On 31 March, we had a wonderful showcase from our Performing Arts students. Voices with Soul kicked the night off followed by a show stopping dance performance from our after school Dance Club. Showing lots of sass and some awesome skills this group showcased their talents in Hip-Hop and K-Pop style dance. Big thanks to Mr Cairns who is running this group this term. Some of the group performing for the first time did an amazing job!

Next we had a look at the 3 minute superhero epic “Seven Problems” which was created as part of the 48Hours 2021. They had to include an anti-hero in their superhero genre and they were all superheroes - Molly, Nadia, Sam, Kiera, Jess, Natasha, Meagan, Sofia, and Emalea! A superhero meets teen movie film which was very funny and really, really good. Awesome to see the juniors and seniors working together on this. Ka Pai!!

This made way for three spectacular Shakespeare pieces. First we had the wonderful NCEA drama group with “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”! Sam, Mason, Hilary and Rapture, introduced the story of 4 young lovers entangled, sometimes literally, in the confused emotions of true love. This was a hilarious piece with some wonderful moments, really showcasing the talents of some of the talented students in this small but mighty class.

Next we had a compilation of fairy scenes from “A Midsummer’s Night Dream” student directed by Lucy (Year 10). This was performed by a talented group of students, Ella as Bottom, Emily as Puck, and Lucy as Titania, supported by a random range of fairy folk. This also was a wonderfully whimsical scene which really shone the light on our very talented junior actors!

Finally we had the one, the only Sam, Nadia, Meagan and Jess! This very special group took out the regional section of the 2021 SGCNZ University of Otago Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival with their hilarious telling of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Act 5:Sc1. This is a very tragic story of two young lovers of Babylon who, in defiance of their parents, hold clandestine conversations through a crack in a wall. It could be as sad as Romeo and Juliet if only the actors were not so incompetently hilarious. This also featured a guest performance by Kiera (Year 12) as Moonshine!

This extremely talented collection of actors will be moving on to the national Shakespeare festival in June and we are super proud of them!

This was a wonderful way to finish off a very busy term of work, all students showing just what ‘Creative Excellence’ really is at Hornby High School.

We look forward to our annual Term 2 Musical Theatre showcase!