February at Hurstpierpoint College brought with it Hurst in Rep and the opportunity for pupils and visitors to watch two student directed productions in one week.
This year one of the productions was not only directed by a student but written by him too. 16 year old Horatio Gould, who is currently in his first year of A level study, has a rare talent, and his play, The Grass is Greener, received rave reviews from its enthusiastic audiences.
The Grass is Greener presents two parallel stories with moments reminiscent of Oscar Wilde, Jonathan Glazer and Woody Allen. It illustrates the similarities in relationships and behaviour between groups of friends in different strata of society and manages to balance great humour with aggression which is uncomfortable to watch. Horatio’s intense writing conveys its story clearly and with great maturity; it is hard to believe that this play came from the pen of a 16 year old. Similarly the direction was strong and the students adeptly brought his words to life, each member of the cast playing two parts to depict complementary storylines, but expressing them in vastly different ways.
Horatio said; “The path I hope to take in the future has been made clear to me through the joy of working with such a talented cast and the exhilaration of seeing my words come to life. I would like to thank Hurst for providing me with the opportunity to express myself artistically through The Grass is Greener.”
At Hurst the pupils take on the Hurst Cultural Challenge which expects them, amongst other things, ‘to make the right things happen for you and everyone else’. Horatio certainly met the challenge on this occasion!