A “complete flourishing” on stage: Trinity presents A Christmas Carol 

When it came time to decide on Trinity’s 2025 Middle School Drama Production, Mr Anthony Slaven (Drama and English Teacher) says that there were a lot of options on the table, but there was a drive to do something in the spirit of the Christmas season. 

“We don’t do enough Christmas-themed pieces at the end of the year, but … I also really wanted it to snow on stage,” he adds with a laugh. 

After pitching this idea to a member of the crew, and receiving a response that was no less than “Oh, we can definitely make it snow”, Mr Slaven knew that adapting Charles Dickens’ classic, A Christmas Carol, was the way to go. 

Finding the right adaptation, however, was a little trickier. So, instead, Mr Slaven returned to the original novel, adapting scripts based on the book directly. It allowed him to craft a script tailored to the students and the space, without making compromises. 

Dickensian language can be quite daunting for anyone, but many of the Year 8 students taking part had just finished up the Shakespeare unit in class, and this had helped them to build their own knowledge of how emotions and body language can bridge the gap between the words on the page and the audience’s understanding. 

“Emotion, in its essence, transcends any language.” 

This was proven correct when Mr Slaven heard from an audience member who had come along and reported back that they were able to be fully immersed in the story, despite not speaking English, because of the emotion the students displayed on stage. 

It was a moment that Mr Slaven says he was extremely proud of, but it was far from the only one. 

“The boys put in one hundred percent,” he says. “It really impressed me how they were able to work through adversity.” 

On opening night, the fire alarm went off during the show, forcing a full evacuation of the theatre. It ended up being a false alarm, luckily, but an interruption like this can pull performers – and the crew – out of the moment. 

“It was fantastic to watch them compose themselves after that mishap and ready themselves to continue the show.” 

With 21 cast members, Trinity’s Media Crew working behind the scenes and one Year 8 student running the lighting design, mentored by a member of the media crew, the production was a true team effort. 

And, while the snow falling on stage was a highlight, of course, Mr Slaven says it was the way the students worked together that was the real joy to watch. 

“The boys actually engaged with the story itself and created a really great bond with each other. They come from all different walks of life … many of them wouldn’t even be in the same friendship group on the playground, but they formed a great bond throughout rehearsals, long nights, and the shows.” 

“It’s testament to how powerful doing a show really is. You have to collaborate, you put so many hours into it to get it on the stage and then … it’s a complete flourishing.

“For many students, this was their first show, they’d never done a performance before. We had parents coming up and saying it felt like a professional production or that they’d never seen that side of their son before.

“It was rewarding to see the boys extend themselves.” 

As they look towards 2026, Mr Slaven says he’s not sure which productions will be on the cards, but he’s looking forward to seeing how the students rise to the challenge, create new bonds within a new cohort, and wow their audiences.