Tragedy
Headmaster’s Routh Assembly Address
Monday 18th March 2019
Reading: Excerpt from A Midsummer Night’s Dream Prologue
Gentles, perchance you wonder at this show;
But wonder on, till truth make all things plain.
This man is Pyramus, if you would know;
This beauteous lady Thisby is certain.
This man, with lime and rough-cast, doth present
Wall, that vile Wall which did these lovers sunder;
And through Wall's chink, poor souls, they are content
To whisper. At the which let no man wonder.
This man, with lanthorn, dog, and bush of thorn,
Presenteth Moonshine; for, if you will know,
By moonshine did these lovers think no scorn
To meet at Ninus' tomb, there, there to woo.
This grisly beast, which Lion hight by name, [pause]
The trusty Thisby, coming first by night,
Did scare away, or rather did affright; [pause]
And, as she fled, her mantle she did fall,
Which Lion vile with bloody mouth did stain.
Anon comes Pyramus, sweet youth and tall, [pause]
And finds his trusty Thisby's mantle slain:
Whereat, with blade, with bloody blameful blade,
He bravely broach'd is boiling bloody breast; [pause]
And Thisby, tarrying in mulberry shade,
His dagger drew, and died. For all the rest,
Let Lion, [pause] Moonshine, [pause] Wall, [pause] and lovers twain [pause]
At large discourse, while here they do remain.
*an acknowledgement of the Christchurch massacre is at the end of this address*
Good Morning
I asked the Oakley players to perform part of their senior House Drama entry again this morning because I felt sorry for you. Sorry, at least, for those who were not amongst the 80 actors or 300 strong audience last Thursday evening. I felt sorry for you because you missed something quite remarkable.
Eleven performances on the Cobham stage, every House represented and not a weak one amongst them. Eleven performances that covered the full gamut of Drama. Comedy, from the hilarious slapstick of Lyttelton’s Monty Python skit, to the traditional and timeless wit of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, of which you just had a taste.
Shakespearian Tragedy too, with WG bringing us a powerful and compelling rendition of Macbeth and Banquo encountering the witches on the heath. That was also very physical theatre, with each actor ever conscious of his or her presence, position and movement on stage. The same physicality was true of the extraordinary “Toy Box” scene from Housman Hall. Extraordinary not just for the fact that it had the biggest cast of the night, with nearly 20 actors all remaining convincingly in character throughout, but also because it was completely original. Written for Housman, by two talented Housman Hallians, Anya and Serene.
To my knowledge, that was the first time that an original piece has been performed in House Drama, but incredibly, it was not the only one of the night. Thomas Cookes also brought us an original short play, written and directed by their own Holly Nicol. “Seven Ways To Win; Seven Ways To Lose” also added satire to the evening’s programme. As did the very funny “Trial By Laughter”, delivered with great talent and smooth comic timing by Lupton. Lupton’s piece broadened the range in another way, for it was also a richly costumed period piece. So too, was Walters’ utterly convincing excerpt from Noel Coward’s “Design for Living”. As well being perfectly attired, James and James also gave us an impassioned dialogue that was believable, sharp and beautifully timed.
Equally credible and convincing was the other dialogue of the night, as Lauren and Patricia ratcheted up the tension to breaking point in Mary Windsor’s excerpt from Oleanna. They proved that you don’t need lots of action to create dramatic tension. That said, Hugh Abraham then took that one step further. His solo performance was a monologue from the play “DNA” that left the entire audience chilled and sitting on the edge of their seats. Proof that a single voice and a story well-told can move us all.
That same sense of growing foreboding was also created by the portrayal of Carrie, from Hazeldene’s play of the same name. All of the characters in that scene were convincing, but Anya Sharma-James stole the show, her non-verbal acts conveying more fear than words ever could.
And just when you thought that every genre of drama had been canvassed; comedy & tragedy, monologue & dialogue, physical & verbal, large cast & small cast, traditional, period & modern, along came Elmshurst with a show stopper. A scene from “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.” that was a bit of everything, plus some state-of-the-art background projection thrown in for good measure, magnificently directed by Will Edwards.
I tell you all of that, and still I have not done justice to what happened last Thursday. My spoken review is a poor substitute for having actually been there and witnessed an extraordinary array of amateur talent, courageous performance, great trust, teamwork, and strong House bonds. I genuinely do feel sorry for those of you who missed out, but I hope you will be proud of those who represented your House, for they deserve your admiration. It is now my pleasure to re-present the awards made on the night. We will do them in three batches, starting with:
Performing Arts Award (given annually for contribution to the Performing Arts in the Senior School):
Tom Anning
Best Actor
Runners Up: Matthew Goodwin and James Bradley
Winner: Anya Sharma-James.
Adjudicator’s Special Awards:
Holly Nicholls for writing “Seven Ways to Win…”
Hugh Abraham for his monologue from “DNA”
Best Director
Anya Butler and Serene Soyannwo
]
Best Play
Runner Up: Oakley for their performance of Pyramus and Thisbe from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.
Winner: Elmshurst for their beautifully designed and performed piece from “The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Night-Time”.
National Schools Netball
More remarkable performances from our netballers now. Both the U14 and U19 Netball teams fought hard this term to qualify for the National Finals, which took place on Saturday in tournaments consisting of the best 18 schools in the land. The U14 team played extremely well, winning 4 out of 8 pool games and ranking in the top 10 schools nationally. I commend you on a tremendous achievement. The U19 tournament was a very tense and closely fought event, with our team winning 7 of the 8 games. They qualified in 1st place but unfortunately lost the semi-final to Grammar School at Leeds. However, they went on to beat Millfield in the 3rd /4th place play-off.
To finish 3rd in the country in any sport is no mean feat and I would like to invite the team forward once again to receive congratulations and their medals. We also wish them all the best as they still have one more national final to play next week against Royal Russell School.
Fencing
Congratulations to Tatiana Morikova in her first ever entry to a Sabre event. She fought well to finish joint 3rd and has qualified for the British Youth Championships in May. I invite her forward to receive her medal.
House Squash
Junior Competition
Runners up: School 1st: Walters
Senior Competition
Runners up: Walters 1st: Housman Hall
Rugby
The U18’s played well to reach the final of the Worth School 7’s, but narrowly lost against Brighton College. However, the U16’s won their group, then played their best rugby to beat Lord Wandsworth and win the final.
I invite the U16 captain forward to receive the trophy.
Review
Music
Yesterday Senior and Prep school musicians raised the roof in Routh Hall in a splendid concert of music from the Baroque era. Over 100 performers excelled themselves in performances ranging from the Year 9/10 Ensemble and Brass Group, a stunning trumpet concerto played by Sophia Meadows and ending with a massed choir singing Vivaldi’s Gloria, accompanied by a professional orchestra with solos from Jenna Kam and Lisa Bradburn. The choir will be singing some of this fine music on tour in Austria later this year. I thank them all for a memorable close to the weekend.
Congratulations also to Jude Wynter, who has this week been selected as one of only 6 finalists for a national piano competition organised by Coach House Piano Company. Jude will perform a 30-minute programme on 12th May at Queen Anne’s School, Caversham.
CCF
Thirty two members of the CCF attended a very enjoyable shooting weekend at Nesscliff training camp.
Badminton
The senior teams defeated Oundle School. The 1st team winning 15-3 and the 2nd team 12-6
Cross country
Congratulations to Seb Purvis, Will Hobbs, Natalie Hatfield, Orla Walker and Vivianne Zhang-Wei who competed for Hereford and Worcestershire in the English Schools Cross Country Championships.
There were good performances in the league match at Oakham School from Henry Marshall, Lena Siller and Paul Pohl.
Football
A really competitive block fixture against Bedford Modern School with the U16A, 2nd XI and 1st XI all drawing 1-1 and the U16B’s winning 7-3.
Golf
The golf team’s run in the HMC Fours was brought to an end when they were defeated by Warwick School.
Hockey
Very pleasing results in the matches played against Uppingham School, with five wins and three draws recorded.
Netball
There were a reduced number of matches played against Repton School due to the National Finals and poor weather conditions, however the U14B, U15B, U15A, U16B and 2nd’s all claimed wins.
Rugby
The U16’s lost in the final of the Stowe 7’s against Millfield School 17-12.
Table tennis
The boys and girls teams both defeated Bishop Perowne College – well done.
Preview
The latest AEO Grades are out today and will be discussed with you this afternoon.
We have a Next Step Conference, in the LRC, at 7.00pm this evening and the LVIth Parents Evening is on Wednesday at 6.15 pm.
A reminder that all Vth and VIth form will attend the School Evensong at 4.15 pm on Thursday.
Marmite Seminars
The L6 Course has now finished for this year. Please watch your emails for social events. Thanks to the many participants for their fascinating contributions. Fourth and Fifth Form, there will be two more seminars this term. The next Movie and Pizza Evening will be Friday, March 29th, screening 'The Man Who Knew Infinity'.
Debate
The motion for the debate is "This House Would Blame Kate and Gerry McCann for Madeleine's Disappearance", and will take place at 1:25pm in H20. If anyone is interested in speaking, please email Archie or Josh. All are welcome to come and watch.
Before we stand for the Grace, there is one more thing I would like to say. This assembly has been yet another celebration of success and the affirming aspects of life in this School. I have always tried to keep it so. Not because I don’t think that bad things happen; patently they do. However, I see little point in dwelling on the negative in a large and formal gathering like this, especially as it should set the tone for our week ahead. Even when I spoke last week about mental health, a topic that troubles me deeply, I tried to be positive because I don’t think it is helpful to dwell upon unsettling issues in a forum where you, as an audience, can’t question or contribute.
However, occasionally something happens that cannot be ignored. Cannot be saved for other venues or more intimate discussions. Sadly, more than once over the past five years, I have asked you all to collectively join in acknowledging an atrocity that occurred somewhere in the world, demanding our attention and solemn respect.
Massacres in Paris, Manchester, London, Barcelona. We have stood to reflect upon mass killings of innocent people, murdered by fanatics. At those times, I have broken the normally positive tone of Routh because it is necessary, perhaps even healing, to share our sadness and respect collectively. I have done so in sincerity, genuinely grieving for communities torn apart and especially sad for those of you whose country was the target. And maybe, if I am really honest with myself, perhaps a little grateful, deep down inside, that I come from a place where such an act of evil and hatred would never occur.
Except that it has. On Friday, my own country lost its innocence in this age of terror and fanaticism. On a quiet Friday afternoon, a coward walked into peaceful places of worship and gunned down 50 people who were knelt in prayer. Despite his pathetic hate speech justifications, he was not a soldier. Just an another inadequate racist, fuelled by other pathetic losers online and armed with weapons that he thought made him a man.
In a country he said that he had chosen to attack specifically because it was considered to be amongst the safest in the world. A country where gun crime is unheard of, where even the Police are unarmed.
The people he gunned down weren’t soldiers either. Neither were they jihadists, nor militants. They weren’t taking people’s jobs or committing crimes. In fact, although he targeted them for their religion, most New Zealanders wouldn’t even have seen them as Muslims. They were just Kiwis. Kiwi men and woman and tragically, even little children. And I am heartbroken at what he did to those families and to my country.
So, with great sadness, I am going to ask you to stand yet again. This time for a moment’s silence to acknowledge the fact that there can be no safe haven in the world as long as hate and bigotry exist. A moment to hold those 50 people in your hearts and pray to your God, or whatever you hold dear, for an end to fanaticism of any type. Please stand.