Published Drama

The cast and crew from one of our major school productions have been published in a new academic publication about the innovative, feminist play.

Back in 2020, just weeks before lockdown, we staged our first major production in Waterlow Hall: the trailblazing Emilia, written by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm. South Hampstead was the first school to stage the ground-breaking play – a witty retelling of the story of Emilia Bassano, a black poet long-rumoured to have been Shakespeare’s muse. Following a riotously successful three-night run, our cast and crew were selected to feature in a companion reader to the play, Notelets of Filth, which has just been published by Routledge.

The book is a collection of essays that serve as a supplementary text to the ground-breaking play, informed by scholars of theatre, arts activism, feminist literature and theory. The final chapter of the book, Opening Up New Worlds, is written by Our Director of Drama Ms Martin. The chapter focuses on the cast and crew’s journey, from the auditions to the last night, and the cohesive, collaborative spirit at the heart of Malcolm’s play. The students write about their sense of empowerment and ownership through this work and how it has affected them as young adults.

Daisy: ‘I think the whole experience – the words, Kezia’s phenomenal delivery, but also all being together as a community – was really important and empowering.’

Eliza: ‘It’s about heritage… from playing the role, I have been able to understand more about how other people are experiencing racism in the world right now.’

Kezia: ‘During the rehearsals, I realised ‘wow’ , you actually have to really use your voice, as it is the only thing that is going to make some kind of change… help yourself and help the community that is being discriminated against… the play really taught me that.’

Pictured above are some of our current Sixth Form students who were involved in the play and feature in the book.