As a department, the Drama & Performing Arts team are always looking to make connections with local practitioners, to inspire our actors in training. This term, John Godber OBE, the third most performed playwright in the world, visited Wyke to hold an open floor discussion about his work with our second year A level Drama and Theatre students.As part of the A level, students are studying, 'Moby Dick' by Nick Lane, and applying John Godber as their practitioner. John Godber initially developed 'Moby Dick; as an indoor piece of theatre and during Covid reworked the production with his theatre company at the "Stage @ the Docks", acknowledging Hull's fishing docks and historic whaling industry.John sent Wyke a free copy of Nick Lane's script Moby Dick along with a recorded version of his production. John has been a massive advocate for aspiring actors and most recently has launched with his daughter, and Wyke alumni, Martha Godber, “The Godber Foundation”. The foundation supports actors in training with fees for auditions and portfolio building, whist also offering industry experience. Wyke have two Alumni currently with the foundation, Laura Banks (Bristol Old Vic) and Sophie Huckstep (UCLan), who will be returning to Wyke this term to workshop with our Performing Arts students.During the conversation with John, he explained the importance of creating a 'connection to your own world'. 'Moby Dick' is our second year A-level students final extract for their Component 3. The talk helped students identify what is at the heart of John Godber's methodology, storytelling, physical theatre, fast and sharp dialogue, and emphasised the importance of imagination. Students are now going to, in John's words, 'invite the audience to be part of an active part of the play'!
