Summer Sparkles for SAHS theatre arts students
THE MONTH of July proved to be an awesome experience for a group of students from St Andrew High School for Girls (SAHS). In an initiative dubbed Summer Sparkle, the group was taken through the rudiments and rigours of staging a full-length play, including stage craft, acting, and directing. The aspiring thespians’ sojourn commenced with auditions for roles in the play Street Children: A Bio Mythical Drama, and culminated with four performances. Each performance was followed by discussion on the central themes of the play.
The one-hour-and-15-minutes long play ran intermission-free. On each occasion, the audience remained glued to the action on stage, and in some instances, their interest extended the discussion beyond the 15 minutes allotted.
The story of Street Children: A Bio Mythical Drama spans approximately 14 hours, beginning on the eve of Independence Day.
The lives of the central characters, Cee Gee and Townie, and, by extension the other members of their groups, take a turn for the worst when a gunman erroneously gives Cee Gee a gun, thinking it was Townie. The gripping tragicomedy concludes when both groups of children are brought together by a strange twist of fate.
The cast of predominantly students who have sat or about to sit the CSEC theatre arts performed creditably, growing in confidence with each performance. Thus, as expected, the fourth show was the best.
The setting of the play, as its title suggests, is the streets of the Corporate Area, and the second floor of a supermarket that is being repaired.
The Robin Baston-designed set was more than functional and suited the medium-size stage of the SAHS Margaret Gartshore Hall on Cecelio Avenue. The easy-to-move flats allowed the crew of three, to move each piece on set with relative ease, forming different streets, as well as the second floor of the supermarket. In conjunction, the summer project exposed students to designing costumes, lighting, and the application of finishing touches to the set.
Proceeds from the project will go towards scholarships.