2018 HNHS School Magazine HNHS Magazine 2018 | Page 102

D
Drama Report
The drama department gained a new face this year with
the arrival of Mrs Jade Hanham, who replaced retiring
staff member Tim Walton. Formerly HoD drama at
Central Hawkes Bay College, Mrs Hanham has brought
boundless ideas and energy to the department, including
her supervision of scholarship drama, her assistance with
after-school drama, her three entries in the Sheila Winn
Shakespeare festival and most notably, her supervision
of our inaugural Showquest team, who became national
champions in this event.
for the women of Britain to gain the vote. Year 12 drama
staged two public performances also, first a selection of
Angie Farrow plays in term two, followed by devised drama
group work in term four.
The Year 13 class this year presented two nights of Oscar
Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, directed by
students Lizzie Harvey and Sam Harris, also completing the
double with their devised pieces in term four. A highlight
for them was the chance to workshop with the artistic
director of renowned theatre group Red Leap Theatre, prior
to viewing the company’s performance of Kororāreka: The
Ballad of Maggie Flynn in Napier in term three.
Meanwhile 2018 has been as busy a year as any previous.
Junior drama has continued its lively mix of improv games,
team builders and storytelling conventions during the Year
9 modules. Year 10 drama expanded to three option classes
this year, with healthy numbers also attending after school
drama and preparing to represent the school in the annual
Improv Challenge (think Theatresports) towards the end of
term four.
Final recognition must go to our dedicated techies for their
contribution to a multitude of school events, including the
annual Talent Quest and Music Festival, house choir, junior
social and two Special Needs concerts, with other events
too numerous to mention. This year sees a large number
of seniors departing the team, but they leave the technical
reins of the school in good hands, due largely to the highly
organised training of juniors by our head techie, Nick Batey.\
Highlights for our Year 11 class included their performance
of short plays during the Promenade Theatre evening held
in term two, followed by their staging of The Suffrage: 100
years of Herstory in term three, commemorating the battle
Mr. Brebner
Dare to Devise Success for A.C.E.
With all of this in mind, we worked hard over the 48 hours
and came out with a very entertaining performance that
we named A.C.E (Awesome Criminal Enterprise). It was
all about a detective who had to prove himself by going
undercover to save a fake hostage victim, and if he succeeded
then he would be promoted to sergeant. He of course, in the
end, succeeded in his mission and was promoted to sergeant!
In Term 3 a small group of my year 10 Drama peers
participated in a new 48-hour theatre competition called
Dare to Devise. For this, our task was to devise, rehearse
and perform a 10-minute performance all within the space
of 48 hours. As part of our performance, we had to include
various elements. As the competition was held during New
Zealand Theatre month the compulsory elements we needed
to include were kiwi elements. We needed a title for our play,
we had to include the use of a torch at some point during the
play, mention/use the place name of Eketahuna, we had to
use the convention of a telephone call, and finally we had to
include the line of dialogue ‘We didn’t choose the skux life,
the skux life chose us.”
Overall we all really enjoyed the process and were all very
proud of the final result. We even managed to score the best
use of prop award! We all enjoyed ourselves and can’t wait
until next year.
Caitlin Hedge
Much Ado About Shakespeare
April. We had a blast performing all our pieces, and it was
inspiring seeing so much talent in one room. The event was
immensely fun, and a testament to the impact Shakespeare
has had on theatre. We all laughed, gasped, oo’d and aa’d
at the plays on display, and the night was completed with
Napier Girls’ High school being nominated to go through to
the national festival. Though we didn’t make it through to
the elusive national competition, we had a blast performing
and proudly demonstrated Havelock North High School’s
wide array of talent in impressive Shakespearean scenes.
This year, several students from the year 12 drama class
entered their 2.1 assessments into the Sheilah Winn
Shakespeare Festival. Sheilah Winn is a nation-wide
competition where students and adults alike can all celebrate
the legacy and writing of The Bard through sharing their
own performances and interpretations of his plays. Each
year, hundreds across the nation participate, and we were
keen to throw our hats in! We entered three excerpts from
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing,
and Macbeth respectively. All nine of us rehearsed and put
our own spin on our pieces, and performed them in front
of other competitors at Napier Boys’ High on the 5th of
Molly Power
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