Harrogate Festival of Speech and Drama

Congratulations to all the students who took part in The Harrogate Festival of Speech and Drama last weekend. The competition was stiff, with Cundall competing against some very experienced and skilled performers from specialised drama schools and other establishments from all over the north of England.

Henry Calvert wowed the judge with his confident and humorous performance from the Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe and received a distinction, closely followed by Ben Early, who achieved a commendation for his well-pitched portrayal of the Pied Piper. Francesca Banks also excelled, achieving a distinction for her reading and poem and Niamh Wilson and Niamh Watkins performed brilliantly, both receiving a commendation. Just as we thought Cundall had peaked, Alannah Creed triumphed in her reading class, winning first place and a trophy, and Jake Telfer followed up his success last year by winning distinctions in all three of his classes. Laura Aspinall bravely went solo and was commended for playing the role of Martha from The Secret Garden and not to be out done, Charlotte Hoggan and Cordelia Longstaff also did well, achieving a commendation from the judge. Finally, Quentin England and Shanna Majewski rounded off a very successful weekend with their very enjoyable (and unusual) piece called Skungpoomery by Ken Campbell.

Many thanks to parents and pupils for giving up your weekend and thank you also to Mrs Fearn for producing such well- prepared performers and entertaining drama.