Finalists of the Inter-School Shakespeare Drama competition (Girls) revealed

Amidst shouts of glee, the girls semi finals of the 45th Inter-school Shakespeare drama competition drew to an interesting finish today (18). Come next Saturday (29) Museaus College Colombo, Gateway College (Dehiwala), St Bridget’s Convent Colombo and Bishops College Colombo will battle it out for the coveted trophy.

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By Joshua Surendraraj and Tarini Pilapitiya

Amidst shouts of glee, the girl's semi finals of the 45th Inter-school Shakespeare drama competition drew to an interesting finish today (18). Come next Friday (Sept 28) Museaus College Colombo, Gateway College (Dehiwala), St Bridget’s Convent Colombo and Bishops College Colombo will battle it out for the coveted trophy.

After two days of intense competition, the girls put on productions that showcased their understanding of the scripts and dexterity in character interpretation. Stepping into judging panel this year for the semi-finals was Piyal Kariyawasam, Dr.Vivimarie Vaderporten and Jehan Bastians.

The judges were all smiles, despite the two tedious days spent at the Wendt and in fact applauded the girls on their creativity and portrayals of Shakespeare’s sacred work. In fact, Jehan went on to comment that he had actually learned a lot more about Shakespeare during the past few days.

Devi Balika Vidyalaya was the first to take the stage with "Comedy of errors". Seeming to embody the clothes, culture and mannerisms of the 1920's/30's they set the pace of the competition with farcical narration on a multi-functional set.

Although the emotional build-up of the characters was somewhat staggered, the reactions of the leads and ensemble were on pointe! Nevertheless, the girls managed to put on a memorable production and concluded with a picturesque capture of the plot’s thick conundrum with the two perplexed Dromio's frozen still, separated by opposite sides of a thin door.

Meanwhile, the back to back production of ‘Macbeth’ by Good Shepherd Convent (Kotahena) and Rotary International School (Nugegoda) were of a ying-yang contrast. Whilst Good Shepherd Convent (GSC) displayed a more mature understanding of Shakespeare's well-known tragedy, the Rotary International school seemed to fumble along the way.

GSC set off through the strong, consistent use of seductive themes and strong character interpretations by both Lord and Lady Macbeth. The play also packed a punch with the passionate soliloquies and emotive expressions delivered by the lead roles.

The second half of the day took on a stronger turn, with the performances by Museaus College and Gateway College Dehiwala that saw them through to the finals.

Going up first with their rendition of ‘Comedy of Errors’ Gateway were off to a staggered start, but soon found their rhythm up on stage. Some of the highlights of their production were clearly the swift set changes and the execution in terms of the script.

Museaus College, on the other hand, was comparatively slow paced with their rendition of ‘Measure for Measure.’ However, what clearly stood out from their set were the emotive characters, especially that of ‘Claudio’ and ‘the Duke’ which both went on to be nominated for best-supporting actresses.

The second day (18) packed its own punch from the first half itself, as the students of Holy Family Convent took on their own modern rendition of King Lear. Like many schools throughout the day, the play's context was set against a military background, which assisted in capturing the power struggles between Lear and his conniving older daughters.

Breaking the monotony of endless tragedies was the side-splitting production by St Bridget’s Convent. The ladies showed their prowess in "Taming the Shrew" with a strong farcical ensemble cast who proved their dexterity in the art of slapstick comedy as the laughs continued even after the final curtain fell.

St. Lawrence Convent Colombo's take on Macbeth sent a chill up in the air. From the wrought iron cage where the "weird sisters" lay perched in sickeningly still poses to the unwavering gaze of Banquo's ghost. The highlight of this performance was clearly the large ensemble comprising the witches whose hisses and unblinking gazes captivated the audience.  

The second half of Day two also produced the most memorable partnership in Bishops College’s rendition of King Lear. Clearly, the judges seemed to think so too and the shaken King and his Fool were both awarded the best actress and best supporting actress awards, a first for Bishops. The school’s elegant, modern militia twist to the tragedy also saw them sail through to the finals.

As the girl's semifinals drew to a close, the boys now prepare themselves for a spot in the finals. Catch them tomorrow (19) and on Thursday (20) at the Lionel Wendt, from 9.30 am onwards.

Jehan Bastians took to the mic to express his empathy to the palpable excitement that evening on behalf of the three judges of the Girls Semifinals. “Piyal, Vivimarie and I judged this acting competition based on execution” he comments adding that aside from the concept and technicalities of the production the raw acting of the students was critiqued as he adds “Did you tell your story well – It’s that simple?”

However Bastians further expressed his amazement at some of the performances during the two days keenly commenting on the “Creativity, the dexterity in which you moved, the lighting, some of the stage craft”.  He ended his commentary with a smile “I don’t feel like I’ve sacrificed two days I feel like I’ve learnt a lot” adding that in his experiences as a director of shakes in the past “I never took the time to come and sit through the other performances and this has been a mistake I made all these years”.

Nominations for best stagecraft :

G1- Devi Balika Vidyalaya Colombo 8 (Comedy of Errors)

G2- Good Shepherd Convent Kotahena (Macbeth)

G8- Musaeus College Colombo 7 (Measure for Measure)

G16- St Lawrence Convent Colombo 6 (Measure)

G17- Bishop’s College Colombo 3 (King Lear)

Winners - St Lawrence Convent Colombo 6 (Macbeth)

Commenting on the stage craft Jehan said “The school we awarded Stage craft to you used not only lovely stage craft but a lovely concept as well”. On the winning school of the category he further commented “The lighting could have been a tad better and you were using the follow spots a lot, maybe you should have done it in spots?” however justifying the judges finals decision with “We overall loved the concept and the way you used the stage”

Nominations for Best Supporting Actress

G4 - Lyceum International School Gampaha. (The two young fools)

G7 - Gateway College Dehiwala (Dromio of Syracuse)

G8 - Musaeus College Colombo 7 (Claudio)

G8- Musaeus College Colombo 7 (The Duke)

G5 - Visakha Vidyalaya (Lucio)

G13 -St Bridget’s Convent Colombo 7 (Baptista)

G16 - St Lawrence Convent Colombo 6 (The Witches)

G17 - Bishop’s College Colombo 3 (The Fool)

Best Supporting Actress - Joint Winners - Visakha Vidyalaya (Lucio) and Bishop’s College Colombo 3 (fool).

Nominations for Best Actress

G1 Devi Balika Vidyalaya Colombo 8 (Antipholus of Syracuse)

G5 Visakha Vidyalaya (Angelo)

G7 Gateway College Dehiwala (Angelo)

G10- Newstead Girls College Negombo (Macbeth)

G13- St Bridget’s Convent Colombo 7 (Petruchio)

G5- Visakha Vidyalaya (Isabella)

G 13- St Bridget’s Convent Colombo 7 (Katherine)

G17- Bishop’s College Colombo 3 (Lear)

Best actress winner- G17 - Bishop’s College Colombo 3 (Lear)

The cast of Gateway College - Dehiwela perform a scene from 'A Comedy of Errors'

A scene from Macbeth performed by the students of Newstead Girls College Negombo​

Rotary International School took the stage to perform a few scenes from 'Macbeth'

The cast of Regent College Gampaha