Trip to Cambridge Arts Theatre

A group of 17 Dance and Drama scholars from Year 7 to Upper Sixth enjoyed an interesting afternoon at the Cambridge Arts Theatre on 9 October.

Organised by Miss Imogen, the school’s dance coordinator, the group was given a brief history of the proscenium arch theatre (built in 1936 by Maynard Keynes for his wife, a ballerina, so that she would have somewhere to perform in Cambridge) and then shown the stage, which was being used for an understudy rehearsal for the current show An Inspector Calls. Next, the group was shown the green room, the dressing rooms, the electrical basement and up into the lighting box, which is accessed via a dark and narrow passage above the circle – where the group had been sitting to watch the rehearsal! The girls heard all about the difficulties of getting the sets down St Edwards Passage, before having a discussion about the various financial pressures of running a theatre, and the range of jobs required to do so (aside from the more obvious performance roles).

Many thanks to Miss Imogen for organising this opportunity for our Performing Arts scholars – the girls certainly enjoyed the trip and had a number of excellent questions during the tour.