30 drama students from Years 9 and 10 at Medina College and Year 12 at The Island VI Form attended the most amazing theatre experience on Wednesday 17 July. Not only did they get to watch the electrifying performance of Six at The Mayflower in Southampton, they then had a live tech demo and Q&A with the performers!

Six is a British musical comedy in the style of a pop concert. It is a modern retelling of the lives of the six wives of Henry VIII; each competing for the lead singer role by retelling their experience of being Queen, with the winner being the wife who had suffered the most. In the end, the wives reclaim their individuality and rewrite their stories, coming together as ‘Six’ with a mashup of songs.

Experiencing live theatre massively benefits students who are taking GCSE and A level drama, bringing their learning to life. However, their trip to watch Six was further enhanced by a live technical demo. First of all, Lighting Manager, Ricky, explained how the lighting is planned and executed during the show. There are more than 300 lights on the stage and over 1500 lighting cues, automatically programmed and synced with the band on stage. Zoe, Musical Director, keyboard player and band conductor explained to students how she multi-tasks throughout the show. She also gave a demo of how the lights link to the music she plays on the keyboard. Next, Head of Sound, Joe, shared how he ensures the sound is exactly the same in every venue and how there are over 350 sound changes during the performance. Finally, Assistant Stage Manager and Book Cover, Maya, explained and demonstrated how all of the different departments work together and communicate throughout the show seamlessly.

One of the most important elements of the tech demo was each member of staff sharing their career pathway and how most of them did not actually go to drama school or university. Simply getting involved with local theatre groups and learning on the job has resulted in most of them achieving their positions today. This showed the students how achievable a career within the theatre can be.

The theatre experience concluded with the Queens returning to the stage for a Q&A where they shared the most enjoyable aspects of their job and the casting/audition process they went through to obtain their roles in the show. They left the students with the following advice for pursuing a performing career:
1. Don’t compare yourself to others. Your journey will not be the same as someone else’s even if you have the same goal.
2. Don’t give up or take no for an answer. One of the Queens auditioned three years in a row before getting her part!
3. Be true to yourself.
4. Take rejection as redirection.
5. Have fun!
6. There is space for everyone – be your individual self and shine!

Thank you to the Mayflower Engage team for providing this amazing opportunity. All of our students left inspired and energised!