Our 90-strong cast and crew took part in our annual open-air senior school production of The Odyssey on Thursday 2 July. Our students worked for four months, culminating in intensive rehearsals and prop-making during Arts Week, to bring this vibrant production together.
In this creative theatrical adaptation of The Odyssey, our cast retold the story of Odysseus and his famously inconvenient journey home from the Trojan War.
Packing a decade of adventures into a breathless hour, our cast created a mythical world of hungry monsters, devious sorceresses and frequent shipwrecks as the resourceful Odysseus battles to return to his family.
We presented Splendid Theatre’s interpretation of The Odyssey, which uses a Brechtian-style episodic structure and incorporates Greek theatre conventions. A creative adaptation: tightly structured storytelling with a minimum of props, lights and scenery and maximum use of performance skills, including physical theatre, clowning, audience interaction, puppetry and song.
Thank you to the teachers, parents, and those from our wider school community who came to watch and support this production, part of our fun and vibrant Arts & Innovation Week 2026. Here are some of our wonderful pupil cast and crew sharing their thoughts on being a part of it:
This year’s production of The Odyssey was thoroughly enjoyable! I wasn’t expecting to get the role of the old man of the sea, and it wasn’t a role I had considered much because it was outside my comfort zone, but it became my favourite role in the play! It was really fun to build the old man’s wise and comedic character. Overall, Arts Week was brilliant, and I built friendships across year groups. I look forward to next year’s production!
-Amena, Year 9Being part of the production of The Odyssey was a truly special thing to be part of. This production really taught me a lot about the Greek mythology of The Odyssey. Being an old man of the sea was an experience I will always remember and I am truly grateful that I was able to portray a type of character that I really hadn’t had any experience playing before but I am so thankful that Ii was able to take my twist on the character. Thank you to all teachers and pupils involved that made this production possible!
-Sophia, Year 8I found it was a really great opportunity to expand my acting skills and to have a larger speaking role. I was really happy with my part -as a Cyclops- as this character has a strong personality. I struggled at first getting into character but I felt that the more I practised the more I fell in love with the character. It was such a great experience and I’m really looking forward to doing it this year.
-Freya, Year 9I loved being a student director in The Odyssey. It was an amazing opportunity and I really got to express my creativity and make a little bit of the play of mine. I really loved it when I got to see the whole play come together with all the props and costumes and see what me and all the other student directors created along with the teachers.
-Nadia, Year 11
Mrs Morgan-Collins, Head of Drama
Miss Simmonds, Teacher of Drama
