On the 3rd of August this year (2019), Franki Tellick, Molly Mcginn, Noah James and Myself (Grace Sharman) along with the support and help of our drama teacher, Ms Olliver and our families, attended the local Christchurch TheatreFest competition, entering our one act play 'Mother Figure'. Having never gone to TheatreFest before it was a new experience for all of us. 

We got there for our rehearsal on the stage and were introduced to the wonderful people running the local competition who helped us in anyway we needed. We then performed our scene later in the evening and were taken away by the adjudicator to discuss what he thought went well and what we could improve on in our scene. The next day we came back for the awards ceremony and received three awards: Magic Moment, Excellence in Acting and our Selection, as one of the four teams moved forward into the South Island regional competition. 

This was very exciting for our whole group and we rehearsed during the weeks coming up to the regional competition, making changes that had been suggested by the local adjudicator. Our group travelled to Timaru for this on the 24th of August and competed our scene on the same day. At the Timaru regional competition we got the oppurtunity to meet and mingle with fellow actors and directors our age and older. One of these being a group of boys from Southland Boys High School whom we quickly became friends with. 

There were amazing performances at both the local and regional competition and it was an incredible experience to be a part of, allowing us to make newfound friendships and connections with other people who share our passion for theatre.

- Grace Sharman