Scripted: Setting the scene

As the original play is set in the North of England, we are already thinking of changing the location to a more local area as not everyone in the group is confident with putting on a northern accent. This will mean that many of the colloquial terms used in the north and featured in the play will have to be adapted and modernised to suit the area we are from, Kent, or at least somewhere in a relative distance to Kent.

Hence, I've decided to research an independent sixth form in the south that we could use as a potential setting for the piece. The sixth form I've decided to take a closure look at is The Kings School in Canterbury, a private school with only 817 pupils. Just by reading the schools ethos it is clear to me that they deem themselves as a very prestigious and proud group. They say that their main aim is to... "Anchor a 21st century education within the illustrious history of the oldest school in the country, dating from 597 A.D."

More specifically, they describe their sixth form as "Vibrant and Intellectually exciting" and  " Provides the ideal springboard for strong applications to Oxbridge, Russell Groups and other top UK universities"

The school is situated in a World Heritage site within the precincts of Canterbury Cathedral, the whole atmosphere surrounding the school is of intelligence. I can almost visualise and hear the posh accents of the students, accents and characteristic that we need to be able to replicate in our piece. We need to capture this confidence of the students that resonates from the environment they are in, our characters are all extremely intelligent and would have been capable of achieving high grades at such a school as Kings, and it is our job to convey these characters.

Punk Rock

Punk Rock was written by Simon Stephens and premiered at the royal exchange in 2009, but transferred to the lyric hammersmith. Set in a library of a private school in a Stockport. The play centres around the lives of students before their mock exams in November. Since it's opening it has been performed in various countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Wales and in the USA on Broadway. It highlights, the lives of young people at school and the struggles they face during the period.