LSF takes on Edinburgh Festival Fringe with alumnus, Hamza

Each year, for nearly 20 years, Loughborough Schools Foundation’s drama department has taken drama enthusiasts to Edinburgh to perform at the esteemed Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

This year, eight pupils from across the Foundation performed their own play at sell-out shows and received outstanding audience reviews.

The performers came together to form this year’s ‘Siege of Herons’ theatre company, who wrote and devised the play, 1518, along with support from alumnus Hamza Ali (LGS 2016).

1518 reframes the story of the ‘dancing plague,’ a mysterious epidemic that gripped the city of Strasbourg during the 16th Century. People filled the streets dancing uncontrollably day after day until they died from exhaustion, an event that still puzzles historians to this day.

By creating their own interpretation of this mass hysteria, Siege of Herons blend their experiences with the historical events to present their personal conflicts as a group of young people coming of age in 2023, whilst discovering shocking parallels between 1518 and today.

We caught up with Hamza to learn more about coming back to LSF to support the pupils, a few years on from when he participated in this experience as a student himself.  

Did you already have the idea in your mind for this performance and how did you work with the pupils to develop it further?  

The thought of doing a piece about the 1518 Dancing Plague, unsurprisingly, came to me during THAT first lockdown. There was striking similarities between the events of then and now, particularly the feeling of pent-up energy, mass hysteria and political unrest. The idea was banked as my work as a movement director took off but then this brilliant opportunity to direct back at LSF presented itself and it felt like the perfect idea to explore.  

Working with the pupils was a delight, and from our initial meeting I knew I wanted them to be deeply involved in the creative process. Therefore, we adopted a highly collaborative devising process which meant working with the group to create many of the movement sequences in the show.  Additionally, through a series of group discussions the pupils’ actual recorded voices became a key aspect of the piece as they spoke about their experiences as young people growing up in this age. 

What was the experience like for you as the director? 

There’s always an element of uncertainty going into a process like this, where we literally start from scratch and build a show together and it requires a lot of trust from the ensemble. But the pupils well and truly dug deep and gave it their all in every aspect of the work. They rose to the challenge and created and performed to a very high standard. (An audience member even asked the performers where they had trained and whether the show would be touring!). So, as the director I had the massively rewarding experience of watching both the performance and the performers grow and develop side-by-side. Which gave me an immense sense of pride when the cast got up on stage in Edinburgh and smashed every show, garnering an overwhelmingly positive response from audiences and critics.  

Were there any particular challenges that you had to overcome throughout this experience? 

Just doing a show at the Edinburgh Fringe is a challenge within itself. I remember performing to a tiny audience of 4 in one of our performances back in 2015! So, despite the creative side of the project, we really had to focus on how to successfully pitch, market and sell a show. They’re crucial transferrable skills and I think one of the biggest challenges in an experience such as this. But luckily through plenty of content creation, targeted marketing and good old-fashioned word of mouth, we performed to a sold-out audience for almost every single one of our shows! 

What was it like coming back to LGS and working with the drama department and the pupils? 

It was a real full circle moment for me. LGS is where I first fell in love with drama, and it was after doing the Edinburgh trip in Year 12 that I decided to pursue it as a career. I could not thank my teachers enough, particularly Mrs Welsby, Mrs Bruton and Mrs Boon, for instilling that passion and confidence within me. So, I felt incredibly honoured to be invited back and wanted to really deliver on all fronts; especially in providing the students with an experience that matched up to the one I had many years ago!  Whilst a lot has changed at LGS since I left, the drama studio was exactly as I’d remembered it and immediately felt like home. 

What are your standout memories from this experience? 

The buzz and energy in the room when the lights went down, and the performers first came out on stage was a moment I’ll never forget. There was definitely a lot of nerves that morning but the second they stepped out on stage the pupils just looked focussed, determined and ready for action. The last show was also emotional. Hours and hours of work, the physical commitment from the pupils, and watching proudly alongside the LSF staff was all met with a standing ovation and was the perfect end to a brilliant week.