FEBRUARY 2018

Another great set of results with 16 out of 18 students gaining the top mark of DISTINCTION!

They were:

SPEAKING OF VERSE AND PROSE

Introductory Stage One              BOBBY MARSHALL, MARTHA LAST, FREDDIE THOMASON

Entry                                               BEATRICE WOODHOUSE

Grade 4                                           KRISTINA RAWSTHORNE

Grade 5                                           CATARINA CARDEIRA

Grade 6                                           PRIYA LAL, MEGAN HUTCHINSON

Grade 7                                           ALEX LAL, GRACE WINGATE

Grade 8                                           JOE HOUGHTON, JOSH REAIS, DAVID COYNE, OLIVER BIGLEY, HARRY WINGATE, CHARLIE GILLBANKS

CONGRATULATIONS

 TO YOU ALL!

LAMDA EXAM RESULTSLAMDA EXAM RESULTS
DECEMBER 2017
Congratulations to all students who took their Lamda exams in December – brilliant – every single pupil gained the top mark of Distinction! 20 out of the 23 pupils gained 90 marks or higher!
ENTRY Serafina Campolucci-Bordi, Ava Witham
GRADE 02 Amber Kelly, Ava Kelly, Lori-Jo Quinney
GRADE 03 Verity Clark, Beth Edwards, Eva O’Toole,
Bea Stobie, Louisa Whorton
GRADE 04 Itsoghena Oyedeji, Harriet Stobie,
Varshaa Premakantha, Drew Hutchinson,
Evie Clark, Ellie Edwards

GRADE O5 Joseph Bigley

GRADES 6-8 also give important UCAS points to help pupils gain places in their chosen universities in the future.

GRADE 06 Grace Farnell, LAMDA EXAM RESULTS

Simon Lennon returns in the BBC’s hit Drama Series Our Girl.

Simon (third from left) pictured with the cast from Our Girl.

Our very own Simon Lennon is returning to our screens as ‘Brains’ alongside Michelle Keegan, Luke Pasqualino, Ben Aldridge and Shalom Brune-Franklin. Brains has always been seen as the clever one in 2 Section – but that might all change with the arrival of Rab whose intelligence may well trump that of his new colleague.

The popular BBC1 drama returns for a third series this Autumn.

Said Simon, “The series is great fun to film and it’s particularly nice to return to the role of Brains as he is an enjoyable character to play. I feature more heavily later in the series in episodes 5 to 8. The goodwill messages that I get from everyone at Lamont Drama are so lovely to receive and I want to thank everyone for their support. I’m so thankful for everything that you did for me, I couldn’t have done this without it.”

Simon Lennon stars as ‘Brains’

In addition to his Our Girl role, Simon has recently played Marcus Ruskin in an episode of ITV’s Grantchester series alongside James Norton and Robson Green. He’s also appeared on stage, treading the boards in Our Town at the Almeida.

“Simon was a great pupil who went on to successfully audition for the National Youth Theatre. He is still very much involved with the NYT, especially with the NYT Rep Company and as an assistant director. He was also an assistant teacher at Lamont Drama and is remembered very fondly by past and current pupils. Everyone is really excited to watch the new series of Our Girl and we are all thrilled by Simon’s great success”, added Mrs Lamont.

What fabulous results from the 2017 Southport Festival! The school entered 24 classes and gained an outstanding 14 first places, 14 second places and 13 third places.

Said Mrs Lamont, “When we return for our new term in September, it is always a very quick turnaround to prepare for our much-loved Southport Festival. You all delivered fantastic performances, particularly considering that you had just 6 lessons to choose, learn and perfect your verse, prose reading and acting pieces. You should all be very proud of this significant achievement. It’s a joy to watch you all gain so much enjoyment from bringing your pieces to the appreciative audiences at Southport Festival and to see you gaining confidence and experience whilst you excel.”

“I look forward to the same level of enthusiasm and commitment as we turn our sights to our next set of LAMDA exams. The last couple of sessions have resulted in incredible results across the school, so I’m hoping for the same high level of success at the end of the year. I’m excited to be returning to Formby for my examination classes. They are now being held at the Gild Hall.

Mrs Lamont and pupils returning to Formby for examination and festival lessons at the Gild Hall.

SOUTHPORT FESTIVAL 2017

RESULTS

VERSE SPEAKING

Under 8                1st Martha Last  3rd Serafina Campolucci-Bordi

Under 10              2nd  Evie Clark  3rd  Verity Clark

Under 12A           1st  Joseph Bigley  2nd  Catarina Cardeira  3rd  Jemima Brooks

Under 12B           1st  Annabel Harrison  2nd  Jasmine McElhinney  3rd  Varshaa Premakantha

Under 14              1st  Itsoghena Oyedeji  3rd  Oliver Bigley

Under 16A           2nd  Charlotte Russell  3rd Francesca Medlicott

Under 16B           1st  David Coyne  2nd  Josh Reais

Over 16                 1st  Kathryn McEvilly

PROSE READING

Under 10              1st  Evie Clark  3rd  Verity Clark

Under 12A           1st  Catarina Cardeira  2nd  Joseph Bigley

Under 12B           2nd  Orlando Campolucci-Bordi  3rd  Annabel Harrison

Under 16              1st  Francesca Medlicott  3rd  Gabriel Cardeira

SOLO ACTING

Under 10              1st  Evie Clark  3rd  Verity Clark

Under 12              2nd  Kristina Rawsthorne

Under 14              1st  Oliver Bigley

Under 16              1st  Josh Reais

Over 16                 2nd  Kathryn McEvilly

DUOLOGUES/GROUP ACTING

Under 10              2nd  Evie and Verity Clark

Under 12              1st  Joseph Bigley and Orlando Campolucci-Bordi  2nd  Annabel and Jessica Harrison

Under 14              2nd  William and Hannah Neave

3rd  Louisa Whorton and Niamh Hughes

Under 16              2nd  Amelia Rosin, Francesca Medlicott, Charlotte Russell, Georgia Taft, Josh Reais

SIGHTREADING

Under 16              1st  Francesca Medlicott  2nd  David Coyne  3rd  Gabriel Cardeira

Lamont Drama School’s most senior pupils have been honoured by the school for their loyalty and commitment.

Following a long-standing Lamont Drama tradition, eight pupils have been awarded scholarships for the upcoming Southport Drama Festival. The scholarships cover the costs of the pupils’ drama lessons as well as their entry fees for the festival.

The pupils being awarded scholarships, who have been at the school since they were 5 or 6, are:-

Kathryn McEvilly (16), Josh Reais (15), Francesca Medlicott (15), Georgia Taft (15), Charlotte Russell (15), Amelia Rosin (15), David Coyne (15) and Gabriel Cardeira (14).

Said Mrs Lamont: “These are a group of pupils who are very close to my heart. They have been with me since they were tiny and have blossomed over the years into fantastic teenagers with so much to offer. It is a pleasure to support them in this way and is a little thank you to them and their families for their loyalty and commitment.

“Georgia and Kathryn are both successful National Youth Theatre members and the majority have either taken Grade 8 LAMDA or are about to. They have studied for all their LAMDA exams with the school and have never given me less than their absolute best. I’m proud of all that they have achieved but I am most pleased to see what firm friendship groups they have made as they pursue the same goals. They have been lovely to teach as individuals and in the many group acting pieces they have done together.”

From one end of the spectrum to the other, Lamont Drama School’s newest festival pupils are seven-year-old Serafina Campolucci-Bordi, Martha Last and Beth Popoola, who are both aged 6.

“I love teaching the little ones because they breeze in like a breath of fresh air. Beth and Serafina’s enthusiasm is infectious and I’m particularly enjoying teaching Martha as I also taught her mum Catherine and Catherine’s brother when they were children. I can see lots of endearing similarities between Martha and Catherine.

“So I would like to wish my festival first-timers, my senior Scholarship winners and all the rest of the school an enjoyable time at Southport Festival. I hope Martha, Beth and Serafina have as much fun as my senior pupils have had over the years entering festivals and sitting their LAMDA examinations.”

‘The sun will come out tomorrow’ for Lamont Drama pupil Ellie Edwards when she appears as Kate in ‘Annie’ at Liverpool’s Epstein Theatre this November.

Based on the comic strip Little Orphan Annie, the play is set in 1930s New York during the Great Depression and tells the story of the Annie, a young orphan in search of a family. Annie The Musical has entertained audiences across the globe for 40 years and warmed the hearts of generations, young and old. This production is from LHK Youth Theatre.

Said Mrs Lamont, “Break a leg Ellie! I so enjoy seeing my pupils taking what they’ve learnt in classes and using their skills to perform on stage and further their theatrical experiences.”

Congratulations to the ever-versatile and talented Lucas Frost who successfully auditioned for the part of 16-year-old Charlie in Teapot Tantrum’s new production Duty Bound. Teapot Tantrum is a newly formed theatre Company aiming to create new and edgy drama through new writing and challenging Directing.

Set in Liverpool 1941 during the May blitz. World War II is in full swing and so are the Brown family in Duty Bound.

The play follows the trials and tribulations of this scouse family in wartime. But the raids aren’t all they have to worry about. With feisty Norma at the helm, her eldest son being called up, the youngest, Charlie running riot and Peggy’s love life in tow things aren’t exactly quiet around the place! Norma is losing her family in more ways than one. It’s the time to pull together…or are they just falling apart?  

This comedy/drama, with a hint of nostalgia and a nod to the ‘good ol’ days, is being performed at Liverpool’s The Black-e on November 9 – 11.

Congratulations to all pupils who sat LAMDA exams this summer.

We received an excellent set of results with over half of you gaining 90 marks and over.

Special congratulations goes to Millie McLoughlin who gained an amazing 100% for her Grade 5 exam!

Full results can be found on our LAMDA exam results page.

Congratulations to Lucas Frost who has been awarded a bursary from the David Lewis Association to further his drama skills.

Lucas, who is a regular performer on the amateur dramatic Stage as well as the festival circuit, is already a highly versatile actor.

Said Diane Lamont, “Lucas is a pupil who is set to achieve great success. He has talent in bucketfuls combined with a fierce determination to continually improve. I know he will use his bursary wisely to make his career happen. I’ll be watching his progress with great interest!”

Former Lamont pupil Laurie Ogden has recently graduated from Goldsmiths, University of London, with a first-class Honours Degree.

Super talented Laurie is not only a fantastic performer but also a very talented poet and playwright.

She recently wrote and performed a Mothers Day poem for the Nationwide. Laurie is also a Barbican Young Poet and won the 2016 Outspoken Performance Poetry Prize and was chosen to be a Jerwood/Avron Mentee working with Tim Crouch for the next 10 months.

However, Laurie is not neglecting her own stage performances. She is once again going to the Edinburgh Fringe performing in two plays and was the writer of one of them. Colder Water and Twix (written by Laurie) have both received fantastic reviews from the critics.

Said Mrs. Lamont, “Laurie came to me as a very young girl and even then she had a special understanding and appreciation of poetry. She always gave the most heart-felt renditions and performed with a maturity well ahead of her years. I am not at all surprised that she has gone on to use this special talent to make a name for herself on the wider stage. Laurie was part of a very special group of very talented pupils that I will always remember with the greatest of affection.”