engineering involved in this construction. For instance, we struggled with designing a way to hinge the jaw so that it could move while singing or speaking. For this, we employed the help of Mrs Swinburne and Dr Feito,” Mila explains. The materials were also an important consideration as they needed to be “light, sturdy and easy to work with”. They settled on paper maché and wonder-flex, a moldable, heat sensitive plastic.


“As for the creative part of the


project, we had to not only create a 3D design which looked like a dragon, but we also had to execute it,” Mila says. “This was easier said than done because we could not see a real life dragon for reference, obviously! “We had to make numerous


Shrek continued...


A system for managing all the costumes is just as crucial. The team uses grouped costume racks and reusable shopping bags for each player, inside of which smaller bags hold costume accessories. After each rehearsal, all the costumes have to be checked so that nothing goes missing. “It’s very important to be organised!” says Brianna.


In fact, she says keeping track of the costumes was the main challenge for her department. “As there were so many students participating (in Shrek), and some had up to four different costumes, it becomes really difficult to keep track of them all.”


And her favourite costume for Shrek? “Probably the Wicked Witch (played by Grace McNamara). Her costume was a combination of pieces that we made, bought and re-purposed. Her dress and hat were repurposed. Her cape and shoes were made, and we bought the gloves and tights. It was interesting to see the combinations come together to create a harmonious costume.”


ALL TOGETHER NOW Harmony was also a goal for the play’s


choreographer, Jackie Costello ’18, who says Mrs Thorpe sought her out when she heard Jackie was coming to BHS for IB. “I knew Mrs Thorpe from her helping with the In Motion (School of Dance) shows and she asked if I would like to help with the school play,” she recalls. “I choreographed Anything Goes last year, and it was a great experience. Mrs Thorpe asked me if I wanted to do Shrek, and I really wanted to be a part of it again.”


Jackie has danced with In Motion 16 Torchbearer Spring 2018


since she was three and is currently a member of the Senior Dance Company, but she had little experience with choreography before her time at BHS. To prepare, she says she watched


Shrek the Musical and videos of other schools’ productions to get some ideas, but she wanted to put her own stamp on the dances. “The choreography was mostly original because I wanted it to be different. I think the most difficult thing was finding a balance between choreography that was interesting and exciting, but not too challenging. I also wanted to design choreography that was funny and played to the audience.” She also appreciated the number of talented dancers at the school and says she enjoyed working with them, particularly integrating dancing, singing and humour. “My favorite routine was the dance to the “Forever” song, which was sung by Donkey and the Dragon. The dancers in this scene were prisoners, and I enjoyed this dance because it was quite comical and it was nice to be able to try to make the audience laugh.”


SLAYING THE DRAGON In perhaps the most challenging assignment for this year’s play, a team of thirteen students and teachers was charged with building the Dragon. “It was absolutely a collaborative design!” says team leader Mila Kendell ’19. “The core team consisted of myself, Julia Cox ‘19, Andrea Wilson ’19 and Emily Watson ‘18. Various other students, and occasionally teachers, also lent a hand when we needed help.” As both a technical and artistic endeavour, the dragon project is one that would fit comfortably into the STEAM curriculum. “There was definitely an aspect of


corrections so that it resembled what we envisioned.” Time management was the main challenge presented by the Dragon, with the team having to scale back on their ambitions to meet the deadline. “We met every week to work on the head; two weeks before the deadline, we had to increase it to working every lunchtime.


“If I could do it differently, I would spend less time on the rough armature of the head and try to leave more time for painting, decorating and adding details such as textured scales to the outside,” concludes Mila. On stage, the Dragon was also a


group effort, brought to life by six puppeteers and given voice by the delightful singing of Chrysda Smith ’19, producing a signature scene that surely made all the hard work worthwhile.


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