ATA girls

On Friday 13 November our talented Upper Sixth Drama students Poppy, Molly and Kathryn met Mary Higgins – who served in the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service) during World War II. The girls performed for Mary their devised piece 'ATA girls', which is based on the female pilots in the ATA during the war, and were glad to have the opportunity to receive feedback on whether they had conveyed a true sense of the time, and to find out more about what it was like to serve during that period.

The students gained a real insight into what it was like to go to a dance in your uniform and brogues; what it meant to wear a young man's pin; how to create hairstyles by rolling your hair around a stuffed stocking; how to draw stocking lines on your legs with charcoal and of course about love, loss and camaraderie. The girls were able to to add these extra details to their piece as they refined scripts and finalised scenes prior to their final performance on Monday 30 November. Thank you to Mary Higgins, and to Ms Roberts (Mary’s granddaughter and our Director of Drama) for organising this workshop to prepare the girls.

The performance itself was a hit, with audience members wowed. One member of the audience praising:

"May I congratulate and thank you for such a wonderful performance on Monday. I was truly amazed at the quality, depth, and vitality of the piece. Having undertaken significant research into this field I was extremely impressed by the authenticity of the setting, props and overall feel of the play. Not only was the acting of an exceptional standard, but the crafting of the story was wholly believable. I found myself empathising with 'the girls' and found the end particularly poignant - when I appreciated the characters' grief, not only for loved ones lost but also, for lives so full of opportunity and joie de vivre so cruelly curtailed. I was transported to the 1940s and the clever use of scented powder rendered an extra sensory dimension. Overall simply splendid! Spot on!"

Click here to see a gallery of photos from the performance.