Curtains open
On the night of October 16, the Mousetrap Theatre was bustling. A full-house audience sat in anticipation, the judges cleaned their glasses and tested their pens and backstage, a whole cast of students put on makeup, went over lines and prepared to perform. It was the highly anticipated Interhouse Drama Competition.
All too soon it was showtime, and all four houses put on their best show. From tear-jerking, laugh-inducing comedy to gut-wrenching, heart-throbbing drama, the performances were widely varied. NES’ young actors and actresses did a wonderful job of putting their nerves aside to perform their best, to say the least.
Overall, the audience enjoyed it just as much as the actors did. One actress said,
“I look forward to challenging myself every year. It’s really fun to compete against my peers. This was my last time performing in the competition and I’m so glad that I was a part of this. I plan on continuing drama at university. It’s been so amazing seeing everyone come together… I really do thank the school for giving us an outlet to express our love for drama.”
The night was filled with cheers, tears and conquered fears. As senior actors returned to the stage to perform for their last NES Drama competition to new actors who performed their first, the night was filled with joy and a sense of accomplishment. Arthur Miller, a distinguished playwright has said,
“Great drama is great questions… I could not imagine a theater worth my time that did not want to change the world.”
By challenging ourselves to become someone else (just for the night), to encompass another human being’s emotions and portray them well, brings us a step closer to further understanding others- empathising. And by a deeper understanding of others, we may be able to change the world. As the curtains closed, there was an electricity going through the crowd. We had come one step closer to changing the world, by first trying to change ourselves.
As the event came to a conclusion, the audience were thoroughly entertained. And while everyone performed exceptionally well, as with any competition, there are winners that stand out from the rest of the participants. The judges put their heads and scores together and it all came down to Ikaros winning first place, Dilmun second, Tylos third and Gerrah fourth.
The Winners of the night were:
Winners of the inter house drama competition – Ikaros
Lower school monologue: Ikaros
Upper school monologue: Tylos
Text based Performance: Ikaros
Original devised performance: Ikaros
Best actor: Shahin Daghlas (Tylos)
Best actress: Mariam Ahmed (Ikaros)
When asked about the night, the Drama Department were more than happy to share their thoughts:
Mr.Bunting:
“The Inter-house Drama Competition was a rousing success for all parties involved. An incredible evening in a jam-packed Mousetrap Theatre was one to savour, especially with the support of a magnificent audience, who were taken on a rollercoaster of emotions spanning (almost) three hours!
The performances were a result of the collaboration of students from Year 7 all the way to Upper 6, and I must commend the students’ dedication to ensuring their respective performances were well-rehearsed and organised. The pieces for the evening consisted of melodramatic period dramas, stupendously creative new writings, seriously side-splitting comedy, and intensely gripping monologues. The audience were further treated to a scene from the upcoming Lower School production of ‘Oliver!’, which promises awesome acting, venomous villains, magical moments, and catchy sing-along songs. Personally, I’d recommend getting your tickets soon, as this show will, undoubtedly, sell-out fast!
I was thrilled to witness such an abundance of talent from our students at NES. They are a huge credit to themselves, the Drama department and our school. Furthermore, the competition was such a marvellous advertisement for drama and how enjoyable it can be to be part of a creative working process.
The healthy competition between the houses was taken very seriously, and all students gave it their all to ensure they would come out on top. It was then up to our panel of judges, who were taxed with the thorny task of scoring the performances. As with competition, however, there are always outright winners and, boy, did Ikaros clean up on the night!
All in all, a wonderful evening was had by all, and I am highly anticipating next year’s competition already.”
Mr Marks:
“I thought the standard was staggering! Well done to everyone who took part as well as the Heads of House and House captains. The line delivery, the poise and oodles of confidence of the performers made the Inter-House Drama competition a memorable night! I am very, very proud of NES students.”
To see more of the NES’S amazing talent, be sure to get a ticket for the upcoming lower school production Oliver Twist! See the drama department for more information.
Curtains Close.
The images below are courtesy of Yusuf Al Hajji and Lamar Ali.
