Tonight, students performed their pop-up plays which they had the spent nearly the entire day preparing for. This included costumes, makeup, set design and memorizing lines. Story themes included Monte Python, Harry Potter, James Bond, the Great British Bakeoff, the Hobbit, Sherlock Holmes, Mary Poppins and the Adventures of Robin Hood.
Part of the Annual Oxtrad Cup is the Oxtrad Pop-Up Theatre, an opportunity for students to showcase their creativity and talent and win awesome prizes!
Earlier today, students were given a synopsis and a theme of a famous British sitcom or movie and given 6 hours to prepare a 10 minute pop-up play. Story themes include a James Bond Parody, Harry Potter as performed by Zombies, Chronicles of Narnia as a Soap Opera, the Great British Bakeoff acted out with Superheroes, and Alice in Wonderland with a hip hop/rap style. The pop-up plays will be performed tonight on the main quad in Pembroke College, and will be judged by certain criteria, including settings/props, theme, entertainment and characters.
“In the Robotics Class, we started off with kits to build basic Robots that had the capabilities to drive forward, backward, left, and right. As a class, we wanted to push that capability beyond what the kits are intended for. We started this process by brainstorming what we wanted to do with the Robots. Our Idea: a Police Chase. We took our original Robot, Larry, and enhanced the Line Tracking Capabilities to be able to successfully follow a track we created using White and Black Tape. The Line Tracker Module was causing a lot of difficulty for the group, but in the end we were able to troubleshoot the problem to create a functioning Robot.”
– Felicity, Johnathan, and Fox
Paddy and his journalism class visited the Telegraph and BBC headquarters.
Emily and her International Law class spent time at Buckingham Palace and the London Supreme Court.
Ashley and the Development Economics students visited the London School of Economics and Samuel Johnson’s House (author of the first English Dictionary 1755), Ye Old Cheshire Cheese Pub (where Mark Twain wrote), and up to St Paul’s Cathedral.
Kat’s Drama class saw a rehearsal for Shakespeare’s play Othello at the Globe Theatre, with Mark Rylance as Iago and André Holland as Othello (also a star in the movies Moonlight and Selma!).
Maddi and her neuropsychology class visited Convent Garden and the British Museum.
Today was the day. The entirety of the Oxford Tradition program descended on London, which included 305 students, 22 admin staff and 38 teachers. Operation: London Calling was a complete success.
Students were grouped together by their major class; in the morning, teachers chose an activity that pertained to the class subject. Miles’ War in World History class headed to the Imperial War Museum. Drama, English Literature, and Psychology and Literature got a behind-the-scenes look at a performance at Globe Theatre. Art History checked out the summer exhibitions at the Royal Academy of Arts, and Engineering and Robotics visited the London Science Museum.
In the afternoon, students along with their major classes split off into groups with other teachers to explore the many sights of London. One option included going to Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, and Houses of Parliament. Another was to visit the British Museum, while another group checked out St Paul’s Cathedral and Tate Modern. The possibilities were endless!
With all students safely back at Oxford – and quite tired after today’s adventures – it’s time to share a few photos of all the fun had during Operation: London Calling (More photos to come!).
As we cross the two-week mark here at the Oxford Tradition, lots of memories have been but the best is yet to come – including our day trip to London, Oxtrad Talent Show, performance of Macbeth by the Drama class and the Annual Oxford Tradition Ball. With that said, here’s a look at all the fun had this weekend in beautiful Oxford.
Today, students toured the Oxford Castle & Prison, learning more about the rich history of Oxford and the not-so life of prisoners in the 18th and 19th centuries. We explored a 900-year-old crypt, the only surviving remains of St. George’s Chapel where it is said that Geoffrey of Monmouth penned the Legends of King Arthur.
