went well and we found our cast. It wasn’t plain sailing, with some of the cast deciding not to take part due to other commitments and absences from rehearsals meaning we began to doubt whether we could pull it together in time, but encouraging words from the cast meant we had faith that we could make it if we worked really hard – which we did.
“We wanted to make sure that all the characters told their own story through their actions as well as words, so instead of just getting James to do all the choreographing, we asked the cast what they thought – so the whole thing felt like more of a group effort, rather than two directors pushing their vision.
“As the date drew closer we doubled down on getting the harmonies on point, with Dev sending the cast recordings to practice in their own time. Everyone worked especially hard on the days leading up to the performance, we wanted to do the best we could and everyone involved was really supportive and constructive and helped each other by giving small tips that probably went unnoticed, but made the entire piece look that little bit better and more professional.
“On the day of the performance quite a few people were ill but through determination (and a few coughs sweets) we pulled through and we’re happy with how it went. We couldn’t have done it without such an extraordinary cast and their determination and work ethic which ultimately led to the performance going so well.”
Nine pupils took part this year and the cast list was as follows:
- Sophie Norman (Lower Sixth, White) – Veronica Sawyer
- Isabella Pinnes (Year 10, Murrell) – Heather Chandler
- Lakshmi Sharma (Year 9, Rosebery) – Heather Duke
- Annabel Curry (Year 9, Rosebery) – Heather McNamara
- James Roberts (Year 10, Robinson) – Kurt Kelly
- Dev Sharma (Year 10, Robinson) – Ram Sweeney
- Ada Ucuncu (Year 10, Murrell) – Martha Dunnstock
- Ana Clara da Rocha-Pannetier (Year 9, Wilson) – Ms Fleming
- Genevieve Chan (Year 10, Wilson) – New Wave
