Let’s hear it for the girls: Thrilling performances at the Shakespeare Drama Competition

By Joshua Surendraraj

The Mirror Magazine revisits the performances of the finalist Girls’ Schools at the recently concluded 45th Inter-school Shakespeare Drama Competition

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There’s certainly an emotional intensity that revolves around William Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear’. It was this character that proved to be the driving force behind the Bishopian journey to win the Girls’ finale of the 45th Shakespeare Drama Competition organised by the Colombo YMCA and Rotary Club of Colombo North recently.

Cast and Crew of Bishop’s College celebrate their win at the competition. Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara

The judges panel comprised Kaushalya Fernando, Vinod Senadheera and Eraj De Silva.

Following the two strong performances put on by Museaus College Colombo 7 and Gateway College, Dehiwala, Bishop’s College certainly had their work cut out for them.

Their production packed a punch from the onset, gradually building up the energy on onstage. But the clear highlight came about with ‘King Lear’s’ portrayal by Raaedha Faizel, who’s rich and lithe voice had the audience hooked and earned her the best actress award in the competition.

Her performance managed to move the crowd as she casually avoided any form of eye contact, preferring to look beyond them as if searching for something that was long lost. And in this case it was the old King’s only faithful daughter ‘Cordelia’.

The rest of the cast seemed to feed on this energy and brought in the same level of intensity to the setting, making ‘King Lear’ the clear winner in the eyes of the judges that night. Despite having a tough act to follow from, St Bridget’s Convent were up for the challenge with their rendition of ‘Taming of the Shrew’. The girls brought out the best of the comedic elements in the play through carefully orchestrated scene changes and the well timed executions of the actresses.

When it came to deciding the first runner up, the competition was clearly between St. Bridget’s and Musaeus College. The judges however, preferred to lean towards the latter. For indeed, earlier that evening the girls from Musaeus had managed to put on an intense portrayal of Shakespeare’s ‘Measure for Measure’.

Their strength showed clearly in their emotive characters, especially that of ‘Isabella,’ ‘Claudio’ and ‘Lord Angelo.’

Bishop’s College cast on stage

Aside from the acting, Musaeus College could also be commended for their swift scene changes and skillful utilisation of props. Musaeus College took home the award for runners up.

Gateway College, Dehiwala walked away with the third runners up trophy and could also be applauded for putting on a well fought performance.

The Girls’ Finals showcased the best and perhaps some of the more interesting takes on some of the bard’s sacred pieces. Their mastery of Shakespeare’s poetic scripts and attention to detail proved just why these schools were worthy finalists.

Winners at a glance

Best stage craftWinner : St Lawrence’s Convent Colombo 6 (Macbeth)
Novice School
Winner : Lyceum International School – Gampaha (King Lear)
Best supporting actress
Joint Winners- Luxmi Wijeyenathan (Bishop’s College) and Celina Randeniya
(Visakha Vidyalaya)
Best actress

Winner – Raaedha Faizel-Bishop’s College Colombo 3

Overall Winners

Winners- Bishop’s College Colombo 3
1st Runners-Up – Museaus College Colombo 7
2nd Runners-Up – St Bridget’s Convent Colombo 7
3rd Runners-Up – Gateway College (Dehiwala)