What a great day. Today we travelled all the way to Mullingar, County Westmeath (not Meath, you have to get it right!). The bus journey went by very quickly as we had a great time playing "eye spy" and listening to music. After an hour we arrived in the vibrant and bustling Mullingar (slight exaggeration). My class were not competing in the competition but the other 4 groups that were looked so nervous as we got off the bus. They were constantly glancing at the script and reciting lines to themselves.
When we went into the large auditorium they seemed intimidated as it was much larger than practising in a classroom which they were used to. Soon the competition got underway, as Midterm Break by Seamus Heaney went first. I thought they carried the emotions very effectively as yet it seemed more quiet and unspoken than the others it still had a sad and poignant message behind it.
Next was a play about girls and relationships and how they can have sad and brutal endings. This play was very realistic and blunt due to the great acting skills. And the issues dealt with are realistic. Next was Concrete Angel, a play based on a song. This I thought was a great idea and it made me very sad to see what some children have to deal with. The acting skills in this play were great too, with effective pauses and great projection of voice. The final play was Tich Miller, also based on a poem. The tragic ending was not quite as dramatic or load as the other plays but more effective in my opinion as the emotions you feel are up to the viewer.
Altogether I was very impressed with all the plays and I thought they were up to a very high standard. The only negative comment would be that at times it was difficult to understand what was being said but that is only minor. I am very proud to say that these plays are from my school and really enjoyed watching them. However emotional and sad they are.
After watching our schools plays we went to Mac. Donald's for a cheese burger and chips. By then I was starving so this really hit the spot! However calorie packed it was. After this we went back to the theatre just in time to see a scene from Playboy of the Western World. I thought this was brilliant. Although some actors did stand out to be more impressive than others compared to in our school the talent was more rounded (not being biased or anything!).
After this we went back on the bus to go home.We were definitely less energetic on the way back as all the watching had us tired out! By the time we got home there was a bit of a shock. Did we have to go back to class? No! The thought of going in to french seemed unbearable (that's what Transition Year does to you!). Luckily it wasn't so, we waited for the final bell to go and went home. Now that I look back on the day I see how fun it was. Thanks to our great actresses and English teachers! :)