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Beauty and the Beast (November 06)
A cast member writes:
At the beginning of this term, boys in Chalmers West were invited to audition for parts in a production of Beauty and the Beast at St George’s. We took part in rigorous auditions, and five of us were selected: Hector, Angus W, Rory, Michael and myself. Rehearsals took place over the following eight weeks on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and were to take up a massive amount of our free time. It proved to be quite a commitment, but we all enjoyed it so much that the time seemed to fly by. At one stage, with clashes with rugby and other activities, it looked as if a miracle was needed for us to be ready for the performance dates. At the last minute, the miracle happened, and things suddenly came together. We all thoroughly enjoyed both the rehearsals and the performances, found the whole thing a brilliant experience, and all feel that it was definitely worthwhile. Thanks go to the two senior pupils at St George’s who directed the production, Julia and Lyndsey, and to Miss Godfrey who made all the arrangements for us to attend the rehearsals and performances.
An audience member writes:
Last Wednesday, Mr Rossiter took 15 members of Chalmers West to St George’s to see a performance of Beauty and the Beast. We all thought it was very good, and found it funny and thrilling to watch. It was obvious from the reaction of all those there that everybody in the capacity audience greatly enjoyed it. The costumes were great, and all of the actors and actresses were impressive. Much to our surprise, we were put in the front two rows of the audience: with the acting area being the floor in front of us, it cannot have been easy for the actors, particularly the Chalmers West members of the cast. However, they appeared completely unphased by this.
Beauty and the Beast was not only good entertainment: it also sent out the important message that “it’s not what or how people look that matters, it’s what’s on the inside that counts”.
Review of the Year 2005-06
Around twenty new boys joined Chalmers West in September, including four from Mexico and one from Spain , which added to the many foreign languages spoken in the house: Korean, Cantonese, Spanish, Russian.
Despite the huge number of new boys, it did not take long for everyone to fit in, especially into the two main rugby teams, both of which improved considerably in the course of the year. The C1s, after an unsuccessful start, found their foothold half-way through the season, with every match being won thereafter. The C2 season was a bumpy ride as well, with very similar outcomes. The C3s also had an enjoyable season.
Other sports included tennis, in which many boys succeeded in getting into the under 15 team, which was successful throughout the Summer Term. Curling has gone from strength to strength, with over half of the senior team being from Chalmers West, and Grant even managed to become Skip. Although Football has not been played competitively we have had some less than friendly encounters with Chalmers East, who, although bigger and stronger, lacked the Latino style of the Chalmers West team. Special thanks must go to Ivan for his enthusiastic cheering!
Drama in Chalmers West flourished this year with the drama activity group performing its rendition of 'Ernie's Incredible Hallucinations'. This saw David, Callum, Matthew and Charlie dressed up as Nazis. It also included Charlie doing a scarily believable act as a girl, much to the delight of Chalmers West and the rest of the school.
Throughout the year we had an increasing number of socials for some reason.! On more than one memorable occasion Mr Rossiter was caught strutting his stuff and showing us how it was supposed to be done on the dance-floor, with many amazed looks from a St George's member of staff. The socials included discos, ceilidhs, and a treasure hunt with St Georges.
Saturdays and Sundays were always jammed packed with an abundance of trips and activities which included numerous cinema trips, an enjoyable trip to M&D's Theme park, house outings to Dario's pizzeria, several trips to go-karting centres, and the grand finale being the Chalmers West annual paint-balling trip, from which the whole of the house returned battered and bruised.
Sunday 14th May saw members of Chalmers West venturing out into the streets of Colinton for the annual house car wash, in which the house raised a staggering £700 for the Tayside multiple sclerosis centre.
Great friendships were made and strengthened in the course of the year, which could be seen on many different occasions, including on the rugby pitch. It is true to say that the C1 rugby season would not have been half as successful if there had not been such strong friendships and a great feeling of team spirit throughout the season. When people were down, whether it was homesickness or just upset, friends rallied round and lifted their spirits whoever they were.
Our prefects this year have contributed greatly to activities, helping people when they were down and generally just being great guys around the house.
The spring term saw the annual trip to the battlefields of World War 1. We all found seeing the battlefields and graveyards a moving experience, and much enjoyed spending money in the Belgian chocolate shops!
Weekday evenings in Chalmers West were taken up with: swimming on a Monday, Scripture Union group meetings on a Tuesday, Sportshall Soccer organised by the prefects on Wednesday and Thursday and finally the occasional social on Friday night.
All in all Chalmers-West has been a very enjoyable year for all. The successful year could not have been accomplished without the housemaster, Mr. Rossiter, who made Chalmers West house feel like less of a house and more of a home. Many thanks from the entire house must also go to Heather and her team of domestic staff who never failed to tidy up our many messes. All of us will be sad to leave Chalmers West yet we are all looking forward to the east side next year. |
