| Millennium Centre Performance |
The dramatic performance captivates the audience at the Wales Millennium Centre
For the past eight weeks, a group of students, selected from the Creative Arts Faculty, have been working and performing towards the first ever show-case event, bringing together Drama, Music, Film and Photography, using Wagner’s “The Valkyrie” as the stimulus. This performance has been brought together by composer Michael Parkin, who has been working at the school, with both students and staff of the Creative Arts Faculty. G.C.S.E. Drama students have created the narrative and perform a powerful and amusing drama; with a tableaux of events, revolving around a group of boy soldiers. The backdrop to this drama is punctuated with strong, vivid images of war flashing up on four large video screens. These images have been produced and co-ordinated by the G.C.S.E. Photography students and their ideas and final work are very impressive. Working closely with the drama and visual imagery is the haunting music, composed by the G.C.S.E. Music students and Michael Parkin. His talent and professionalism whilst working and rehearsing with the students has been equally impressive and the G.C.S.E. music students have certainly expanded their skills and levels of performance. The first two performances took place on Thursday 14 th June at the prestigious Wales Millennium Centre. Although this was the groups first visit to the Centre as performers, their professionalism and enthusiasm made them seem quite at home. The boys were very pleased to see Carwyn Jones, newly appointed Minister for Education, Culture and the Welsh Language in the audience, along with parents and other visitors to the Centre. Performance Art, using drama, music and photography, together, to create a visually and vocally exciting narrative with musical accompaniment moved from a challenging prospect, towards the realisation of a stunning production. None of this would have been made possible without Michael Parkin, the composer and mentor for those involved and Rosie Edwards, who initiated this project as part of Wales Millennium Centre’s ring cycle educational outreach project. Karen Walters, Head of Creative Arts Faculty at Barry Comprehensive, has fulfilled her ambition of creating a production that used Music, Drama and Visual Imagery together. “Students working together, harmoniously, to create a performance has been so rewarding and every Year 10 student must be praised and congratulated on their outstanding contribution. It has been a pleasure to work alongside talented students and a professional composer and it will be inscribed in out memories for a long time” |
Composer Michael Parkin offers some last minutes tips
The boys take to the stage
The performances were timed exactly with the score and visual imagery onscreen
The death of the soldiers creates a poignant moment
The prestigious Wales Millennium Centre |
Awards for Creating a “Stunning Performance!”
The proud performers at the Millennium Centre
Last summer term, 20 Year 11 pupils studying Music, Drama, Photography and Film at G.C.S.E. were given the opportunity to work with the composer Michael Parkin and create an original performance based on Wagners ‘Valkyrie’.
The pupils spent over six weeks devising, composing and taking visual images to display on screens and back projection. They brought it all together in a short space of time and performed the final finished performance at the Millennium Centre, Cardiff.
Last week their hard work was recognised and appreciated by the Education Department at the Millennium Centre. After being congratulated they were all invited for a tour of the theatre and backstage facilities. It is hoped the pupils involved will one day appear on the actual main stage as professionals themselves. The Creative Arts Department thinks they deserve to go on and achieve bigger and better performances, because they are an extremely talented group of young men.
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