Photo by Burnside High School

Drama Department in 2021

Kate Olliver — November 28th, 2021

2021 has been another unpredictable and unique year.

With the constant changes to timelines and venues affecting live performance around New Zealand, the Drama students have once again shown their adaptability and resilience. With a number of big events in the Christchurch drama scene happening early in the year we were able to showcase our talent uninterrupted which we were extremely grateful for.

The year started in the usual manner with two groups of senior students entering the regional Otago University Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Regional competition. One of our scenes was from Henry VI part 3, and Lily Reed (Northumberland) was awarded Best Supporting Actor, with Hayden McWha (York) being awarded an Excellence in Acting, enabling him to attend the New Zealand Shakespeare workshop in Wellington which he loved.

We then moved onto Show Quest with a number of both senior and junior drama students involved in a number of ways. Our theme this year considered the impact our own clothing purchases on the workers who make the garments.

I would like to mention the leadership of Simone Blackie, who also came up with the idea in the first palace and Harriet Dodd. There were a number of other Drama students who took on leadership roles including Lily Burt, Lily Reed, Alyssa Tabley , Will Moor and Sophie Olliver. We were awarded first place on the night and also gained special recognition for our use of Drama in the performance. The videos are then judged in the New Zealand final and we won the ZM Soundtrack Award and Earl Jr Segua won Outstanding Rangatahi (Star of the Show).

We then moved on to Theatrefest, which is a New Zealand wide competition open to any amateur theatre group in the country. This year we entered 3 scenes into the regional which was held at Rangi Ruru. Two of our scenes Henry 4th Part 3 and various scenes from Almost Maine were chosen to attend the South Island finals which were to be held in Westport. Unfortunately, this event was cancelled due to Covid-19. Freya Moller and Sosifina Balice were awarded commendations for their acting and Hayden McWha was again awarded an excellence in acting for his portrayal of York.

In terms of class public performances all of the senior classes were able to perform a script in front of an audience.

The first was “12 Angry Men”. A play set in a 1960’s jury room in America. The choice to set this in traverse in the Aurora Centre made for intimate viewing for the audience and a challenge for the actors. There is no place to hide in this form of audience set up! This play was a resounding success and the large number of people who attended was both supportive for the students but also showed how much people have missed live performance in these uncertain times.

12 Angry Jurors — Image by: Charlotte Ensor

Year 12 performed Blood Brothers by Willy Russel and this was really well received. The student directors were McKenzie Salinger, Lucy Mathers, and Lily Burt. A big thank you must go to Vicki Morris-Williamson and Richard Wiltshire for their help with the technical aspects.

Our final play was done by the other year 13 class. This class was hit by Covid-19 and were unable to perform their original production in the Aurora. Therefore, they decided to do a smaller performance of Bare by Toa Fraser, a play that tells the stories of true New Zealanders. This was not easy as they had to learn more lines but the group came together and created a successful performance.

The Drama Club had a few blows this year due to Covid, and the planned production of Alice in Wonderland had to be postponed to next year. However, they made the most of it and the students did small performances for each other of Roald Dahl's "Revolting Rhymes" at the end of the year.