The 2023 Chronicle

THEATRE TECH SOCIETY 2023 Director Schlesinger Theatre: Mr William le Cordeur Technical director: Mr Van Wyk Oosthuizen Technical support: Mr Fish Ndlovu Chairperson: Ayden McDavid Light console: Michael Smithyman, Harry Witherspoon Follow-spot: George Mitchell-Innes Rigging and setup: Trent Buckley, Maximillian Murray, Kobé Ng he Theatre Tech society had their hands full with the musical in March. Under the leadership of Ayden McDavid, the team did well to cope with the pressure of the work at hand. Special mention must be made of Michael Smithyman and Harry Witherspoon, who ran the lights for the show, working with professional technicians. Trent Buckley and Kobé Ng gave tremendous amounts of their time through the year to the theatre, working on general maintenance and smaller incoming projects. Trent, in particular, has a real passion for the theatre. It is really comforting to know that generations of keen young bodies come through the school wanting to give service to the theatre. The society is run unlike any other, in that we gather only to work for shows and events, thus providing a service to Michaelhouse that is immeasurable. he past year witnessed commendable growth and achievements in the Chess Programme at Michaelhouse. Our dedicated practice times have been carved into the school’s busy schedule by the advent of the afternoon cultural calendar and have proven to be a cornerstone of our progress. On Mondays we catered to our junior participants from D and E Blocks, and on Fridays we focused on the senior players from A, B and C Blocks. The interhouse chess competition, held in the Makan Centre on 12 April, was a remarkable display of competitive spirit and raw talent. Results are as follows: • Tatham emerged as champions with eight points. • Pascoe followed closely with seven points. • Baines, East and Ralfe showcased their prowess by tying at six points each. Embracing the tools available in the digital era, we launched the Michaelhouse Chess Society on Chess.com. Evolving our original programme, we introduced structured online lessons and dedicated puzzle training sessions every Monday but also brought in the excitement of open “all play” chess on Fridays. Further elevating our online presence, we were graced by the expertise of an online coach who provided live coaching sessions, enhancing our players’ strategic depth and understanding of T T CHESS PROGRAMME Master in Charge: Mr Jed Coventry Coach: Mr Xavier Saunderson Chairman: Molemo Molefi Secretary: Daniel French

HONOURS Gqamile Mbuyazi, Erich van Zyl

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023 was a musical year, and we roared into the thea tre season with the fabulous, but dubiously named, Urinetown . Written in 2001 in New York City, the play used the eight-piece jazz ensemble to recreate the jazz musi cal of old, with our Music Department and some professionals brought in to master the difficult work. We once again teamed up with St John’s DSG, with the synergy and generosity of the girls being hugely appreciated. From the boys’ side, Gqamile Mbuyazi stole the show as the narrator and tyrannical police captain, with his sidekick, played by Erich van Zyl, doing very well to keep the audience entertained. Both received their hon ours for theatre after giving many valuable hours to theatrical performances over their years. Bradley de Klerk was sublime as the doomed protagonist Bobby Strong. Oldman Strong, Bobby’s father, had a short-lived cameo, played by the outra geously funny Onalerona Lefakane; that was one to remember. Isa Shabalala and Xabiso Mooi (Ngcime) also stood out in their roles as businessmen in the Urine Good Company, whilst Sent so Tlelai really came to life as a gangster and revolutionist. All the boys gave it their all, owning the content of the produc tion and the artistry, as their singing voices and dancing ability wowed a very surprised audience. Holding the musical in March was challenging for the rest of the theatre season. With boys’ time depleted and budget looking thin, the remainder of the productions were kept in- house. The second quarter saw the Interhouse Challenge Week take place, with theatre events including interhouse music and debating, as well as a well-received professional play by Makhubalo Ikaneng called Woza Mvoti . Interhouse music proved to be excellent once again. The third quarter opened with the interhouse plays. Using ChatGPT to configure scripts, boys were able to see the limitations of AI in writing creatively, but also learnt skills on how to bring to life the robotic interpretations of this highly influential resource. Although writing for House plays began in the second quarter, the plays were only performed in August. We had a small number of spectators, but the plays were received very well. McCormick took first place with their play. Created by Kian Moses, it provided very witty dialogue. The third quarter also saw the reignition of the Upstages Theatre Company. The Upstages is an amateur dramatic club that consists mostly of Michaelhouse staff and local community members. They have performed serious plays like Arthur Miller’s The Crucible , Chekov’s The Seagull and lighter pieces like an Agatha Christie-styled whodunnit that we called The Diamond Snow (still the most successful of our ventures). The 2023 production was a Roman/Greek comedy adaptation that we called Rise, Tiberius! Performed in the amphitheatre, great fun was had by the Michaelhouse boys who had an opportunity to view the show. The year is always drawn to an end by exam season, hosting the A, B and C Block exams, which offer wonderful opportunities for boys who have not had a chance on stage during the year to show off their skills and passion.

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