English at Shrewsbury

Twelve Years a Slave (oops, we mean Stage)

Twelve years is (almost) the length of time the school has been open (2003 – 2015) and the time Ms. Wallace and I have been working in the school. She was very young when we first met, and now….*

Our first production was “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, not a particularly ambitious choice as far as school productions go, but we ambitiously chose to stage it in the garden by the river, not realising we’d be in competition with speakers from passing tourist boats, the noise from the construction of the Chatrium building, and the rain, which insisted on arriving mid-performance, even though it was December and the rainy season should have been long gone.

Since then there have been more plays, exhibitions, magazines than we can even count, and more highlights than we could ever mention. They are all now on show, in one way or another, in the exhibition called ‘Twelve Years a Stage’, currently in the space in front of the library: thirteen computers showing past productions, a slide show of the best pictures, from Mark and Art as Oberon and Puck, to Deryn and Grace as Top Girls Marlene and Joyce, and posters from productions going way back, the best designed by Khun Peh.

We chose the photo of Yash, Simon, Ben and Jamie as the title poster (from ‘Master Harold and the Boys’) to show a less-than-glossy behind the scenes view, students tired from rehearsing, wolfing down Mars bars to regain energy.

Twelve years is a long time. In 2003, Vegas was in Year 1(in Ms. Snow’s class), I didn’t wear glasses, and Ms. Wallace spoke in an Irish rather than an American accent.  A great deal of creativity has taken place during that time. Thank you to all those who have taken part in all aspects of extra-curricular English during this time, students and staff.

And thank to those who helped in setting up the exhibition: Khun Pornsawan and his team; Khun Mon and the IT team; Khun Peh; Ms. Proctor, James Mulhern, and all in the English Department. Love you dahlings, love your work!

John Grime and Kathy Wallace

*Two sentences have been omitted here at the insistence of Ms. Wallace

  See The English Department’s work over the past 12 years outside the library.