Une journée fantastique.
I think that about sums up last Thursday's Fête du Théâtre here at TGS. Before describing the events of the day I would like to thank the Institut Français for organising such an event which proved to over two hundred pupils from all over the north east of Scotland that French does not simply have to remain in the classroom. Throughout the whole day children from P3 to S5 enjoyed showing off their French speaking skills and had enormous fun doing it. They were all a credit to their schools but most of all they can be extremely proud of their own achievements.
I would also like to thank Valérie Drake, attachée de coopération pour le français at the Institut Français d'Ecosse, Anne Moncur, Modern Language Development Officer and Professor John Dunkley from the School of Language and Literature at the University of Aberdeen for their excellent work in judging all the acts. A word of thanks should also go to Mr Swan and the Senior Management Team of The Gordon Schools and Brian Prosser, PT of Modern Languages for allowing the event to go ahead despite the various disruptions encountered.
Now to the day itself. Despite a short delay in getting started I realised that the day would be something special when a troop of soldiers from Macduff Primary marched into the hall, followed by exotic looking Aberchirder Primary who were accompanied by a magnificent giraffe no less.
First up were Macduff Primary with a short song followed by a hilarious sketch set in a Parisian café. Next were Aberchirder who took us from the sandy wastes of the Sudan to the boulevards of Paris in a play entitled "La Giraffe", written especially for the occasion by Aberchirder's visiting French specialist Mme de Rusett. Continuing with an animal theme came the first of 3 groups from Walker Road Primary School. Their P3 group charmed us with two songs "Un crocodile" and "C’est les chats". The fourth act on stage came all the way from Portlethen Primary School who regaled us with the tale of "Boucle d'Or at les Trois Ours." The fifth and sixth acts came once again from Walker Road. (It was a logistical masterwork bringing over 100 primary pupils from Aberdeen all the way to Huntly.) The P6's sang two songs "Pas un Chat" and the well known "Le Lion est mort ce soir" which had everyone in the hall "wimoweh-ing" along with the song. The last programmed act was the P4's from Walker Road with a humorous account of "Le Cochon est dans la Marre". All was not yet finished however as the stage was then invaded by the massed ranks of all the pupils from Walker Road who treated us to a wonderful choral finale.
After lunch the hosts reopened proceedings. S2 pupils from TGS presented a play entitled "L'araignée et la famine" which was adapted (by my own hand I hasten to add) from a traditional African folk tale. Next into the limelight were Banchory Academy with a play which recounted the trials and tribulations of life as a Werewolf. The junior group from Turriff Academy entered the stage next with their take on the popular tales of Astérix, "Astérix en Ecosse". The final act was a senior group from Turriff Academy. (They had so enjoyed taking part last year that they desperately wanted to do so again and it was only at the last minute that they were able to make it.) They charmed us however with a wonderful piece of musical theatre complete with songs and complex choreography.
It is very difficult to convey in writing the breadth and depth of talent on show at this event. Huge amounts of works went into the preparation of each of these performances, most of it in either lunchtimes or after school. All the performers and their teachers deserve credit for their work. In the end, though, decisions had to be made. The jury was not there simply to enjoy themselves. I'm sure it was an extremely difficult task to decide on overall winners in the competition but the jury performed their task with great aplomb. In the Primary section Walker Road P4's were this years champions whilst Turriff Academy's "Astérix en Ecosse" came away with the secondary prize. Sincerely and honestly though congratulations must go out to every single performer because you were all stars. If they don't all deserve Student of the Month awards in their respective schools then who does?
I think a quote from one of the secondary participants sums up how all language teachers would dearly love to see their subject. On being asked about the amount of time spent preparing for the play in class a student asked, "Aye, but when are we gonna be doing some French?"
The one thing I personally regret from the day is that my technology let me down in the morning and all the recordings I made of the Primary acts somehow became corrupted on my MP3 player. I did however manage to record the secondary acts. I am now in process of teaching myself how to make a podcast of the event. Once I have finished I will post it to this site and hopefully you will find it of interest.
Before I go I would really like to thank the S2 students who helped out on the day. They were a fantastic bunch. They organised themselves wonderfully; ferrying groups to and from the changing rooms ,lugging props to and from buses and generally ensuring the event ran smoothly. Well done folks you were ace.
If you read this post please leave a comment particularly if you attended the event. If you were there and took any digital photos could you send them to me and I will post them on this blog.
Send to:
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I also take full reponsibility for any errors made in my account of the events. I had to rely on my memory which is about as reliable as that of my MP3 player.
Until the next post, au revoir.
