Haydon Dickie and Kori Koziol were Court Theatre ambassadors in 2017. They attended numerous enjoyable performances and workshops at Christchurch's professional theatre.

They have also participated for the last 4 years in the Court Theatre Theatre Sports Competition showing great dedication to practising games, teaching others and attending training events. They enjoyed learning to write scripts, play drama games and charades with an interesting range of people from other schools. Kori especially enjoyed seeing The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime which was based on a book of the same name which he read in year 9 English. The mysterious opening scene with a dead dog with a protruding pitchfork really caught his attention. Kori empathised with the central character who is autistic.

Advice from Haydon, “I have thoroughly enjoyed being a Court Theatre Ambassador this year. Getting to go to all the shows and see such a wide range of genres was amazing. I would highly recommend taking this opportunity if given the chance”.

A glamorous group went to see the New Zealand Opera performing the enduringly popular Carmen by Bizet. It had many recognisable tunes and was set in exotic Spain. The fearless heroine, the vital and dangerous Carmen, trod an adventurous path to the opera’s gripping conclusion. The scale of the set in the Isaac Theatre Royal and striking costumes made it a very visual experience. Fortunately a translation of the songs, from French, was projected alongside.

Year 11 Drama students later had a tour of the beautifully restored Isaac Theatre Royal, as an example of a Victorian proscenium arch theatre. We also looked at Victorian buildings when we visited the Museum’s old Christchurch street and costume gallery. They went to see Steel Magnolias by Robert Harling, directed by Gregory Cooper, at the Court Theatre. The clothing and hairstyles of 1987 were somewhat surprising. The play is set in Truvy’s, a Louisiana beauty salon. The shop motto is ‘There is no such thing as natural beauty’. Gossip, laughter, revelations and banter flow like sweet tea on a hot Louisiana day from the mouths of six Southern belles through the buzz of hair dryers and haze of hairspray. This was a funny and sad play which students could relate to and which taught them a lot about how actors create real emotions for the audience.