All the City’s a stage. Annual pupil-led performances and School productions fill our theatre with life. And with the Globe in one direction and the West End in the other, there’s no shortage of cultural experiences right at our doorstep.
Drama teaches creativity, self-discipline, and collective responsibility. It also develops quick thinking, adaptability, and provides areas of achievement, self-esteem and aspiration that are not always available to pupils through other areas of School life.
Pupils have the opportunity to work independently and as part of a team in varied activities, contributing to the development of core skills such as reading, writing and speaking. Drama at CLS develops interpersonal relationships and helps pupils to understand and value their own experiences and achievements, as well as those of others.
Drama is vibrant and inclusive. Whether it is through House competitions, LAMDA, Tech Team or participation in one of the School’s high-quality musical or drama productions, pupils are drawn into engagement in activities that develop their own sense of themselves and their ability to interact with others.
Winterflood Theatre
Since 2008, our pupils have had the great pleasure of performing and rehearsing in our dedicated and high spec thrust auditorium, The Winterflood Theatre.
The theatre, named in honour of the theatre’s principle sponsor and CLS benefactor Mr Brian Winterflood, is a 170-seat space equipped with a high quality West End style audio and lighting rig.
The space is designed to accommodate a large audience (with three rows of balcony seats in addition to the stalls) and enables a variety of different stage configurations. The lighting systems suspended from a tension wire grid, also increase flexibility and enable more pupils to develop essential behind the scenes technical skills.
The theatre is used daily by pupils at the School and is also made available to local primaries within the City of London and in neighbouring Tower Hamlets.
Our Drama Productions
Large-scale polished productions offer an ideal opportunity for pupils of all talents to participate in group projects and contribute according to their interests, as well as showing the community the best of what the School has to offer in this particular.
We stage a minimum of three major productions per year in collaboration with City of London School for Girls (CLSG). This longstanding partnership brings together talented pupils from both schools, creating an experience that reflects the collaborative nature of professional theatre and allows pupils to work with a wider cast and creative team.
We stage an Upper School Production in Autumn Term, a Lower School production in the Summer Term and a variety of productions in the Spring Term, including pupil-led productions. Spring Term 2024’s pupil-led production was taken to that summer’s Edinburgh Fringe. It was a piece written, directed and performed by pupils.
Smaller productions by pupils and experimental work are also an important part of any extra-curricular programme, where pupils can develop skills and explore and present new ideas in a more intimate workshop atmosphere.
School productions involve a large number of pupils in all capacities. Some pupils opt to act, whilst others enjoy the experience offered by joining the Tech Team or working as a stagehand.
