production was to be staged in-the-round-a style which proved to be very demanding,especially since it had never been done at Kearsney before. The production also called for a considerable amount of dancing.The cast was quick to show thatboth the challengeofthe dancing and the unu sual style of production were not going to prove a prob lem. Once again Kearsney boys displayed their dramatic talentand theirextreme versatility.Because new techniques had to be learned we gained through "Grease" very valu able knowledge and remarkable experiences. The entire cast of 31 worked extremely hard to produce spectacular performancesfrom Wednesday,15 September, through to Sunday, 19 September. All five performances were sold out and, by request of the public, an additional matinee performance was held on Sunday.The cast really need to be commended for pulling offsix outstanding per formances. Everyone has theirown special memories ofthe show.For me,"Greased Lightning"and the"Night at the Prom" will always stand out,not to mention the girls' pyjama party at "Frenchie's" house! The cast share fond memories of Mr Bantjes' magical warm-up exercises. His unorthodox,but very special style of production,and with Mrs Wallace at his side as co-Director, the best in each of our acting and dancing was really brought out. Our extremely talented Music Director, Mr Judge, succeeded in bringing out the best in our singing in a very fun and special way. These fond memories,together with the memories offellowship and friendships established, are ones we will all cherish. Special thanks must go to Mr Bantjes, Mrs Wallace and Mr Judge for their time, guidance and assistance, and to MrDaniels and his lighting and sound crewsfor their help. Extended thanks go to all the people who helped to make "Grease"a success. And finally,the cast mustbe praised for their commitment and dedication which led to the success ofthe play.All the hard work was definitely worth it in the end. JOHNROUSSOT Grahamstown Festival 1993 Participants: Messrs D.J. Goldhawk and J. McMichael. GeoffAllen,ChrisBatchelor,Stan Contat,Renard Dunster, Clive Eggers, Iain Ewing, Stuart Groom, Stacy Hatzipetrou, Andre Simonsz, David Tayler and Ross Williams. At four o'clock on Monday,12 July, nine of us furtively set offfrom Kearsney.Thejourney to Grahamstown was long and tedious as we were advised to avoid the perilous direct route through the Transkei and travel via Bethle hem,Zastron and Queenstown.The highpoint of the trek was not Jamestown! We reached the Settler Monument just before six in the evening and,after registration,metup with the other mem bers of our contingent who had been holidaying on the Eastern Cape Coast. After depositing our luggage at Jan Smuts House and the Simonsz aunt's cottage, we were able to gobble down a quick supper before flying offto P.J. Olivier High School to drinkin ourfirstdraughtofculture.Thank heavens Group C wasn't scheduled for a three and a half hour perform ance of Antony and Cleopatra after a thirteen and a half hourjourneyfrom Botha's Hill!Whatwedid see wasSusan Pam-Grant's theatre incidental, "Another Kettle offish a very well sustained monologue portraying the trials and tribulations ofan antique and rathergagakugelin aTelkom queue. Tuesday's programme began with the formal openng of the National Schools' Festival,the Orientation Lecture by the altitudinally challenged,but warm and vivacious,Janet Buckland,and the mostentertaining Plenary Lecture-"The Magic Never Ends — Where Does It Start?"-which was delivered by an equally vivacious Shirley Johnston.After tea we sped down to Victoria High School to attend a most entertaining performance by Jeremy Taylor and a young satirist, entitled "...Dragged Kicking & Singing into the New South Africa". Afterlunch,it was offto ourfirst workshop.Unfortunately I wasn'tthere to witness Anastasios Hatzipetrou unlearning the Zorba Dance in favour of African Dance, but I must say the dance squad seemed pretty exhausted after that!In the late aftemoon we watchedCAPAB's"Antony and Cleo patra" at the Rhodes Theatre- with a powerful portrayal ofAntony by Andrew Buckland. After that excellent per formance, the evening fare was an anti-climax-a politi cally correct but laboured and rather pretentious musical production entitled "ComingHome".Wecertainly wished they would Go Back! That evening Chris Batchelor continued showing the rest of the crew how to spade with the Westville chicks and, judgingfrom the inanimate objects which greeted the staff at breakfast on Wednesday,the partying wenton well into the early hoursofthe morning!Luckily,ourchoice oftheme lecture for the first session that morning was over-subscribed and we were turned away. While Mr McMichael and I conscientiously saw to the purchase ofa new tyrefor Minibus No.1,our wayward wardsengaged in along bout ofEgyptian P.T. or scurried offto the nearest pharmacy in search ofRescue! Later that morning we all attended the second theme lec ture which was entitled "Sex in the Movies:A BriefLook atSexuality andPornography in Modern Film presented by an ex-headmaster nogal! The general consensus was that his lecturing technique was rather stilted and that the video extracts left much to be desire.(How's that for am biguity!) After our second workshop and lunch, we moseyed down to Rhodes Theatre for a poetry collage entitled "Beyond the Beat" which was entertaining, well presented andjust long enough in duration.Wethen sped offto Victoria High School- sped because we didn't want to encounter the wrath ofthe fearsome amazon who policed the shows,eu phemistically nicknamed Rottweiler by Mr McMichael! There we were treated to "Theatre Sports", light-hearted games which everyone enjoyed. Thatevening we were all spellbound by Andrew Buckland and Lionel Newtonin their enthralling production,"Blood stream",in which Dimitre,the lasttree on earth,wasthreat ened by a human.The tree was given one last chance to save himself: he had to travel through the man's body,lo34
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