Study what you most affect

In 1941, the Speech Room at Harrow School was bombed and lost its roof. There's a slight sense of the apocryphal to this story: how much of its roof was lost is forgotten, but among the rubble in the newly open-to-the-elements space, teacher Ronnie Watkins decided to take the opportunity to reconstruct some of Shakespeare's original performance conditions, with shared light, minimal scenery and an all-male cast; and writing a new prologue to that effect for a production of Twelfth Night, began a tradition which has continued to this day.

Harrow has a strong history of public speaking – due no doubt to a propensity to churn out statesmen – but an added bonus of this tradition has been a willingness to engage with drama as a worthwhile, fulfilling and personally advancing activity. When I met Adam Cross, Director of Drama at the school, it was clear that this ethos is in fine fettle. As well as Speech Room (its roof safely restored), the school now has the purpose-built 25 year-old Ryan Theatre which seats 330, and which was built with Speech Room in mind – the auditorium wide rather than deep, and curved such that performances are able to take place in Globe-like shared light there too. Cross is fortunate enough to have 3 teachers and 5 non-teaching staff in his drama department, as well as a Chemistry teacher who directs plays, and an English teacher who works on co-curricular productions. Whole-school productions are mounted each term as well as house productions nearly every two weeks between October and March, and among other projects the department tours a production devised by students at the School for primary-aged audiences each year, and the annual ‘Harrow Fringe Festival’ showcases student-made work, so drama is thriving.