‘Royal’ Opening of Waterlow Hall
As the doors opened to our new, state-of-the-art hall this week, we welcomed the award-winning co-stars of the Netflix series, The Crown: Olivia Colman and Helena Bonham Carter.
At Monday’s grand opening, pupils were the first to see the spectacular new performance space in action. Senior School girls entered via the foyer, emblazoned with a map of stars and musical frieze of the school song, featuring the names of those who have supported the fundraising campaign. As the Waterlow Festival celebrations got underway, the stage was unveiled as pupils, staff and Mrs Bingham cut the ribbon alongside two very special, surprise ‘royal’ guests: Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret from The Crown.
The award-winning actors, both former pupils of the Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST), then took to the stage to share amusing anecdotes from their school days and behind the scenes stories from their careers, from failed auditions to the downside of glitzy awards ceremonies.
Helena, who joined South Hampstead at the age 11, spoke of the lifelong female friendships she made at school, “the scaffolding” for her later life. She also cautioned girls about the perils of perfectionism: “I wish I’d not been so hard on myself…” and advocated the benefits of listening as well as admitting when you don’t know the answers. “Asking for help can be very empowering and great fun.”
Olivia described how she dabbled with becoming a teacher (joking that pupils had doubtless had a lucky escape) before deciding to pursue her love of acting. She spoke of the importance of finding and following a genuine passion, not chasing fame. “Take your job seriously, but not yourself… but the best advice I can give is to be kind.”
The special assembly concluded with dozens of questions from the girls, who were thrilled to meet two of their on-screen idols. The guests departed, leaving two enormous balloons they had kindly brought for the opening, but not before Olivia had a chance to grab a cuddle with Maple the school dog.
The Waterlow Festival celebrates the culmination of the largest project financed entirely through fundraising by our school community. Events and performances taking place throughout the spring term include Gala and Music Concerts; the South Hampstead Speaker Series, featuring broadcaster and historian Professor Alice Roberts; a VoiceBox event of TED style talks; a Poetry & Prose evening and numerous drama productions, including the first ever school staging of the feminist play, Emilia, by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm.
As Mrs Bingham outlined in her address to the girls, the new hall provides a platform for our pupils to speak up and speak out in a multitude of ways, as well as providing opportunities for others: all proceeds generated by the future rental of the concert hall and performance space will go towards funding the school’s bursary programme, providing more free places for girls who could not otherwise afford an education at South Hampstead.