Monday 23 March 2009

Green is the Colour.


The third year directors shows have finished now, after a four week festival of work. The last shows were on Friday. It's been a hugely impressive body of work and marvellous to see students across the three years working alongside each other to achieve their success. On the way have been some fine pieces of direction. Laura Dowens got three excellent performances out of her Pitchfork Disney cast, Clara Taylor did a marvellous, unpretentious job on Simon Stephen's fragmented play Pornography and Chloe Oxbury found a persuasive rhythm for Marina Carr's Woman and Scarecrow. Although there weren't stand out, breathtaking productions, it's clear that within the cohort are some careful, intelligent, crafty directors, who should certainly take lessons from this experience and have another crack in the near future.


Saturday was open day and around 200 prospective students and their families turned up to find out about the courses and Uni. Last year the open day was scheduled for St.Patrick's day - which was a mistake as the College has strong links with Ireland. Our guests were caught in a mixture of carefully co-ordinated, well oiled marketing presentation from the staff and a frenzied bacchanal ritual of Guinness and the craic from the students.


To avoid any ambiguity about the true face of College, this year the date was fixed safely for the 21st ... unfortunately nobody had checked the rugby fixtures, or played with the possibility that Ireland, might, just might win their first grand slam for 61 years!!! The relief of the final whistle was the cue for several semi naked St.Mary's rugby boys, who'd painted parts of their nether regions green in expectation of victory, to dance for joy across Walpole's Arcadian grounds in floppy leprechaun hats. Perhaps it'll help recruit as many as it drives away?






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