House plays
As part of the leadership training for our senior girls, the Grade Elevens are provided with an opportunity to take the responsibility of workshopping a play with members of their house for an interhouse competition. An annual event, this competition is something that the school is always most interested to see. Further than this, it broadens the opportunities for girls to get onto the stage.
In recent years, the school has moved away from the idea of girls finding some dusty, dated and very often inappropriate one act play to direct for this annual competition. Instead, directors are encouraged to write their own plays, assess the particular skills of the girls within their house, and to workshop something that is pertinent to their lives - as South Africans, living in 2005.
This year therefore, at their leadership camp at the end of February, the Grade Elevens were given the theme "Masks and Mirrors" to explore. Using any of the performing arts, they were required to set up, perform and complete an exploration of this theme by the end of April. This entailed the electing of directors, holding auditions, a workshopping of ideas and writing of the script and a rehearsing of the plays. It is something that they are required to do entirely on their own. The performances took place over two days - 25 and 29 April - and were adjudicated by a professional director.
This year, the Grade Elevens produced an exceptionally high standard of work. The depth of thought, the quality of the writing and the range of styles required in performance were most impressive. Exploring ideas such as the importance of authenticity, the extent to which the persona that we adopt imprison and dehumanise us, the destructive role significant others and our internal critics can play in our lives, and the extent to which we can live in the light, live without masks, in this dark world. With productions which ranged from the dark and theatrical, to the light and satirical, to the farcical and a range of acting which in some productions was realistic and in others stylized and choreographed, the audiences were exposed to a very fine set of plays.
This year, Apsley won the House play competition, and Tarryn Saunders, who directed it, was also awarded a certificate for the Best Script. The ensemble of puppets in this production received the Best Actress award for their superb characterisation. Reminiscent of the idea in Pirendello's Six Characters in Search of an Author, we met a number of characters who because of an evil spell were trapped within a persona, which it became clear, prevented them from being who they really were: they included Cathy, (from the tedious readers all of us endured in our primary years!!) Hermione, from the Harry Potter series, Michael Jackson, Titania from A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Wicked Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Count Dracula. Encouraged to break an evil spell by having the courage to look at their mirror image they and the audience were reminded that mirrors can distroy masks. Indeed, that is what each character found. While some found release in seeing their authentic selves, others were less pleased! The ensemble of puppets in this production received the Best Actress award. Their characterization was superb, and the play itself amusing, entertaining and thought-provoking.
Kirsten came second, and the directors of this houseplay - Michelle Botha and Candice Muller - won the award for Best Directors. This play showed the inner workings of the mind and the effects that this has on a young teenage girl. The girl's superficial and vicious mother contributed much to her depression and self-hatred. In circumstances such as these, for our heroine, assuming a mask seemed to her a valid option.
Copenhagen came third this year, which explored the idea of a person's desire to belong. The context was school - Wynberg Girls' High - and the protagonist desperate to fit in. Examining a number of groups such as the geeks, the "cool" in the social scene set and the sporty, she ultimately triumphs over her insecurities and realises that she is who she is and will never change for anyone! Best Supporting Actress was awarded to the girls who played "the geeks" for their convincing and extremely funny performance as calculator lovers!
Silverlea was placed fourth and their play “Suburban Bliss” received many laughs from the audience. Exploiting the humour of farce, stereotypes and caricature, this play told of a romance between a girl and boy from two different races and how they tried to hide it from their families. However the truth does come out in the end and both families had to learn to live with their decision.
Cavanagh, Wellesly and Constantia’s plays were also of a high standard. Cavanagh gave us a meaningful performance of how we hide behind masks and put up perceptions of ourselves. Wellesley's production raised the question of whether or not it is possible to live in the light. Aurora in her quest to do so, is accompanied and "counselled" by a Night Traveller as she seeks the advice of Minerva. Encountering the seven deadly sins, Dementia and Ophelia. It offered a fascinating thesis, and was an astonishingly powerful theatrical work. Constantia’s play showcased several different positions that we find ourselves in when we are forced to wear a mask and how we deal with the pressures of pretending to be some on we aren’t. Although Waterloo did not perform their play on the day, their play, African Phantom, explored the horror of a young rural girl being thrust into a role and context which required her to become something which she was not, ultimately driving her to suicide.
We were extremely fortunate to have our work adjudicated by Peter Hayes, who recently directed Wit at the Baxter. A most talented director and actor, he had invaluable advice to give to us all, and was most generous in the sharing of his expertise. Congratulations to all cast members and directors, and to all the Grade Elevens that helped with the organizing of the plays! Our grateful thanks are also extended to the technical team for their hours of work and support.
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Interact – Spur Report
Monday 16 May marked the day that the Interact Committee and 3 Interactors would get a behind-the-scenes look of the Little Creek Spur in Tokai. We had been given the fantastic opportunity of shadowing the waitrons there in order to raise funds for the Fund Day that we are planning for the children of Dietrich Moravian Primary School.
On arriving we were briefed on the in’s and out’s and given a very detailed tour of the restaurant. We learnt some very interesting facts – such as the temperature of the fridges (they are all between 0˚- 3˚C) and that you mustn’t worry about dropping cutlery into the bin – it has a magnetic panel.
As the beginning of our shift drew nearer it was clear that the nervous look on everyone’s faces was for the same reason… “I hope I don’t drop a plate!” After being paired off with a waitron we were soon too busy running around following orders to give our anxiety a second thought.
3 hours and many Happy Birthday songs later brought about the end of our shift. With aching feet we sat down and were treated to a delicious, traditional, Spur meal. What an experience - I definitely have a new found respect for everyone who works at Spur.
We managed to raise a grand total of R1600! Thank you very much to everyone who came to support us and especially to The Little Creek Spur for making it possible.
Bronwyn Nussey
Model Bridge Building Competition: Saturday 14 May 2005
On Saturday, three of our girls represented Wynberg Girls’ High School at the annual Model Bridge-Building Competition, organized by the South African Institute of Civil Engineering and held at Century City. The team consisted of Michelle Fourie, Jacqui Parkin and Najmeera Parker.
Registration was at 8 am and most of the day was spent building a bridge (with strict set specifications) using wooden rods and glue. The judging started in the late afternoon, with aesthetics and mass of materials used being taken into consideration. Excitement rose as the end of the afternoon approached and weights were added to the bridges to test their strength. Our team built an excellent-looking bridge with a good design which we were sure was going to take a great weight.
Unfortunately, while the weights were being loaded on, an important joint came undone and the bridge came crashing down! The team was disappointed as they had made a fantastic effort. Nevertheless, Jacqui will stay on as captain of the 2006 team as she is still in
Grade 11 and we are already talking about how to improve our design for next
year's competition!
Well done to the team for tackling this competition with so much enthusiasm!
Mr P Bodenstein
Squash "Top Schools"
Our top 2 teams (6 girls) played at Bishops Thursday night (17:30-19:30),
19 May, in the semi-finals against Herschel . This is a knock out to see what school will represent Western
Province at a
"Top Shools " tournament August in Pietermaritzburg. In spite of underlying illness, the girls played brilliantly to win Herschel by 1 game!
Well done to Megan Horsley, Stephany Salvage, Tracy Genricks, Michell Fourie, Jackie Van Vlaanderen, Heather Maille and Alison Melon(reserve).
We wish them best of luck in the finals on Saturday afternoon against Westerford!
A big thank you for the parents and coaches for their valueable support on Thursday night.
Squash greetings,
Mrs J Nel
Report on Saturday:
Our Squash team met with Westerford on Saturday afternoon for the finals to determine who will go to Pietermarizburg "Top Schools Tournament". We started the afternoon well with winning
sixth and fifth and nearly fouth, but then the top three girls of Westerford
were too good. Our girls played brilliantly and kept our school's name high! Well done to Meagan Horsley, Stephany Salvage, Carolyn Jones, Tracey Genricks, Michelle Fourie and Heather Maile.
Thank you to the parents and Mr Burrell
for their support.
Squash greetings,
J Nel
The following have made WP hockey teams this year
WP U18A Illse Davids
Kelly Croxford
WP U18B Ingrid Coulter
Carolyn Jones
Non travelling reserve: Emma Muller
WP U16A Candice Manuel
Micaela Paterson
WP U16B Stacey Gedult
Nicole Mullins
WPU 14B Wisaal Abrahams
Debating
This term the debating teams have had their verbal and thinking skills put to the test on quite a few occasions. They had their last Rotary debate of the season on Tuesday 17 May at Tableview High School, the junior team (Raelene Adams, Nandi Ganda and Cally Galloway) emerging victorious after having won all five rounds.
Raelene, Nandi and Cally all won a share of ‘best speaker’ awards and this dynamic team will go through to the finals. The senior team (Sheree Lang, Anja Hendricks and Christine Freist) lost two debates and finished second in their pool. Their score, though, should ensure them a place in the Nationals.
Sheree, Anja and Raelene participated in the debating component of the San Souci ‘Facets’ cultural festival and came first!
The new grade eight debators have had a busy term, learning the finer points of educated argument and hopefully they will soon be ready to participate in some competitions.
Both of the teams have shown an incredible commitment to this cultural activity and they are a structured and formidable force, who should be congratulated for their achievements.
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