Arts
SBC wins Interschool Drama Comp
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St. Bridget’s Convent (SBC) won the Interschool Drama Competition on February 20 organised by the Council for Business with Britain (CBB) in collaboration with the British Council. SBC also carried away the Best Director’s award for their production of ‘Booby Trap’ by Ed Monk. The play was directed by Malinthi Perera.
‘Booby Trap’ is about an American soldier (Pete Galen), who leans against a tree trunk with a mine wedged behind it and realises that if he moves the mine will detonate and he will die. As he sits through these last minutes of his life, flashbacks and visions of the future cross his mind – the play examines these scenes.
The play left the audience in tears – no mean feat. St. Bridget’s was the only girls’ school in the finals, all the other finalists being International Schools which had mixed casts.
Saleemah Mohideen, who played the role of Pete Galen, was commended for her portrayal of the doomed soldier. She feels that the most difficult part of the play was for her to switch emotions from scene to scene all in a matter of seconds while still onstage. The message of the play is that the real heroes are not artists, athletes or actors but soldiers who selflessly sacrifice their lives to protect their country, she feels. Amasha Fernando, who played the role of ‘Lieutenant’ feels that the play took the audience on a roller coaster ride of emotions and fitted the school’s all-girl cast very well. Taheeni Soza, who was cast as ‘Professor Drummond’ feels that the play was sucessful because of the contribution and talent of a great number of people. The students felt that the support they had from their teacher in charge, Malinthi Perera contributed immensely to their victory. Ms Perera had the support of former Bridgetines with this production.