CELEBRATING THE BARD AGAIN

We are so excited to be back at Westlake Primary working with a group of Grade 6 and 7 learners again.  Some familiar faces from last year who enjoyed their first experience of a “real  theatre” when we took Romeo and Juliet to the Baxter.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

Our third production for the Shakespeare Schools Festival with our Westlake drama group is something quite different.  We are presenting Jacques’ speech – the Seven Ages of Man – from As You Like It and like our past productions are making it accessible, colourful, relatable,  and local.

WHAT WE LEARN IN DRAMA CLASS WE TAKE TO THE STAGE

We include various snippets of Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets to depict the ages and use clever set pieces and simple props to describe those ages.  We sing, we dance, we narrate, we mime, we act, we love and we enjoy.   As WE like it.

We perform at the Star Theatre – Homecoming Centre, District Six, Cape Town city centre at the end of May.  Watch this space for updates.

Certificate Party

Westlake Primary is a forward-thinking, energetic and committed school in the heart of the Westlake community.   We are so blessed to have worked with the school and the Labia Foundation since 2019,  with a Covid-19 break in 2020.

We celebrated the achievement of our 2022 drama kids with the awarding of their certificates on Wednesday 9th November and as in past years, the afternoon was an exciting and fond reunion.

The group  delighted in quoting their favourite lines from Romeo and Juliet, our production for  SSF 2022.  Those who are returning next year in Grade 7 are looking forward to being part of our group again.  We are just as excited and we will also be taking some new learners on the journey with us.

Photos Taken by A Gorman Photography Say it All

Mia Rogers of the Labia Foundation with Tracey Petersen, Principal of Westlake Primary hand over the Certificate to Lukhanyo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Best Fun in Town!

A group of energetic and very “young at heart” seniors joined us for a 60-minute session of short, lively and varied activities.   Everyone had a chance to find their creativity by expressing themselves  through words, mime, and body language.   Together, we teased our imaginations, played with voice and character and discovered just how energizing and self-affirming a series of simple acting games can be.

This is a wonderful activity for those who love words, theatre, self-expression, and a bit of something different…….oh, and lots of laughter.

Enjoyable Moments

 

WE DID IT!

Bigger, bolder, brighter is the way to describe the production of Romeo and Juliet  that our Westlake Primary School drama kids presented at the Shakespeare Schools Festival.

With generous sponsorship from the Fondazione Labia (third year), we were able to take 15 learners through an intense programme of auditions, casting, acting games and  exercises.  Teaching story telling techniques, voice production and dance we brought a contemporary, re-worked tale of the star-crossed lovers.

The cherry on the top was the performance on August 10th at the Baxter Theatre.  We went from a large school hall onto a  real stage.  There was a lot of  excitement in the dressing rooms,  joyful wonder at the effect of added  lighting and sound, and the joy of  performing for an audience.

Bring on 2023

All images of the show A Gorman Photography    For more images visit our Facebook Page.

 

Diego Cornelius joined our Drama Kids Extramural Programme in 2019.  With the support of the Fondazione Labia,  Circle Productions has run a part time programme at the Westlake Primary School with Grade 6 and 7 learners.

In 2021, six of our kids auditioned for the Waterfront Theatre School’s Junior Programme (Recreational).  All six were accepted and they were generously sponsored by the Fondazione Labia and the Waterfront Theatre School.   They finish in 2022.   Diego’s is just one of many wonderful  journeys that were kickstarted in 2019.

Big Thanks to Fondazione Labia,  Westlake Primary, Shakespeare Schools Festival and the Waterfront Theatre School.

DIEGO’S JOURNEY IN PICTURES

• Diego at Casa Labia 2019
• Diego – Comedy through Mime – 2019 Westlake Primary Showcase
• Westlake Drama Kids with Coleen and Celia 2019
• Shakespeare Schools Festival 2021 – Julius Caesar
• The Waterfront Theatre School Auditions 2021 – Diego has shot up!
• Waterfront Theatre School in class 2022 – Diego in red blazer

Photo Credit:  A Gorman Photography

 

 

 

HSFA (Helderberg Society for the Aged) celebrated Drama for the month  of March.    We ran a series of  fun-filled workshops for their seniors – seven in total at different facilities run by them.

What a  great time we had together!  Groups of enthusiastic and talented seniors, from frail care to  independent living, took part. With our flexible programme,  everyone had a chance to shine.   We were blown away by their willingness to play. 

Our actors exchanged rude and sometime  bawdy Shakespearean insults,  read poetry, explored character through games, and played parts in hats. They kicked their inhibitions out the door and let their natural actors enter!

 

What a time we had together on the 16th of Feb at the Douglas Murray home for Seniors in Retreat, Cape Town.  We introduced a group of enthusiastic participants to some fun acting games and warm ups and then performed a poem to the rest of the residents using voice, mime and sound effects.   Our actors who started  out shy and uncertain, ended up confident and shining!

Our programme proved that any age can experience the joy of acting and performance and that letting our inner children come out to play is a liberating activity for body, mind and soul.

 

The programme is tailormade for Seniors who are living independently in a seniors home  or in  a frail care facility.

 

The Journey

Our production of Julius Caesar for the Shakespeare Schools Festival in April 2021,  was a huge success.  Our whole group of Westlake Primary School Drama kids learnt so much on our programme and during their preparation for the Festival.  Their live performance on the Artscape Stage was a definite highlight. They grew in confidence and skill.  We wanted to give at least some of the group an opportunity to grow even more.

We were excited to meet with Delia Sainsbury, owner and principal of the Waterfront Theatre School, together with Azola Mkosane, representing the Fondazione Labia to see if some  of our learners could join the Waterfront Theatre School Junior Programme, 2022.

With their aim to develop and nourish the talents of young South Africans, it made sense to the directors of the Fondazione Labia, Antonia Labia-Sale and Natale Labia to further encourage growth and they agreed to sponsor some of our  talented learners.

Six learners were chosen to audition for a maximum of three places and we helped our Westlake drama kids choose and prepare their audition material for 15 January 2022.

The Future is Now

The rest is history but very much the future.  The Waterfront Theatre School was so impressed with the six Westlake children that all six have been offered places.  The Waterfront Theatre School will sponsor three and the Fondazione Labia the other three,  plus the  transport and refreshments for all six.

Diego, Faith, Okuhle, Anda, Shaqheen and Anathi   are doing drama, musical theatre, street dance and modern.

In mid February 2022, they will  embark on a life-changing journey that they will remember for the rest of their lives.

Watch this space!

 

We have had an amazing time with 19 learners from the Westlake Primary School. We all enjoyed an intense 5 month enrichment through drama programme earlier this year.

Fondazione Labia  has been great supporter of our programme and loved what we were able to achieve with the learners at the Shakespeare Schools Festival 2021.

On Thursday, 28 October, the children were excited to receive their Certificates.  We celebrated the excellence they showed both for learning new skills and for their performances on stage.

Our drama programme is a winner and we will be sharing this with a new group in 2022.

PERFECT DAY – pictures from a dark room

Coleen, directed by Celia, brings her one woman show to the stage for the month of July 2021.

Much excitement to be back in a theatre, even though we did not play to an audience, just a group of friendly technicians and camera peeps.

Coleen tells a story of an imperfect life – the good, the bad, the funny.  Yes, her own life where

“Our family’s dysfunction on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the least and 10, the most, goes from a modest 3 to a hefty 8 and back to a promising 6. Depending largely on who’s holding the talking stick of course.”

There are stories to be told and we were thrilled to put a theatre piece back on the boards.