Lights, Camera, Action at Aiglon College

The Aiglon Creative Arts Faculty works across the domains of visual art, drama and music to offer students an immersive experience in both appreciating and producing art. We have students who go on to study artistic subjects at top institutions and many others who simply enjoy creative expression for years to come.

Transferable Skills for any Future

Parents often see drama as a way to prepare their child for life beyond the stage. “Whether it’s drama, debating, or Model United Nations, it’s about building confidence and the ability to present ideas clearly,” Des Hann, Head of Drama, says. “Those skills are transferable to medicine, business, law, whatever they do next.”

He believes these abilities are even more critical in an AI-driven world. “With tech advancing, the ability to speak, communicate, and work in teams will only become more important,” he says. “Essay writing can be done by artificial intelligence (AI), but working together as humans in a creative way? That can’t be automated.”

Aiglon’s vibrant Drama Department 

Aiglon’s vibrant Drama Department guides students through the world of theatre both within and outside the classroom. 

Through the academic curriculum, all students in Years 5 to 9 take one class where they are able to workshop different styles of theatre and acquire a presentational, creative and collaborative theatre skill-set. In Years 10-13 that skill set is further developed and widened if students elect to continue with the subject to IGCSE and IB Diploma Programme.

Co-curricular involvement in Drama can be pursued through auditioning for the annual Junior or Senior School Productions. Equally, a student can elect to follow activities related to set building and painting, technical support for productions, or involvement in costume and make-up related to ongoing productions.

Des Hann and Aiglon’s next act

When Des Hann first stepped into a classroom at Aiglon College in 1991, drama was a modest fixture on the timetable. The school’s theatre space was quirky and limited, with entrances tucked into the back wall and little room in the wings.“It was my first teaching job,” Mr Hann recalls. “Back then, Year 9 had a little drama, GCSE had just begun, and we were starting to think, ‘Could this be bigger?’”Over the next 15 years, Hann expanded the programme in both directions—introducing A-Level drama, adding classes, and building a co-curricular calendar expanded far beyond the classroom.“We brought drama down to Year 7 and Year 8, then Year 5 and 6,” Hann says. “Now students start with us from Year 3 and can go all the way through to International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma level if they choose.”

When his wife, also a drama teacher, joined in 1999, they became the department’s two-person core. A wide range of Aiglon staff, who have a creative eye for custom design and technical skills, provide their support for school productions. 

Confidence in the Spotlight

For Mr Hann, the most rewarding moments come when students surprise themselves. “You can get students who are habitually quiet, but give them a role and it’s like they’re not themselves,” he says. “I love it when staff say, ‘I had no idea that Monica was so gifted on stage.’”

In the junior years, Mr Hann avoids reducing creativity to numbers. “We try not to grade juniors,” he explains. “Effort is what matters. If we tell a shy new student they’re a ‘four out of seven,’ it doesn’t help them. Instead, we focus on trying, experimenting, and building trust.” That trust often pays off years later. “We had a student who hadn’t done drama since Year 9 come back in Year 12 for Grease,” he says. “He loved it, stayed for the next production, and dragged a few friends along. That’s the magic - it’s never too late to try.”

More than Acting

Mr Hann rejects the idea that drama is just thespians clamouring for attention. Students can work in lighting, sound, stage management, costume, make-up, and video editing with the IB allowing them to specialise in technical theatre. “We had eight students on the tech team for Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” Mr Hann says. “One Year 13 student ran the real-time editing desk like a professional TV director - and she’s going to film school (Dodge College of Film and Media Arts)  this year. That's an experience you can’t buy.”

The production was one of Aiglon’s most ambitious: a “live cinema” approach with green screens, real-time filming, and simultaneous projection. “Sometimes it’s fun to strip tech away,” Mr Hann says, “but when we use it, we go all in.”

In May 2025, our junior school students entertained the Aiglon community with their musical stage production of 'Bugsy Malone'.

Curtain up on a New Era

After three decades in a space never meant for modern theatre, Mr Hann is preparing for a long-awaited upgrade, in the Moghadam Campus Hub. The new 420-seat performance auditorium, which opened on 21 August 2025, features a floor-level stage, retractable tiered seating, an orchestra pit, and acoustics tuned for everything from a cappella concerts to full-scale musicals, as well as a professional room for costume storage and fully equipped changing rooms. A connected foyer and improved backstage areas which provides Aiglon College a playhouse built with performers in mind.

The new auditorium expands opportunities behind the scenes. Mr Hann plans to create a front-of-house team to manage audience seating, make microphone announcements, and coordinate events. This shows the many ways he believes drama helps students to develop organisational and presentational skills.

The opening will be marked by a year of high-profile events, with the renowned classical pianist, Lang Lang. Additionally, a UK theatre company will lead workshops and perform on campus during the winter term.

The Long View

Hann is now in his seventh year back at Aiglon after a 12-year break in the UK, returning with his wife and two daughters—one who graduated a few months ago, the other beginning the IB this academic year. He has seen generations of students pass through the programme, some heading for professional theatre, others into entirely different fields.

“It’s the same core skills I’ve been teaching since 1991,” he says. “Presenting, leading, listening…those haven’t changed. If anything, they’ve become more relevant.”

And while the new theatre represents a major leap forward, Mr Hann’s aim remains the same as when he first stepped into that unconventional performance space more than 30 years ago: to give every student - whether they stand under the lights, work behind the scenes, or manage the audience - the chance to find their voice.