Year 10 Drama - Improv

For all those Year 10 Improv'ers out there... link to your improv term:

http://quizlet.com/21925683/improv-terms-flash-cards/

Now is your time to learn them and be able to identify how they are used in improv scenes. 

There will be a "real" quiz at some point - so know how to use your lingo! 

Improv / Theatresports at JMC

It is that time of the year again.... time for some improv! 

We have the Fringe Festival behind us in Term #1...so it is time to start up our Theatresports sessions again.

The Secondary Improv Jam's will begin running this week with the first session at OBHS from 3.30pm for a 4pm start. Session finishing at 5pm. Meet in the OBHS auditorium. Wear comfortable clothing which you can move in ;)

Please join the "Secondary Improv Jam Dunedin" Facebook page  - for info / tips / and videos/photos from our sessions. 
Request to join at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/secondaryimprovjamdunedin/

We will also be running our Junior and Senior sessions at school during Tuesday lunchtimes. Listen to the notices for details. Separate junior and senior sessions will run every alternate week. 

That's all from me...

Ms Fridd :) 

NASDA for a day - brilliant Arts opportunity!!

NASDA for a Day

We would like to invite your students to take advantage of this popular programme offered at CPIT’s National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Arts. 

We are looking to host students who may seriously be thinking of pursuing a career in the arts and to give them a taste of what it would be like to train in a Performing Arts School.  This year we will be giving students the chance to experience classes such as tap, jazz and ballet, singing, acting, performance masterclass and chorus, plus rehearsals in the afternoon for upcoming productions.

The day begins with one of the tutors at 9:30am and will finish at approximately 3:30pm.  There will be morning, lunch and afternoon breaks, and students will be able to purchase food from the campus cafeteria.  Students will be made to feel part of the group at all times, and may be given an opportunity to participate in some of the activities throughout the day and chat with the tutors of the various subjects. 

This is a great opportunity to get a feel for what it would be like to be a student at NASDA, and a lot of our NASDA for a Day participants decide to audition for a place in our programme, Bachelor of Performing Arts (Music Theatre), the following year.

Dates available in 2013 are:

                        Wednesday                Friday

Term 2             5^th June                                   

                        26^th June

Term 3             7^th August                    9^th August

                        14^th August                  16^th August

                        28^th August                  30^th August

                        25^th September            27^th September

To reserve a time for your students to come to NASDA, please email or post in your completed application form to:

NASDA at CPIT, PO Box 540, Christchurch 8140 or nasda@cpit.ac.nz. 

If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact me on (03) 940 8695.

Kind regards

Donna Alley

Administrator, NASDA

Creative Industries

Year 10 Drama - Improvisation Unit

Follow the link to an online quiz containing flashcards to help you learn your improv terms...

http://quizlet.com/21925683/improv-terms-flash-cards/

Bonnie Prince Charlie... newspaper links...

Links to newspaper coverage on "Bonnie Prince Charlie" for the Fringe Festival

OTAGO DAILY TIMES...

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/250402/speed-your-bonny-boat-these

 

STAR NEWSPAPER...

 

Dunedin pupils take up arms on the stage

By BRENDA HARWOOD 

 

   DUNEDIN high school pupils are doing battle this week, taking the role of Redcoats and Jacobites in the show Bonnie Prince Charlie for the Dunedin Fringe Festival.    A narrated dramatisation of the events around the 1745 rebellion of the Scottish Highlanders (known as Jacobites) against British rule, led by Charles Edward Stuart, Bonnie Prince Charlie involves pupils from John McGlashan College, Otago Boys’ High School and Otago Girls’ High School, part of a 55­strong cast which includes a contingent of 25 performers from Hamilton.    Bonnie Prince Charlie is being staged at Otago Boys’ High School Auditorium tonight and Saturday, at 7pm.    The show, which was devised by a group of Hamilton Celtic enthu­siasts led by producer David McLachlan, has been performed in the North Island.    Filled with action, music, sword fights and Highland dancing, Bonnie Prince Charlie aimed to bring a tragic and terrible episode in Scottish and English history to life, Mr McLach­lan said.    This production of Bonnie Prince Charlie has been co­directed by Cecilia Mooney in Hamilton and John McGlashan College drama teacher Kimberley Fridd, who have spent many hours Skyping and exchanging frantic emails.    ‘‘It has been a very interesting process working with the Hamilton team — it’s exciting to have our students involved,’’ Ms Fridd said.    ‘‘It’s a great opportunity for our keen drama students to get some stage time,’’ she said.    With a close relationship between the drama groups at the various schools, it was relatively simple to arrange the teams of young actors for the show.    To add to the fun, John McGlashan boys play the part of English Redcoats and Otago Boys’ High School boys play the Jacobites. ‘‘The boys are all about the battle scenes, so we’ve added that little bit of rivalry for fun,’’ she said. Dunedin Town Cryer Gregor Campbell narrates. A choir with soloists sings Celtic songs, and young people play bag­pipes and the fiddle. Tickets cost $10 and $5 and are available at the door.

Taking aim . . . John McGlashan College pupils (back, from left) Michael Glendining, James Mustapic, Tyler Baker (who also plays Bonnie Prince Charlie), George Dickson, James Burchell ( front from left), Quinn Campbell, Joe Corbett and Alfie Richardson prepare for their roles as Redcoats (English soldiers) in the dramatic reenactment of Scottish history Bonnie Prince Charlie this week during the Dunedin Fringe Festival. PHOTO: BRENDA HARWOOD

Final Wrap up on Bonnie Prince Charlie....

AN ADMIRABLE VENTURE

Dunedin Fringe 2013 BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE written by Alec Calderwood Adapted for this production by David McLachlan Directed by Cecilia Mooney Produced by David McLachlan Staged by Hamilton's Celtic Community at Otago Boys High School, Dunedin From 20 Mar 2013 to 23 Mar 2013 Reviewed by Terry MacTavish, 23 Mar 2013

Ye canna lay claim to the proud name o' MacTavish wi'oot your heart stirrin' at the skirl o' the pipes!*  And the pipers are here in full splendour outside the stunning Victorian Gothic castle that is Otago Boys High School. It is the perfect, appropriate venue for one of the most fascinating enterprises of the Fringe.  A group of around 30 passionate enthusiasts from Hamilton has actually saved the pennies to travel to Dunedin to present the sad, proud history of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Scottish uprising of 1745.
In a combined effort that doubtless rivals the battle plans of the Caledonians, many locals, including students from at least four schools, have been recruited to swell the cast. The performers of Hamilton and Dunedin, after rehearsing separately, had just one day to bring it all together. It is a phenomenal undertaking that results in nearly sixty dedicated performers of all ages sharing an experience they will not forget.
The tale of Bonnie Prince Charlie, his claim to the throne, and the terrible defeat inflicted by the English on the Scots at Culloden in '45, is both romantic and tragic. Though it has all the ingredients of a thrilling story, the outcome was so terrible it strikes a deep chord yet in the hearts of many Scots. The consequences to Scotland were far-reaching and, due to the infamous Clearances, in part account for Dunedin's very existence. It's odd we're looking to Hamilton to remind us, but we're grateful.
The format, scripted by Alec Calderwood, is straightforward: Gregor Campbell narrates the story to children sitting at his feet, while the scenes he describes are enacted without dialogue.  As the Young Pretender, Tyler Baker, bearing a resemblance to Prince William, accepts allegiance and raises his standard. The battles are vigorously conducted, and the crowd scenes are enlivened with bagpipes, fiddles and sword dancing.
An onstage choir in good voice sings the beloved songs of Scotland: Charlie is m'darling of course, and the Skye Boatsong, and somehow Marie's Wedding is in there.  Most poignant of all, as the young men go off to fight, “But me and my true love will never meet again, on the bonnie bonnie banks of Loch Lomond...”
The open stage of the Maurice Joel Theatre at OBHS is just right for the large cast and the scenes of combat or village life.  Slides of key events and people are projected onto the cyclorama, smoke billows over the battlefields, and the auditorium is creatively used, with highland warriors making their famous downhill charge from the back of the theatre. The costumes may not stand up to close scrutiny (and women didn't wear kilts in '45), but the overall effect is fine, with the tartans clearly opposing the smart red jackets of the English.
It is a frankly amateur production, and that is part of its charm.  You might call it folk-theatre, a community involvement where telling their own story truthfully, matters more than the egos of the actors. The stolid demeanour of the serious narrator with the beautiful Scots accent, the occasional jostling to remember positions onstage, odd bumps in the wings, the anxious tugging at a sleeve to conceal a modern watch, the bairns' sly peeks at the audience: all have an endearing quality because of the sincerity of the intention.
Even the cynical may find it hard not to shed a tear, when the families gather round the slain at the Battle of Culloden. The description of the virtual genocide that followed is shocking. And finally the Clearances, the actors drifting forlornly away as the Highlanders are forced to emigrate. Which brings us back to Dunedin.
This really is an admirable venture, for some the realisation of a dream, and deserves a full house on its second and final performance on Saturday. Welcome to the Edinburgh of the South, Hamilton!
*If there is any of Clan Campbell in trouble tonight, tak note – we MacTs rise for the Campbells of Argyll!  Not for naught is oor motto: “We do not forget!” – gie us a text anytime!

Drama Notices...

2013 has started with a hiss and a bang in the Drama Dept! 

We have loads of boys from Year 7 to 13 involved with the Fringe Festival performance of "Bonnie Prince Charlie - the story of the '45 ". This is an exciting and innovative project with Dunedin and Hamilton casts combining for the performance.

If parents and students wish to buy tickets - please follow the link: 
http://www.dashtickets.co.nz/tour/351 

Here is some more information on the show: 
http://www.dunedinfringe.org.nz/artist-events/view/bonnie-prince-charlie 

If you wanted to audition and were to late... don't worry... there will be more opportunities for drama things during the year! :) 


A lot of students have been asking about when Theatresports is getting up and running.. after it's huge success last year. It won't be running this term, because I am so busy with the Fringe Festival. Theatresports will begin next term with sessions during Tuesday lunchtime for Junior and Senior students. We will also be continuing with the hugely successful "Improv Jam" at Johnnies, OBHS, and King's every fortnight - where you will get to team up with students from schools around Dunedin and learn new improv games and techniques. Keep an ear out for the notices for when we begin!

John McGlashan College is in charge of the musical this year...and we should be auditioning by the end of term. So again, keep an ear out for notices.

That's all for now :)
Ms Fridd
T.I.C Drama Dept.