Performing arts students at Brooklands College have been putting on a programme of student-directed work.

The second year pupils created the production as part of the directing unit they are currently completing.

Along with selecting scenes to develop for performance, students also took responsibility for casting, scheduling and running rehearsals, designing lighting and sound and managing their own technical and dress rehearsals.

The performance included 11 extracts of plays from a diverse range of writers, including Patrick Marber, Harold Pinter, Dennis Potter, Howard Brenton and Sarah Kane.

Student Elizabeth Bell, 18, said: “Learning to direct has been a challenging, but rewarding experience. Taking responsibility for every aspect of the production and making artistic decisions gave us great freedom to interpret and explore our chosen texts.

“An added challenge was that we had to direct our peers and appear in each other’s scenes too.”

Iain Patterson, directing lecturer, said: “There is no better way to measure that learning has taken place than when, as the tutor, you can sit back and observe your students taking complete ownership of such a daunting task and accomplish it so well.

“To produce a production with minimal guidance from staff proves that our learners leave Brooklands trained to the required standard to succeed in the industry.”