12th and 13th T’n’P Night

The Text and Performance Evening of November 30th should have come with a couple of warnings:

For the 12th graders – “Warning – Shakespeare will be butchered”
For the 13th graders – “Warning – Enormous breasts”

But in all seriousness, I’ve been to many theatre evenings at Chat, and this one deserves a special mention. IT WAS INCREDIBLY HILARIOUS!! The 12th graders were brilliant, holding true to the words: “Shakespeare like you’ve never seen before!” They faced a tough challenge when they decided to perform a complicated 16th century play in a way that we could all understand and they did a remarkable job. I challenge anyone to find a more innovative and creative way to summarize the conflict between Desdemona & Othello than their succinct Jerry Springer scene, or to find a more tear-jerking song to show us the love between the two. By drawing on contemporary inspiration, the 12th graders turned Othello into something we could all enjoy and laugh at. Teachers, parents and students couldn’t stop laughing throughout the performance. And the TnP crew didn’t stop there. They pushed the envelope in every possible aspect, likening the scene where Othello is imbued by his enemies to a comic That 70’s Show scene, with their comparison of some of the most important facts and truths of life to a nine iron golf club. They did it pretty damn well too.

The 13th graders deserve no less praise. It’s hard to decide where to begin, they were all terrific. Honestly, you readers should get as many autographs as you can, because judging from their performance at the evening; quite a few of them definitely have talent for the big screen. Who knows? In a couple of year’s time the next James Bond could be Matt Tembo, and the Bond girl could easily be played by either Maxime Bouchard or Arnau Muntaner! ALL of the 13th grade’s Transformations – their IB performances – were amazing, but their final piece, Shakespeare’s Love’s Labors Lost was the crème de la crème. You really got the impression they put their heart into it. Who’d have thought that an absolutely hilarious scene involving M Duchene & Mme Bouvier clamouring over rioting students could have been infused into this play? ALL of their performances were top-notch, but I think the guys (who played the girls) deserve a special mention – from Arnau’s (disturbingly) perfect portrayal of a stereotypical slut to Maxime’s insanely funny acting to Yaniv’s crazy character – armed with jugs that could knock out a rhino at twenty paces. That woman could accomplish anything.

I think that most people agree with me when I say: “WE WANT MORE!”
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