Upper IV’s witty production

Emil and the Detectives.

1920s Berlin and a young boy’s money is stolen.  The chase is on as he tracks down the thief and makes new friends along the way – such is the plot of ‘Emil and the Detectives’ adapted by Carl Miller from the novel by Erich Kästner, first published in 1929 and read by generations of children.

Upper IV took on this play under the guidance of Mrs McNulty, Drama teacher, and the result was a  compelling and witty production which was performed before parents on Thursday 28^th April.  All three of the Upper IV classes, Upper IVA, Upper IV Alpha and Upper IV Aleph joined together to ensure an evening of entertainment for all.  Members of Upper IV were not only present on stage, but were involved backstage in directing, sound design, lighting design, and costume and set design, demonstrating a wide array of talents.  Congratulations to all Upper IV for this wonderful evening and for their hard work in making it such a success.

Such was the impact of the production that we have received some wonderful comments from a parent who was present at the performance.  She writes:

‘Thank you very much for tonight’s very enjoyable evening at the Upper IV play. What a great choice of play with its childhood innocence and morals.

So much effort to include an entire year group in a production and for the girls to work so well together. Their timing on lines and facial expressions were very engaging. I liked how you used props and sound for character continuity when the form groups switched over, as well as the use of the whole stage with its physical theatre of taxi rides, chases, train scenes, large groups and more, there was so much variety, which must have taken lots of rehearsal to cleverly put in place. The costumes were great too. I was a huge fan.

Having said that, as a parent what I loved the most was the fact the girls enjoyed themselves – and we enjoyed watching them enjoying themselves. There was such a fun, buzzy atmosphere (not something you can say of many a dull school production!) You created a space where they were brave and confident to handle anything life threw at them on stage. It brought the year group and us as parents all together, and for obvious Covid reasons that just hasn’t been possible very much, so thank you for that sense of community and entertainment tonight.’

Thank you to all the parents who supported Upper IV in their dramatic endeavours and many thanks to this parent who has so beautifully given her thoughts on this production.