The Wykehamist The Wykemamist Common Time 2017 No. 1474 | Page 10

into the spotlight. First up was the close
harmony song, performed acappella by the
‘elite’ singers in a bid to win Schuster Pot.
These singers then retreated back into the
ranks of their house, and the unison song – for
which Bobber Pot is awarded – was
performed. Some houses opt to include
musical instruments at this point (but this
should not affect the judging). The last trophy
up for grabs was the Julian Smith prize,
awarded for the best classical piece. The first
house to perform was Trant’s, singing their
close harmony song Frank Sinatra’s ‘New
York New York’, a jazzy opening for this
years’ competition. They followed it up with
what can only be called a Bobber Pot classic –
Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’. What
followed perfectly exhibited the merits of the
house singing competition. All performances
showed an enthusiasm and a willingness to
perfect that it isn’t possible to find in other
school competitions. A special mention must
go out to College, who were unlucky not to
garner a reward for either of their
performances: ‘The Lamb’ by John Tavener
and ‘The Shrek Medley’ (arranged by
WinColl’s own Christopher Cheng), were both
highly entertaining. The judging was done by
Rugby School’s Head of Music, Richard
Tanner. After a lengthy judicial process, he
awarded Schuster Pot to Kenny’s for their
unusual but aurally mesmerising performance
of ‘Hide and Seek’, originally by Imogen
Heap. The perfectly intertwining voices
contributed to making this one of the standout
performances of the night. Next, the judge
gave Bobber Pot to Furley’s for their rendition
of ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ by Rick
Astley. When a house comes together to
perform a unison song, it is difficult to avoid
sounding like a rugby crowd. Furley’s
managed to avoid this and seamlessly included
a wide range of dynamics and clear diction –
the template for a successful Bobber Pot entry.
Finally, the Julian Smith prize was awarded to
Toye’s, whose performance of ‘O Remember
Not’ by William Byrd was delicate and
precise, all of the voices managing to retain
their individuality whilst combining to create
something beautiful. Overall the standard was,
as always, very high, with each house
producing something worthy of the efforts
they had gone to over the course of the term.
║THEATRE
Sebastian Byers (I) & Matthew Chapman (E)
Around the World in Eighty Days was put on
the QEII stage this term from the 19 th to the
21 st of January, directed by Ned McCrossan
(F). The well-known story of the Victorian
gentleman Mr Phileas Fogg who tries to
circumnavigate the globe in eighty days has
seen many adaptations. The performance Ned
gave us (not to mention that this was during
his Pre-U mocks) was based on a theatre
adaptation by Laura Eason, and can be
described as a simple upbeat comedy.
Effective use was made of a relatively small
cast, and minimal props really allowed the
audience to focus on the stunning
performances of the main characters. The
problem of transitioning from scene to scene
was elegantly overcome by enabling the
background – a large, hand-painted screen of
the map of the world – to open up like a set of
double doors whenever Mr Fogg entered a
new country. Three of the leading roles were
performed by Fourth-Year entrants, and,
having been in the school for no more than a
term, this was a great way for them to
introduce themselves and leave a lasting
impression. These were Michael Rossiter (C),
Inigo Maciejewski (B), and Aarin Popat (F).
Michael took on the role of Phileas Fogg and
depicted him having great pride and
confidence, all set on proving wrong that
making it around the world in eighty days was
impossible. Passepartout, Mr Fogg’s comical
valet on the journey, was played by Inigo.
Sporting a flawless French accent, he
lightened the atmosphere with his throw-away
remarks and constant chatter. Later in the play
we were introduced to an Indian played by
Aarin by the name of Mr Aouda. Joining Mr
Fogg on his journey, Mr Aouda adds some
extra manpower but also humour to the group
– twice in the form of puns which made the
audience erupt with laughter. The villain of the
story, as it were, was Inspector Fix, who
sought to arrest Mr Fogg on suspicion of him
being a bank robber. Bill Beaves (I) brilliantly
portrayed the Inspector as both sly and
stubborn in his confrontations with the trio.
Overall, the various personalities made for
some entertaining interactions and memorable
relationships. To top it all off was the addition
of a live band directed by Krishna Amin (Coll)
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