The Lady with the Lamp

“Absolutely beautifully executed and profoundly thought out and presented”, “Stunning – the attention to detail and the atmospheric touches were enthralling”. These are a few of the comments from the audience after experiencing The Lady with the Lamp, an ambitious installation based on Florence Nightingale that was staged in the West Wing of Hampshire Collegiate School last weekend.  An audience of over 375 people were variously awed, surprised, and inspired as they moved from different locations featuring live action and music, video projections, original compositions, and thought-provoking tableaux representing Florence Nightingale’s life, work, and passions.  Each person experienced the event differently: some favoured the humorous pie chart slideshow and the light-hearted banter of the Victorian servants who stoked the fire in the old library, while others delighted in making music on beakers filled with fluorescent liquid in another room.  Over a third of the school’s pupils contributed to this production in some way – composing music, meticulously cutting butterflies out of Victorian medicine labels, memorising dialogue, painting and varnishing props, hammering crosses into the ground, singing or playing instruments – and their efforts had a profound impact on those who experienced the event.  One participant explained how she was moved to tears during the scene in the chapel, which had been made to look like the hospital ward in Scutari where Florence Nightingale ministered to soldiers during the Crimean War.  One visitor to the school said, “All of it was very moving and inspirational, building up to the poignant finale outside”.  HCS music teachers Mr. George Tinsley and Mr. Stephen Kent-Davies, devised the installation.

“We were delighted with the final outcome and look forward to working with such a talented group of pupils again on their next production,” said Mr Tinsley.