Original scripts mark schools’ drama festival

Press, 16 August 1988, Page 9

Original scripts mark schools’ drama festival

More than half the 15 plays presented in the week-end’s Bank of New Zealand High Schools Drama Festival in Christchurch were from original scripts.

This was a marked advance on last year’s festival, in which only three out of the 24 plays were produced from original scripts, said a festival organiser, Mr David Chambers.

The one-act plays by Christchurch schools ranged in length from 15 to 40 minutes, and the casts ranged in size from two to 21.

The adjudicator, the actor Stuart Devenie, said that about 190 school pupils and teachers were involved as cast and crews.

The awards presented by the Canterburj' district manager of the BNZ, Mr Warwick Lancaster, in-

eluded a special award for the festival’s outstanding director, Mark Gardiner, of Aranui High School, for the play, “The Game of Life,” which he also wrote.

Jamie Cornes, also of Aranui, was given an award as the outstanding technician, for the same play. The award for outstanding design went to the Burnside High School production, "Creepers and Crawlers.”

The award for an original script was won by Julia Surridge for her play, “Sanity is a Maniac,” performed by pupils from Four Avenues.

For make-up, an original play by two pupils at Cathedral College won the award.

Mr Devenie named 10 outstanding actors: Ikuko Kurami, an American *

Field Service student at Christchurch Girls’ High School; Martin Coyle, of St Thomas’s College; Bindi Kissling, of Cashmere High School; Grant Wylie, of Cashmere High School;

Brith Bartlett, of Four Avenues; Nicky Ellis, of Rangi Ruru; Amanda Hanrahan, of Linwood High School; Mwyffanwy Sawtell, of Linwood High School; Stephen Painter, of Shirley Boys’ High School; Jonathan Prag-

nell, of St Andrew’s Col-

lege. The five sessions were followed by a recall session at which four of the plays were chosen to be performed again. They were “Sanity is a Maniac”

by Four Avenues, “The Game of Life” by Aranui High School, “Through Strange Seas” by Linwood

High School, and “Remaining Difficult’’ by Rangi Ruru. ir