If you were not able to attend Union Preparatory School, Graaff-Reinet‘s production last week, you missed something rather special.
Over three evening performances (and a very sweet morning show just for the grandparents), our Grade 1 to 4 learners took on ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ช๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ด๐ฌ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ and, quite frankly, made it their own.
One minute you were watching the ever-composed Phileas Fogg, the next you were being whisked onto a train, into a courtroom, across oceans and straight into colourful scenes filled with dancers, beach crowds and the occasional wonderfully serious detective on a mission.
๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ค ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐บ – ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ, ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐จ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ด๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ฑ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ.
There was something particularly delightful about seeing such young performers carry a story this big.
From Passepartoutโs loyal enthusiasm to Detective Fixโs determined pursuit and even the smaller ensemble roles – the judges, the policemen, the beach girls – ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐บ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐น ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐น.
Of course, what looks effortless on stage rarely is.
Behind the scenes, a great deal of care (๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ) brought it all together. Mrs Katie Kotzeโs steady hand in writing and directing the production shone through, supported so beautifully by Mrs Kelly Westraad and Miss J Birch. From the backdrop to the finer details, everything carried that thoughtful, cohesive feel.
๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐พ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐น๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป – the school’s support staff who did all the heavy lifting and setup, the parents who somehow transformed children into world travellers with the most wonderful outfits and the teachers who coached, encouraged and kept everything ticking along.
Even the backstage assistants played their part in keeping the wheels turning – and judging by how smoothly things ran, they earned every bit of that credit.
In the end, it wasnโt just a play – it was one of those warm, community-filled evenings where youโre reminded how much heart goes into a school like Union. A little bit of theatre, a lot of teamwork and a whole lot of young talent finding its feet on stage.
๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ต๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐๐น๐ – ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐น๐.
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