It's Showtime!

Every year the Helen O’ Grady productions take the shape of interesting, quirky stories with fun plots, unexpected plot twists and delightful characters. 

This year will be no different.

The Lower Primary classes take to the stage with their rendition of The Grasshopper and the Ants. The story follows a lazy Grasshopper who just wants to play and can’t be bothered to help the ants collect food for the winter. He would like to share with them though and has to use all his powers of persuasion to convince them he deserves their charity!

The Upper Primary group will provide a laugh-a-minute show as they present Fancy That. The scene is set at Gloria Van De Bergen’s fancy dress ball – the party of the year! There are some fantastic costumes; everyone has made a huge effort – especially the ‘revolting Robinsons’ from down the street who, apparently, have gate crashed the party dressed as aliens. But it all ends in tears…. Or does it…

The Youth Theatre students have their work cut out as the Durbanville and Kuils River group perform The Legend of Tim Sandy. The audience is taken on a journey starting at the beach where the Muscle Mob arrive to throw their weight about. Tim Sandy loses his girlfriend Dolores as he feels he is not worthy of her. Will Tim win Dolores back or has someone else already set his eyes on her… 

Meanwhile, the Bellville and Paarl groups will perform The Unmasking of Macbeth. The three witches promise Macbeth that he'll be King of Scotland and be invincible. Spurred on by his power-hungry wife, Lady Macbeth, he ruthlessly kills all those around him who might end up taking away his claim to the title. But the journey is filled with strife. This version of Shakespeare's Macbeth requires students to wear black costumes and white masks. Using masks allows students to play different parts in each scene.

The students are ready for the showpiece. Are you?!

Production Term Is Here!

Term Four started with a flourish as teachers and students hit the ground running preparing for a whirlwind term. This is of course all because Term four is Production Term!

Every year ends in spectacular fashion where all classes take to the stage and present a scripted production they’ve worked towards. This is a time where students showcase the performance skills they’ve learnt throughout their time with Helen O’ Grady. The plays are fabulous in showing off the students’ strengths while giving each individual time to shine as well as dazzle together as a cast.

A real theatre, a real stage, costume, sound, lighting and an audience that’s lined up and paid to see them!

All of the excitement culminates on the following days:

Durbanville and Bellville Studios, Rainbow Montessori, De Tyger Primary and Bellville Christian Academy take centerstage on Saturday 19 November at the Collective Arts Theatre in Bellville.

The Old Mill Theatre hosts the Paarl studio group on Tuesday 22^nd of November.

And we return to the Collective Arts Theatre on Saturday 26 November to be entertained by the Kenridge, Stellenbosch and Kuils River Studios along with Hebron Christian Academy.

Keep your eyes glued to our Facebook page for ongoing updates and further details around these unmissable productions.

A little Hebron in our Hearts

It’s amazing how teaching children can pull on every heart string. And not because we’re being dramatic, us, never. We simply cannot walk away from a class without leaving a bit of ourselves behind.

The principal of Helen O’ Grady Northern Suburbs and Winelands also teaches. Every Thursday afternoon for the last few years sees Mari drive through the gates of Hebron Christian Academy where she is met with enthusiastic, energetic, animated and lively students ready to end their school day on a dramatic high.

Despite the class growing in numbers each term and each year Mari has kept the class personal and each interaction special backed up by world-renowned teaching methods and a stellar curriculum. 

We believe the relationship between Helen O’ Grady and Hebron Christian School will continue to grow from strength to strength.

Proper Preparation with Props

Prop Snippets are great tools for students to learn and experience engaging not only with other students but also with objects.

The Prop Snippets are designed and executed in a way that allows students to think broadly and creatively and link an inanimate object to a piece of drama.

It’s been received with great enthusiasm in both Lower and Upper Primary level classes.

Students in the Upper Primary group at Bellville Christian Academy perform with one of the easier prop challenges: A book

This also makes for great preparation for the end of year productions where students are exposed to real theater practices using costumes and props during their performances.

We’re so thrilled to be able to give to our students the preparation they need to extend their on stage careers beyond our classes.

RING RING!!!

A great addition to our curriculum this term is our telephone snippets.

These short activities focus on students’ vocal delivery. As the short play is performed as if conducting a telephone conversation it is crucial for students to put to practice all the elements taught during speech. Without being able to rely on facial expressions and gestures the voice is tested to new extents.

With a range of fun and interesting scenarios students get to play around with improv and ad-lib as this remains a key element in all our activities. The snippets deal with simple, everyday situations and give students some skills in dealing with these real-life scenarios.

 

De Tyger UP students dialing in on the action

They also practising opening, building and closing a narrative.

What a fun way to bring the lesson to a close.

Growth and Gold at the end of the Rainbow

The students at Rainbow Montessori School in Durbanville are a true testament to the benefits of the Helen O’ Grady Drama programme.

Students were first introduced to the curriculum during demonstration classes in March 2015, soon after which they enrolled in their numbers. The programme was well received and what started as one class was quickly split into two.

One year later and the classes have expanded to include a Kindy age group as well!

This is all due to the exciting, interactive, confidence building activities included in each lesson.

Every week students get to explore characters they rarely have the opportunity to imagine. They get to go on adventures few have the courage to dream of. And every week they watch and observe as class mates soar, finding new ways to express themselves, work together and deliver stellar presentations.

And all of this in the comfort of their own school.

Whether the difference and growth can be seen in the student numbers or performance or even the behaviour of students we count ourselves privileged to be part of each and every child’s development journey.

We look forward to many more years at Rainbow Montessori.

Who knows, we could be at your school too!

Switch Drama On!

In this world taken over by technology and gadgets one might wonder why we bother with developing the creativity, confidence and communication skills of our children.

Some may even say face to face interaction is “dying out” and think a worse fate awaits theater.

At Helen O’ Grady we do our best to stay relevant, “with it” and connected to the times. That said, we believe our principles and core values are timeless.

Connection, stories, expression are things people long for. A wise man said, “No man is an island”. We may be able to survive on our own but boy what a boring time that’ll be.

Imagination and dreams are what drives us. Having something to strive for and reach for helps us get through our every day.

Reflections shape us and teach us.

Without these things, where would we be? Who would we be?

Well, all of these things are brought to you by DRAMA. Drama gives students the space to play, explore, discover, reflect and express. Drama is a gift and a safe place to go to grow.

Drama: the best invention yet ;)

Drama Day Is Our Favourite Day!

The students at Bellville Christian Academy have for years looked forward to Monday afternoons.

Every Monday the centre auditorium comes alive with vibrant drama activities that teach the students invaluable lessons in communication, encourages creativity and builds their confidence.

The Upper Primary Group at BCA full of dramatic expressions

The students in this class have through the years shown tremendous growth, increased vibrancy and a keen knack for drama the Helen O’ Grady way.

When new students join they are quickly welcomed and made comfortable. They soon learn the drama activities in class are not only leading them to become great performers on stage but also good people off stage.

Helen O’ Grady Drama comes to Bellville Christian Academy every Monday at 2pm.