Demon Headmaster

Do you think you could be hypnotised, without your knowing it? When Dinah Glass moves in with her new foster family, her two foster brothers - Lloyd and Harvey - unnerve her with strange tales of mysterious goings on at their school.

When she goes to the school for the first time, she meets the creepy headmaster, who hypnotises her and all her schoolmates, making them memorise facts and figures rather than learning to think for themselves. Only Lloyd, Harvey and a few other ‘normals’ remain outside the headmaster’s control. But Dinah soon becomes their ally, and together they discover the head’s sinister plan… to hypnotise the whole country during Dinah’s star performance on the Eddy Hair school quiz.

This spooky yet comic production allowed many of our girls to demonstrate their versatility as performers; Abbie-May Hart (Dinah), Abigail Vine (Lloyd) and Zara McGillivray (Harvey) realistically portrayed the complexities of sibling relationships with both pathos and humour; Rebecca Briggs and Maddie Todd as the prefects, Rose and Jeff, managed to terrify and amuse in equal measure; Rose Cumber as the Headmaster gave a performance that brilliantly captured the character’s charisma and creepiness and Orla Ridpath as Eddie Hair displayed confidence and stage craft well beyond her years. But this was an object lesson in ensemble playing and all the performers had created their own, clearly-drawn characters, who added to the mood of the moment - whether the comic, creepy or dramatic.

As ever, onstage talent was matched by offstage expertise; Nuala O’Sullivan’s efficient help backstage ensured all the actors hit their cues, lighting and sound (slickly operated by year 9’s Charlotte Mills and Eleanor Harvey) added to the overall effect, as did costumes (by Emma Fahy) and hair and makeup (by Lizzie Booth and Lucy Cooper). The set, designed by Judith Browne, was inspired by the art of David Hockney and reflected the quirky style of the piece. A special mention has to go to the ‘mystery guest stars’, who on the night I attended were Mr Slawinski, Mrs Browne, Mrs Booth, Mr Snewin, Miss Whittaker and Mrs Farman, for bringing the house down with their cameo appearance.

Mark Slawinski’s creative and original direction, assisted by year 10’s Annie Hart, ensured that this year’s lower school production was another roaring success. Of course, nothing like this could ever happen in real life; although I thought I saw Mrs Goyer taking notes…