A swashbuckling adventure wows audiences

Audiences were taken on a rip-roaring voyage full of buccaneers and buried gold for St Mary’s showcase winter production of Treasure Island.

Students from Years 7-11 and staff from a variety of departments, all worked together to produce a wonderful adaptation of the classic Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1883 novel Treasure Island. Audiences of proud parents, grandparents and siblings along with Lower School pupils and girls registered to join St Mary’s next year were thrilled to see a perfect mix of musical pieces and comedy, and happily applauded as the tale unfolded.

The girls shone in their roles with Year 10 and Year 11 students providing the lead parts. Isla and Isabel in Year 10 gave outstanding performances as Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver. Head Girl Maya encouraged oodles of audience participation as Dame Dolly Hawkins! Marina, the Spirit Guardian of the Oceans, played by Year 11, Kayla and the panto baddie, Serpentina, played by Eadie in Year 10 provided a powerful narration as well as strong singing solos throughout.

In the supporting roles of pirates, islanders and ghosts, the girls in Years 7-10 gave talented performances, with students as young as age 11 engaging the audience with a strong stage presence.

Mrs Nicola Griffiths, Principal spoke proudly of the St Mary’s girls’ performances: “I wanted to send my congratulations to the students and staff involved in the Senior School production of Treasure Island. The hard work put into the performances and technical support behind the scenes was evident; I was extremely impressed. Over the four shows, the girls displayed their talent brilliantly. It was wonderful to see such strong performances from students as young as 11. At St Mary’s we want the girls who leave our school to do so as courageous, enthusiastic and determined young women, with a clear sense of perspective and an inner resilience. Our co-curricular programme enables girls to develop these characteristics and the strength of these performances are illustrative of our aims.”