Page 28 - Herioter 2021

Drama prelims: where Senior School

performance and house captains

‘meditation’ meet 2020/21
announced

When you get the rare opportunity to spend a full extends beyond the classroom. It’s a subject
day out of class with your friends and classmates, where I get to show that passion, rather than
one is obliged to take full advantage. However, focus on the grade I might get from it. And so
it’s even better when you get to spend the day once the day was over, and all was said and done,
showing each other the drama performances I wasn’t worried about how well or how badly I
that you’ve planned, created and rehearsed had scored. Instead, I took time to appreciate
yourselves. the experiences and memories I had gained from
There is something special about the the day.
atmosphere created: no judgement, but plenty
of excitement, energy and support. Sitting a Kuzamium Dangata (S4)
‘prelim’ in the new Covid-19 era of the SQA tends
to be about as arduous as Tuesday night hockey
fitness at Peffermill, but for drama this was not the
case. In fact, the day didn’t feel like I was being Aryan Puri and Abigail Scott-Fleming, Greyfriars
examined at all. To me, I was simply spending the house captains
day with my friends watching them perform and
performing to them.
A few weeks later, we would also be sitting
a written drama exam that would actually feel
like an exam. One thing I always love about
performance days like this is the lead up to
actually performing, and the buzz that it creates.
There is always a blur of nerves, anticipation,
dread and fear, but once you’re on the stage,
standing under the lights and before a silent
audience, all you can do is perform. It’s like a
form of meditation. When you perform a drama
where you and your peers have conceived the
plot, and developed characters, scenes and lines, Fergus Broomfield and Rebecca Paul, Raeburn
rather than one where you have learnt all these house captains
things off a script, you learn to push any fears and
doubts out of your head. Thoughts like ‘what if
my friends or teachers think it’s boring?’, or ‘what
if I miss one of my lines and mess up a scene?’,
only hamper your ability to show off your skills.
Few of us would say that our performances
were perfect, however once the day was over, we
could all take pride in the fact that we had truly
given it our all. For me, drama is a passion that

Kay Dangata and Melissa Black,
Castle house captains

David Murray and Annabelle Osborne,
Lauriston house captains

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