Levin East School scores big at Showquest
Levin East School won the Performance and Production Awards at the Wellington Showquest at the
Opera House on
Tuesday with a Ma¯ ori Battalion theme.
It was the fourth regional event of New Zealand’s new music, dance and drama showcase for schools.
The group captured the spirit of the event in themes that are important to them, such as body image, plastic pollution and friendship.
The winning team was from Kuranui College with their piece about the Ma¯ ori Battalion, calling it
Te Mura O Te Ahi; The Flame of the Fire.
Teams in the competitive section were judged overall on their performance, soundtrack, costuming, choreography and theme.
Hutt Valley High School came second, while Upper Hutt College came third.
Levin East shared the Performance Award with Hutt Valley High School and the Production Award with Kuranui College.
Levin East also won the Theme section, which was shared with Kuranui College.
Levin East sent a 53-strong group of children to the Wellington Opera House to compete in ShowQuest.
Over the past three months Levin East School worked hard with a committee made up of students and teachers to create their performance, Plastic on the Inside.
The performance tells a story of a group of friends going to the beach, not realising the consequences of their plastic use. It shows the effects of plastic pollution in the oceans and how it is harming sea creatures.
It had a strong message of reduce, reuse, refuse and recycle.
A group of Levin East students helped choose the music, choreography, props, costumes, hair and make up.The team performed on Tuesday night in front of a live audience picking up six awards for wardrobe, enhancement, drama, performance, theme and production as well as an award for participation.
School captains Rikahn Koia, Ella Smart and Flyn Turner were there to pick up the awards.
“We need to stop using so much plastic,”. Rikahn said.
“Plastic is killing the sea creatures,” Ella said. Flyn Turner said her favourite part of the day was watching the other schools perform.
“I liked how we got heaps of awards,” Rikahn said.
Ella said her favourite part of ShowQuest was having fun.
Three teachers from Levin East School, Ashleigh McDonald, Shaye Pani and Zoe Kusabs, were the driving team behind ShowQuest this year.
They said the entire school was proud of how well the kids performed, how much effort and dedication they put in to lunch time practices, holiday practices, their own time, their ideas and input.
“The message was strong and everyone needs to remember in a world surrounded by plastic. By 2050 there will be more plastic in the earth’s oceans than fish.”
Greg Kusabs at Placemakers Kapiti sponsored t-shirts to support the play’s message.