Creative Secondary School Drama students recently participated in the ISTA Middle School/High School Theatre Festival at the French International School. The festival brought together students from international schools across Hong Kong to collaborate with professional theatre artists and devise a performance exploring the theme of finding peace in a chaotic world.
To kick off their exploration and gain inspiration, students visited Chi Lin Monastery, an oasis of calmness in the middle of the concrete jungle. Over the course of the festival, they worked closely with experienced theatre professionals to explore what peace means to students and to develop and refine their performance, culminating in a final showcase on March 26th for family and friends.
Below are three students Form 3 students who would like to share their experiences at the Festival
Mairead He, Form 3 Jacaranda
At first, I wasn't sure what to expect, but it turned out the Festival was to be three days of non-stop fun. We explored improvisation skills and unique techniques for storytelling without words, all while emphasising the dynamic interplay between individuals and groups. From the Falling Angel to call-and-response exercises using different sounds, we learned how to work together as a team and create incredible soundscapes. And the best part? Meeting new friends from other schools! I bonded with two girls from FIS and watched as people gradually became closer over time. I would highly recommend joining an ISTA Festival next year as you will learn new drama techniques, reinforce prior knowledge, and make friends outside of your usual social circles.
Freya Chinthu, Form 3 Bombax
I really enjoyed the ISTA festival since we were able to meet lots of new people and enhance our drama skills. We even learned some new drama skills that I can use in my future drama classes, such as improvisation, acrobatics, verbatim, physical theater, and more. Our drama instructor made us do different warm-ups each day during the 3-day program to help us understand what we would be doing. Over the past two days, we were introduced to many new things and managed to develop our performance for the presentation within two hours. The instructor ensured that we worked with people from other schools so that we could communicate with each other as a group and make new friends. The ISTA festival helped me get out of my comfort zone and boosted my extroverted side. Our instructor guided us well by ensuring that we were synchronised. I highly recommend that students who love drama or want to make new friends join the ISTA festival next year. This festival was fun and definitely worth attending again.
Faith IP, Form 3 Bombax
The ISTA High School Middle School Festival involved putting together a drama play with three other schools over three days. The event was a great success where we were able to meet new friends from schools across Hong Kong and put on a performance for our families and friends. We also gained new experience in creating theatre and have learnt new skills we can take back to the classroom for our own work in Drama.
Overall, the ISTA Middle School/High School Theatre Festival provided an incredible opportunity for Creative Secondary School Drama students to collaborate with their peers and industry professionals to create an inspiring performance. The Drama Department hopes to take students to more festivals like this in the future.