Spotlight drama competition: A ONE-OF-A-KIND FIESTA

Sun, 05/17/2009 1:37 PM  |  Discover

The usually relaxed weekend atmosphere at Petra Christian University (PCU), Surabaya, was interrupted on April 25-26 by the presence of 207 adrenaline-pumped high-school students from 16 schools across Java.

Totaling 21 groups, these high-spirited teenagers were eager to parade their talents in the Spotlight Drama Competition 2009, the first ever drama competition in English held by the Petra Little Theatre (PLT) and PCU's English Department.

The competition was meant to encourage high school students to express themselves through art performances as well as to encourage English proficiency education through theatre.

In doing so, each competing group was provided with a 10-minute script - entitled The Party's Over by Kristen Dabrowski - when they registered, so they would have approximately two months to rehearse their act.

Then, everything came down to this two-day competition. All the hard labor of countless rehearsals and drills for preparation had to be staged as impeccably as possible in front of an audience of 50 and three judges, in a small theatre studio located on the second floor of the English department's building.

Many groups showed worth-applauding efforts and unique creativity in interpreting this youth-themed play. Some displayed interesting sets and costumes although others took the liberty to venture quite far from the representational theatre stream - a stream applied for this competition. Nevertheless, for a first-time contest, everything that happened on stage surpassed expectations.

The board of judges consisting of Dr. Ribut Basuki, M.A., Meilinda, S.S. M.A. and Stefanny Irawan, S.S. had to make a tough decision as to who the winners would be.

Having considered all the acting, artistic and directing elements of each performance, Dempo group from St. Albertus Catholic High School Malang was named the winner, with Kosayu from Kolose St. Yusuf Catholic High School Malang and Clique from Petra 2 Christian High School Surabaya as runner-ups.

Meanwhile, Cita Hati high school's Emmanuel Divinagracia and Carolina Brennan managed to secure the titles of Best Actor and Actress.

As the jubilant closing ceremony ended and pieces of confetti were cleared up from the venue, a sense of optimism toward the upcoming Spotlight Drama Competition 2011 ignited the air.

Stefanny Irawan is a published prose writer who is also an adjunct lecturer at the English Department, Petra Christian University. She can be reached at st_quill@yahoo.com.

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