Wanstead students follow in famous footsteps by performing at Donmar theatre

Wanstead students have followed in the footsteps of actors Nicole Kidman, James McAvoy and Rachel Weisz by treading the boards of the Donmar Warehouse theatre.

Year 9 pupils from Wanstead High School in Redbridge Lane West took part in a special project which asked them to explore the ethical questions posed by the theatre’s latest production The Physicists.

The play, with lead characters including Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton, looks at the morals of science in the shadow of the atom bomb.

Theatre director Simon Evans worked with students to create a performance encompassing the Cold War, the arms race, nuclear power and climate change.

The group took to the stage on July 10 in front of an invited audience including the Donmar’s artistic director Josie Rourke, patrons and parents.

Mark Whitehead, the school’s head of drama, said: “We are really very grateful that our students were given such a wonderful opportunity and hope that it has inspired some of them to maybe work at the Donmar or elsewhere professionally themselves one day.

“The students were exceptionally engaged and responsive throughout this whole process.”