Arnold School

Evening of Spoken English

The Memorial Hall was the venue on Wednesday evening for the fifth annual ‘Evening of Spoken English' in which the pupils in Years 7 and 8 perform to staff, parents and friends the oral work which they have undertaken in English lessons. The usual eclectic mixture was chaired by our ever-popular compere, Mr Hayden.

In the first half the audience were treated to an unconventional update on the ‘Titanic Story', a towering dramatic monologue from Chloe McConville and a tear-jerking reading by Charlotte Lane from ‘Private Peaceful'. Dressed in an elegant salwar kameez, Saba Mahmoud told us of the life of Enid Blyton, whilst Hannah Frost, Tom Wrigley and Robert Smyth of Year 8 recited well-known poetic gems with confidence and clarity. Even Dale Winton would have been impressed by 7N's enactment of the poem ‘Supermarket Sweep' whilst the first half was wrapped up by a very successful Comedy Showcase in which members of 8M recreated the comedy delights of the past from ‘The Frost Report', ‘Pete and Dud', ‘Monty Python' and ‘The Two Ronnies'. As the pupils revivified such sketches as ‘The Four Yorkshiremen' and ‘Four Candles', the audience laughed along in recognition. No doubt the adults were fondly remembering the days when five pounds WAS five pounds and orange dralon, G-Plan and cane furniture were de rigeur in the family home.

Fortified by tea and sandwiches, the audience were in for more treats in Part Two. 7L brought Roald Dahl's Cinderella poem to dramatic life, to much acclaim: the ugly sisters stealing the show as ever. Another Year 7 class, 7O, performed a recitation of ‘Thriller', made-up as ghouls and zombies in the best Michael Jackson tradition. Individual performances were striking: Joseph Wilde recreated Shylock, complete with peripatetic beard; Leona Hall-Shaw was very accomplished in a most moving monologue called ‘Keeping Tom Nice', and the urbane dialogue of Jane Austen's ‘Pride and Prejudice' was brought to life by the reading of Francesca Counsel. Issa Patel of Year 8 was a tour-de-force in his rendition of TS Eliot's ‘Macavity the Mystery Cat' - his intonation and actions being perfect for this long humorous poem. Issa had to get changed quickly as he was on almost immediately afterwards as the narrator of ‘Romeo and Juliet', a break-neck version of Shakespeare's greatest love-story (Alex Evans and Leora Hyman both very convincing as the eponymous ‘star-crossed lovers'). This ‘Reduced Shakespeare' version was a wonderful way to end a successful evening.

It is only right to thank my colleagues in the English Department for all their hard work in preparing their classes to perform. It is certain that the children enjoyed showing what they could do, and the positive comments afterwards suggested that the adults appreciated it as well.

Posted by: D E Smyth
Date: Friday 04/07/2008