Having arrived at Bradfield in the Lower Sixth, Hannah remembers finding herself swept up in Greek Play fever. She was thrilled to be cast as a member of the Chorus, rehearsing every evening after Prep in the Greek Theatre.
“I loved every second of it. There was no place else I’d rather have been and it changed my life. My love and inspiration for my career in the Arts stems back to that 17-year-old girl giving it all her heart in Greeker in the pouring rain but not feeling a single drop.”
Taking part in Bradfield’s historic Greek Play shaped Hannah’s life as she chose to pursue a career in the Arts, training as an actress in Classical Acting at Central School of Speech of Drama after graduating from St. Andrews University. She has worked on many more theatre productions and is currently in TV drama development.
We poured our hearts and souls into the play and the feeling of community that we built was extraordinary.
Isabella Calthorpe (K 96-98) – Chorus LEADER
Having read the pre-show article in the previous edition of The Bradfieldian, 1997 Chorus leader Isabella Calthorpe remembered her experience as one of the most rewarding years of her life. “We poured our hearts and souls into the play and the feeling of community that we built was extraordinary as was the shared purpose.”
Inspired by her experience she went on to study Classical Studies at Edinburgh and then on to train at LAMDA to become an actress. “In my acting career I performed in West End shows and at The National Theatre but my experience in the Greek Theatre was of a professional production standard and stands out to me as one of the most fulfilling experiences.”
Claire Pilkington, who played Jocasta in the 1997 production, shared her fond memories of the long summer evenings rehearsing in Greeker as well taking the show on tour to Greece in the Summer. “The tour was a fantastic experience. We would parade around the streets in our costumes handing out fliers for the play. It took us a year to learn the Ancient Greek script and put it together, so the cast and crew became like a second family.”
While unable to make the Saturday reunion, Tristan Daws (E 95-00), former member of College staff and Oedipus Director Hailz-Emily Osborne and Matt Barber (E 96-01) enjoyed the evening performances the following week.