The Oscars come to Westbury at Matravers

MATRAVERS hosted ‘The Oscars’ last week, with professional actor Brett Fancy – whose credits include EastEnders and Silent Witness – on hand to give advice to the budding actors. 

On the evening students performed extracts from their GCSE and A-level practical exams, including monologues, duologues, group pieces, and work scripted by younger students.

Sophie Mowat, head of drama said, “The great part of this event is that it encourages students to have commitment and self discipline to learn their lines and attend rehearsals without any pressure from a teacher. Students who want to be part of this final big night were rewarded by an hour with professional actor, Brett Fancy, to work on their drama. The awards are carefully shared between each judge, allowing for many students to win an award alone, together, or as a group. The students are aware of the competition element and this raises their enthusiasm and energy to create sublime pieces of drama.

“What makes this evening so unique is that the judges explain what they hope to see in the performances and then how they reached their decisions when the awards are handed to the actors. This is something that the exam boards for GCSE and A-level do not do. This form of judgement is done in performance skills alone that combines character techniques and a range of drama strategies.”

There were ten Oscars up for grabs and prizes were awarded in the following categories:

Best Actors: Hannah Suter for her performance as Anne Boleyn in the play of the same name by Howard Brenton; George Beer for playing Buddy in Swimming with Sharks by George Huang; and Millie Gmaj who performed an excerpt from Sammy’s Consent by Vincent Tilsley.

Best Devised Piece: The Asylum (Shannon Murray, Cameron Sinden, Tannisha Pople, Adan Newman, Amelia Hudson and Charlotte Bullimore)

Best Script: Jessica Wain and Sarah Woolley for Batman and Robin

Best Supporting Actor: Frank Kamanage for Tupolski in The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh

Best Supporting Actress: Emma Power playing Spoon in Roaring Trade by Steve Thompson

Best Newcomer: Ryan White as Lord Cut Glass from Under Milk Wood By Dylan Thomas

The Oscar Award: Shannon Harvey as Carol  and Jess Robinson as Brenda in Road  By Jim Cartwright

Best Role-Play: Abigail Hanney (Marlene) and India Whellan (Joyce) from Top Girls By Caryl Churchill.

Pictured above: Brett Fancy with the cast of Asylum