The Form 5 play is such an important part of the OBS tradition, whereby the final year of Primary school includes this important challenge, the ultimate in teamwork and creative expression! Choosing the play is the first important task. It must be worth doing and it must inspire everyone to want to do it and if it is the right play, you couldn’t imagine doing anything else! 

This was the case with Peter Pan. The moment we heard the music and read the script we knew we had to do it with this year group. They were enthusiastic and keen to do it from the outset. The play has natural groups which makes some of the work easier to coordinate. We have the Family, the lost boys, the pirates, the mermaids, and the wild warriors. The groups took ownership of their character and were encouraged to take responsibility in rehearsals for practising what they had been instructed. The nature of some of the groups encouraged some great performances and they were often not what might be expected! 

We were able to produce some secure and clear storytelling in a tight space before transferring to the theatre. There were some very strong individual performances, but the star of the show was the ensemble effect, no less satisfying! Similarly, another star was the remarkable set built by hand from found materials by James Harrison. When the two were added together, magic began to emerge.