Ashburton Courier: April 21, 2022

THURSDAY, 21APRIL, 2022 |GERALDINE NEWS |PAGE 3
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FROM LEFT: Abbi Collins (17) says sheandLia Roberts (18) were delightedwith theirwin. PHOTO: Facebook/Geraldine HighSchool NZ
Shakespearian duo doth seek
yonder fame, nay fortune
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Year13Geraldine High School students
AbbiCollins and Lia Robertshave taken
top honours in the five-minute section
of the 2022 University of OtagoSheilah
Winn Shakespeare Festivalregionalcontest
against Craighead Dioscesan Schooland
TwizelArea School.InJunethe pairwill
head off tocompete at the national
competition in Wellington.
GNews caught up with Abbi and Lia
to talk about their win:
Whatmadeyou decide to enter this
competition? Abbi says, Shakespeare
is apart ofour Level 3curriculum.
Performing at the Shakespeare festival
isnt compulsory, but we did it last year,
and bothenjoyed it.
Whichscene from RomeoandJuliet
didyouperform? Lia says,Act 2, scene
5, described in onesentence as:The nurse
finally returns to Juliet,who is impatiently
waiting for news of Romeos intentions
towards her. Its arelatively short scene,
serving to establish one plotpoint: Romeo
andJuliet can get married. (study.com)
How did you make ityour own?
This year, we put alot more effort into
learning and understanding our script,
so when we delivered our lines, we
understood better whatwewere saying,
says Lia. We kept our scene contemporary,
but we made our jokes as big and
melodramatic as we could so that even
if someone didnt understand the language
we used, they would still get that it was
afunnyscene andbeable to laugh at the
physical humour. We also wanted the
audience to feel included in our
performance, so we broke the fourth wall
severaltimes by speaking straight to the
audience rather than the other person
on stage.
Wereyou nervous? Abbi says, Yes
and no, as we havebeen doingdrama for
many years and were comfortable with
this scene.Ofcourse, nerves are always
present before aperformance, but this
helps us perform to ourbestability.
How did you feel when you won?
Abbi says, We were both very shocked,
neither of us could really believe it, and
we just looked at each other and froze
for acouple of seconds before we finally
went and collected our award. We were
so happy and super-proud of ourselves.
Abbi also won the Elizabeth Grubb
Trophy For Outstanding Performance of
aRoleatthe regional festival, an award
established lastyearand named for former
Timaru drama teacherElizabethGrubb.
Andnow youre off to the finals in
Wellington. We cantwait; weresuperexcited,says
Lia. But also very nervous
because we arent just performing with
two other schools; this time therell be
schools from all over New Zealand. But
overall, its going to be agreat experience.
Lia says she would love to minor in
theatre while studying. Her mother, local
Jill Griffin,isanactor, so Lia has grown
up acting.Ihaveareal love for it.
The Shakespeare Globe Centre New
Zealand established the competition in
1991. There are 24 regional festival
contests held nationwide eachyear, with
the most outstanding entries going on
to compete in the nationals.
FI MCCAFFERTY
ANZAC DAY
25 APRIL 2022
We will remember them
Owing to the current Covid-19 outbreak in
South Canterbury, the Geraldine RSA Executive
Committee has decided that therewill be no
public serviceheld in the Geraldinedistrict.
However, to mark theoccasion, the
executivewill hold small, private services
at the Geraldine, Woodbury, Peel Forest and
Rangitt Island memorials on the day.
As youare aware, Anzac Dayisthe most
importantdate on the RSA calendar and
we areextremely disappointed with the
situationwefind ourselvesin.
We apologise for this significant change
which is beyond our control.
Youcan still supportthe GeraldineRSA by
scanningthis QR Code and makingadonation
to our PoppyFund. This goes directly to the
GeraldineRSA, ensuring every cent donated stays
in the district for veterans and theirfamilies.
Annual trailride afun way tosupport GPS
On Sunday, 10 April, Geraldine Primary
School (GPS) took part in the Beautiful
Valley Trailride event forthe 13th year,
with 214individual riders and 74 family
groups participatingthis year.
GPS Home and School Committee
President Lou Ochsner says, This is one
of our main fundraisers. Funds raised by
the committee go towards resources that
expand learning opportunities both in and
out of theclassroom...
Committee membershelped prepare
tracks ahead of the event and provided
logistical support forthe marshals out on
the course, whichincluded ferrying back
broken-down bikes. We alsoprovidedthe
barbeque for the event, feeding hungry
riders throughout the day with almost
200 burgers and 150 sausages. We had a
good group of parent helpers as well as
school principal Andrew Leverton, who
was flipping burgersfor most of the day.
The main circuit was approximately
40km long and took the fastest riders
about anhour and ahalf tocomplete.
There was a mix of farm tracks, forestry,
and grassland. This year there were a
couple of enduro options that were a bit
more challenging, and there is always a
pee-wee track set up for the smallest riders
andbeginners. Grenville Button of
Adventure Trailrides EventsinSpringfield
is the organiser; he has quite afollowing
that comes down from North Canterbury.
We saw riders from far and wide;
Queenstown, Dunedin,Oamaru, and lots
of locals took part in the event.
Lou says that these fundraisingevents
are only possible because of the generosity
of local farm and forestry owners and
donationsfrom local businesses. TheGPS
Home and School Committeewould like
to thank all those that supported the
fundraisingevent.Thanks to that support,
riders enjoyedagood feed andanenjoyable
day riding. DEBBIE OLIVER
LEFT: GPS student Alex Coleman (9)
said the ride was Good, but hard.
PHOTO: Debbie Oliver
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