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Issue 50 – June 2014 – QUEEN MARGARET CALLING
“We know what we are,
but know not what we may be.”
William Shakespeare
T
wo years ago I decided that instead of directing a piece for
the SheilahWinn Shakespeare festival myself I would mentor
students to direct extracts themselves so that they could
experience the different responsibilities and creativity required in
this role and thus expand their understanding of the many different
facets involved in the making of theatre. This decision was initially
prompted by my teaching International Baccalaureate Diploma (IBD)
Theatre where the students are required to approach theatre from
multi-perspectives and my observation that such experiences really
did expand their understanding of how theatre is made. Directing
pieces for the Shakespeare festival has required the students to take
ownership and responsibility for the standard of their work. One of
the best experiences for a teacher is when students start breaking
the apron strings and begin to take control of their own learning;
watching these girls as they moved through the rehearsal process,
developing their theatrical, organisational and social skills and their
understanding of how to productively channel their creativity has
been highly rewarding.
Denise O’Connell - Head of Drama
Student Director: Lily Dalton
What play (and extract) did you choose and why?
I chose Act 3 Scene 4 of
Henry V
, a piece of vibrant comedic
relief in amongst a very dark and male dominated play. I chose this
piece because of the energy and humour it conveys, despite being
written entirely in French, showing that in theatre there does not
have to be a language barrier. The fact that the scene is in French was
another reason why I was interested in directing it as well, as it is a
language that I enjoy and currently take at school.
How did you make the play your own?
I made this play my own through directing the piece to be a
modern interpretation of the text. In the scene, Princess Katharine
asks her maid Alice to teach her English while she gets her ready.
Therefore, in my interpretation I decided to make Katharine a
child star and Alice her manager and stylist. This meant that both
characters kept their original personalities and purpose in the scene
while adding a modern and relatable twist. My two actors, Maddy
Knowles and Isabel Sheat, also brought a good energy to their roles
which really helped to bring the interpretation to life.
Why did you decide to direct?
I decided to direct preliminarily because directing is something
I really enjoy and this was too good an opportunity to miss out on. It
really is the perfect opportunity to practise and develop both acting
and directing. Additionally, I take IBD Theatre and I knew that
Sheilah Winn would be a big help for the course.
What was the hardest thing about directing?
The single hardest thing would be coming up with fresh new
interpretations and ideas and also creating interesting staging for
the audience to look at through the movement and position of the
actors on stage. For this piece in particular, it was also difficult to
direct with all French dialogue. To make sure the English speaking
audience had some idea what was happening, it was necessary to use
lots of accentuated gestures and purposeful inflection to convey the
meaning of each line. The audience may not have known what they
were saying but we got a few laughs.
Another successful year for Queen Margaret College at the Wellington Sheilah Winn Shake-
speare Festival with two pieces,
Macbeth
and
Much Ado About Nothing
, selected for Nationals.
In addition to this the
Henry V
piece won an award for Best Connection between Two Actors.
All pieces entered by the College were student directed. Below find out why our talented Head
of Drama, Denise O’Connell has stepped back from directing and how the students have found
the experience of taking charge.
