Students all take one term of Drama at Year 9. It is then optional through Years 10 - 13.

Click here to access full course outlines.

2010 - Drama students have been or will be involved in the following activities: They have travelled to Auckland to see the performance

Auckland Theatre Company productions of ‘The Importance of Being Ernest’ and ‘Romeo & Juliet’

then they will be involved with the following companies at school and in Taupo

Visits from Ugly Shakespeare Company, The Laughing Samoans and attending the Erupt Festival

 

Photos 2009

End of Year Report 2009

Wow! What a year for the drama department!! 

Mrs Gould and I have been on a very steep learning curve this year since the departure of our ‘drama-guru’ Mrs Lee to greener pastures and Mrs Gould took over the running of junior drama while I grappled with NCEA and senior drama. 

Junior drama continued to expand this year with the new trimester options timetable. In fact we expanded into E1 in the second half of this year and have been working on settling it into a performance-friendly environment, while attempting not to be too loud for the English department! Sorry Mr Baxter!

 There have been some incredibly talented year 9s showing their colours this year as they strutted their stuff learning all about dramatic conventions, culminating in some brilliant performances of Maaori myths and legends. Meanwhile the year 10s have explored dramatic elements (including role, tension, time, space, focus) and dramatic techniques (including movement, voice, facial expression) in two different historical contexts: 19th century England & Greek Theatre. 

May was a busy month for drama, as we had visits from both the Peachtree Theatre Company (bringing us an amazing production of Niu Sila), followed closely by the return of The Ugly Shakespeare Company, who brought us their thoroughly enjoyable and (of course) comprehensive version Hamlet this year.  

We also travelled to deepen our theatre experiences: in April a selection of seniors were thrilled to be able to see an international production of Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard and in July the 12s and 13s saw the Auckland Theatre Company’s production of Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage. Both of these great pieces provided excellent fodder for discussion in the external exams. 

Senior drama students spread their wings and flew into the realm of public performance this year, and we rearranged the drama walls to create our very own Drama Room Theaterette to accommodate them. 

Both year 11 classes worked very hard throughout the year to get their heads around drama in the context of NCEA. They conquered written portfolios, trekked into the depths of their courage to develop trust of each other; and discovered that they are capable of doing some amazing things despite their own beliefs to the contrary (learning lines for a start!) 

Their learning culminated in their final performance assessment on the 21st October. Their theme was “Kiwis come out at night” and showcased works from some amazing New Zealand playwrights. Eight groups performed extracts from Niu Sila, Queen B, Children of the Poor, Salve Regina and A Midsummer Night’s Dread.  

The year 12s delved into devising with glee this year, producing some excellent pieces sourced from either their own lives, or the life of someone close to them. Their stories did a great job of commenting on everything from bullying to highlighting the struggle to fit in at high school. 

Then came the big challenge: William Shakespeare.

 Although a few students were at times tempted to embrace John Key’s insistence that Shakespeare shouldn’t be taught at school … the 12s came to love his humour, story-telling skills and love of physicality in his plays (after some translation!) They put on an excellent assessment evening performance on October 29 in Shakespeare-Upon-Nui: An evening of Sorrow & Laughter where they strutted their stuff in extracts from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello, The Taming of the Shrew and Romeo & Juliet.  

The Year 13’s have excelled themselves this year. They are a dedicated bunch of dramatists who take drama seriously and have used every opportunity to stretch themselves. Chris Swney and Theresa Parker became directors this year, directing their peers in two plays on September 14. The Sins of the Mother and Niu Sila were the first productions ever to play in our College Theatrette and Chris and Theresa did a superb job of using the new space, which highlighted the talents of a great group of actors.  

This year the 13s wrote their own scripts for devising, based on famous New Zealanders, which proved challenging but produced some great performances. They have been good role models for all future drama students and we look forward to seeing how some of them fare as they follow their dreams of being involved in the performing arts as a career. 

Mrs Gould and I would like to thank all the students for a fantastically fun year, Mr Forrest for all his help with editing issues, Te Whata and James for their lighting and sound skills and the rest of the Arts department for their support and creative ideas. We wish the seniors all the best in their external exams and that all of you have a relaxing holiday to come back refreshed and ready to hit the stage in 2010! 

Ms Gowdy

 

Photos 2008

 

 

Photos 2007

 

Photos 2006