Queenswood Drama students go wild in ‘Beatlemania!’
Wednesday 10 May 2017
Queenswood’s Lower Sixth Theatre Studies students presented ‘Beatlemania!’, a beautifully poignant and reflective piece of self-devised Verbatim theatre, over two nights in May 2017.
Using archive footage and documentaries recording the utter hysteria and devotion of female Beatle fans, the girls provided a fascinating snapshot of Beatlemania from 1963 to 1969.
The scenes were inspired by practitioner Alecky Blythe, who demands a high level of authenticity from her performers. She uses a technique called ‘recorded delivery’, in which the actor listens to the interviewee through headphones worn in rehearsal, in an attempt to emulate the precise words used.
The cast interviewed several former ‘Beatlemaniac’ members of Queenswood staff, and reflected their memories and anecdotes throughout the piece, interweaving them with performances of some of the most astonishing popular music ever recorded.
