The Drama Department has worked hard to provide performance opportunities for our ākonga over the last few years, despite the restrictions and limitations imposed by Covid.

This year our senior classes were still able to continue with class productions and in the second half of the year, audiences were welcomed back into the school. In Term 3 our level 3 drama class performed a New Zealand play by Robert Lord, ‘Joyful and Triumphant'. This is a piece of realism that explores the lives and realities of a New Zealand family. All the scenes take place in the dining room on Christmas day, the first scene at 8am, 1949, and the last scene at 10pm in 1989. Each scene explores the characters and their relationships. Watching the students explore the intricacies of realism and bring the stories of each character to life was rewarding, and a true culmination of theatrical studies over the last 4 years. There were moments of real intimacy and emotional vulnerability that the performers should be proud of.

Level two students applied their Political Theatre studies and knowledge by performing the play ‘Phat Girls’ by Debbie Lamedman. This is a challenging piece of theatre, that uses conventions and features of Epic theatre to explore the issues and realities of our obsession with body image. The play was broken into 3 segments and groups worked on their segment, to apply their understanding of theatre techniques and bring the play to life. Watching the students apply their learning and show understanding of theatre in a live performance context was inspiring. They did an amazing job!!

Level 1 students, under the direction of Ms Coulter, brought to life the fast pased and comic play ‘Stars Stars: The Franchise Awakens ‘ by Dean O’Carroll. Star Stars is a surreal comedy that parodies both the Star Wars film franchise (specifically The Force Awakens) and the behaviour of fans of the series. Students had a lot of fun with this play and everyone chipped in to contribute costumes, set pieces and a lot of lightsabers and nerf guns.

A big change for the Drama Department this year was the development of semesters in the junior school. We offered a range of courses that explored performance conventions and techniques and had a course aimed at developing understanding and skill around theatre technologies. Due to some internal shifting in responsibilities, we were lucky enough to welcome Harry Lawrence into the teaching team. He took on a special project, supporting the two Year 10 Theatre Technology classes to bring to reality the tech side of a performance. We have really enjoyed the talent, skill and enthusiasm Harry has brought to the drama department and we hope to continue collaborating with him in the future.

It has been a joy to watch the re-emergence of live performance opportunities for our drama students, and special thanks must go to the teaching team of Ms Coulter and Ms Patrick for being so adaptable and resilient over the last few years. Live performance is such a vital aspect of the performing arts, and teaching students to use and respond to body language and facial expression is so difficult when social distance and masks were required. But staff and students have been adaptable and determined. Their achievements this year are a tribute to their hard work.

Ngā mihi nui,

Victoria Shaw 

Head of Drama