Year 10 and 11 drama students used historic Alberton and the family who lived there to devise scenes for performances for Level 1 assessment.
Head of Drama Dr Lilicherie McGregor says groups of students chose characters from the family tree of the Kerr Taylor family, who lived at Alberton for 109 years. They then devised scenes suited to their chosen room in the house, with a theme relevant to the period. Stories included a son eloping with a servant, the family’s involvement in the suffrage movement and a sister’s memories of working as a nurse in the war.
A volunteer from Alberton visited the students during rehearsals to tell them about attitudes and etiquette during that time in history. Period costumes were hired from the Playhouse Theatre in Glen Eden, and the scenes performed before a live audience which moved between rooms with the actors.
Dr McGregor was pleased with the “high standard of consistency between the groups’ performances.” She extended the school’s thanks to Alberton for hosting the programme.