Pangbourne College is proud to honour two outstanding students who have made significant contributions to the school's drama department. Joe (Upper Sixth, Macquarie) and Annabelle (Upper Sixth, St George) have demonstrated exceptional talent, dedication, and leadership, earning them the prestigious Full School Drama Colours.

JOE

Joe, our first Drama Technical Scholar since 2014 has been involved with productions throughout his time at Pangbourne.

In Year 7 he joined Mr Ben Kearney’s ‘Tech crew’ and helped out with the Year 9 production and has been involved with Dunbar, Year 9, and College productions ever since.

He started gaining an understanding on the sound and lighting desks and very quickly progressed to the complicated world of Deputy Stage Manager—this means he ‘runs the show’. This involves following the script and telling the lighting, sound, and fly tower operator when to do things.

This is fairly straightforward when the cast know their lines really well and the technical operators are awake and not squabbling. If you add these factors to the mix, it makes for a very difficult and very complicated job. When a cast member forgets their lines and misses half a page of dialogue and half a page of cues along with it, catching up in 5 seconds to make sure the stage and actors are still lit and the sound still happens at the right time, is a job for someone who is calm under pressure, unflappable, patient, and professional. Joe is all of these things and many more.

He is generous with his time, teaching much younger pupils about the technical side of things and passing on his love of it to them. He is kind, punctual, astute, and has a very dry sense of humour!

All of this is a testament to his commitment to the subject and department. As a department we thank him very much for his enthusiasm, enjoyment, and hard work over these seven years. Please know that you will be very missed.

Joe absolutely deserves his Full Colours and we hope he continues with his Drama next year. He is always welcome back to help out!

ANNABELLE

Annabelle’s first College production was ‘Great Expectations’. The following year she landed the role of Roxie Hart in ‘Chicago’. Not only did she fulfil this role entirely and fully, but her skill as an experienced choreographer meant she was never out of the Drama department!

She is a skilled and creative teacher so amended and choreographed for our cast to show them at their very best, whether they were a beginner or more experienced dancer.

She continued that teaching role during her time in ‘Treasure Island’, managing her time well between her Upper Sixth studies, work, and the production.

She showed her dedication to the Arts by interviewing for, and gaining the role of, Cadet Captain: Performing Arts. This role has meant she has promoted the productions in assemblies and supported the Drama department in all its ventures, for which we thank her.

Annabelle, thank you for your time, effort, enthusiasm, and support of Drama and the department. It’s been a blast!

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