GHS Drama Club to attend biennial Caribbean Drama Festival this year

For a number of years, the St Vincent Girls’ High School has been making its mark in the Performing Arts in St Vincent and the Grenadines. In the 1990s, under the directorship of David “Darkie” Williams, the school performed Trevor Rhone’s ‘Smile Orange,’ which was said to be a creative work of art. In the last decade, Grace Peters-Clarke took the school’s club to the Secondary Schools’ Drama Festival on several occasions, where they won a number of awards, such as: Best Make-up; Best Costume; Best Director and Best Stage Management.

With the emergence of the CSEC Theatre Arts programme in the schools’ curriculum, the school became dominant in the performing arts, as the co-curriculum and the academic curriculum became one. Sadly, Grace Peters-Clarke migrated in 2012 and the school was without a Theatre Arts programme for one year.

In 2013, Jillian Llewellyn began her tutelage and directorship of the CSEC Theatre Arts programme and the school’s Drama Club. In that same year, the GHS Drama Club entered the Facey Trading Secondary Schools Drama Festival with the play ‘The Ritual,’ written by Zeno Obi Constance. The play was a success, as the school won the festival and captured the awards for: Best Stage Manage­ment; Best Actress; Best Supporting Actress; and Best Director. The Club was also nominated for Best Costume Design and Best Set.

In 2014, for the second consecutive year, the school won the Facey Trading Secondary Schools Drama Festival. The Drama Club performed the play ‘My Father’s Child,’ written by Zeno Obi Constance, capturing the awards for Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best Director. The Club was also nominated for Best Costume and Best Set Design.

In the following year, 2015, the school’s Club was first runner-up in the festival, with the play ‘Duelling Voices,’ written by Zeno Obi Constance. The school captured the award for Best Director and was nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress.

The year 2016 was a fantastic year for the Drama Club. The Drama Club won the festival yet again, with a stellar performance of ‘The Cinderella Syndrome,’ written by Zeno Obi Constance. The play captured the awards for: Best Director; Best Stage Management; Best Set; Best Actress; Best Supporting Actress; Best Production in the Semi-Finals and Dramatist of the Festival. The Club was also nominated for Best Costume and Best Make-up.

As a result of these endeavours, the GHS Drama Club is now eligible to attend the biennial Caribbean Drama Festival, which will be held in Antigua and Barbuda from November 26 to December 2, 2017. The team comprises a cast of 14, a crew of eight and two teacher chaperones.

The girls are prepared and eager to compete and represent SVG. In an effort to fund this venture, the St Vincent Girls’ High School Drama Club is pleased to invite you to its concert: “If It’s Magic, It’s GHS,” to be held at the Peace Memorial Hall on April 8 and 9, 2017 at 7 p.m. and 6 p.m. respectively.