St. Joseph’s Convent kicks off drama festival

The 2009 LIME Schools’ Drama Festival got off to quite a start with a short play from the St Joseph’s Convent Kingstown Drama group at the Peace Memorial Hall on Tuesday, November 17.{{more}}

The play entitled: “So what!” focused on T-sah Greaves, who played a Secondary School girl named “Precious” who lied repeatedly to her mother and showed no respect for her peers or teachers.

Her mother, played by Janel James, dreamt that Precious was cutting school to hang out with her boyfriend and even get involved in the drug trade. In a drug deal gone bad, two gangsters shot Precious, killing her on the spot.

When she finally awoke up from her slumber, Precious’ mother finally put down her foot and told Precious that she had to stop her unruly ways.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Senior Education Officer Carlton Hall noted that the theatre arts give young people the opportunity to give expressions to things that are happening in society.

He added that the Ministry would be looking closely at the plays of all the participating schools to see what issues are being depicted and come up with solutions for the problems.

This year, 12 schools will partake in the festival, including: Bishop’s College Kingstown, St Vincent Grammar School, Dr JP Eustace Memorial Secondary, Intermediate High School, Thomas Saunders Secondary, Girls’ High School, Adelphi Secondary, Sandy Bay Secondary, Campden Park Secondary, St. Clair Dacon Secondary and St. Martin’s Secondary.

Giving brief remarks, Festival Coordinator Martin Quashie beseeched the students in the audience not to make harsh comments about the young actors since some of them are taking to the stage for the first time. “It is not easy to perform in front of people and this is something that helps to develop speech patterns and confidence,” he added.

Anthony Theobalds, Cultural Officer, and Cicyln Joseph of sponsors LIME also gave brief remarks. The festival will come to an end next Friday, and an awards ceremony is set for December 2.(KW)