SPEECH AND DRAMA

(All work must be memorised unless otherwise stated).

POETRY CLASSES

The full syllabus and copies of the poems are available on the Festival website: www.chichester-festival.org.uk or contact Sarah Cavanagh on 01243 531256

800. Poem Age under 7
Noreen Ayling Cup No. 1

1. Hiding by Coral Rumble

Behind this tree
You can’t see me,
I’ve made myself thin
So I can fit in.

I’m as still as a photograph,
As quiet as a blink,
I won’t sniff or laugh
Just quietly think.

Behind this tree
You can’t see me,
I’ve made myself thin
So I can fit in

Or

2. The Caterpillar Fair by Irene Rawnsley

Ten little caterpillars
wriggled to the fair.
What did they do
when they got there?

One ate potatoes,
one ate pie,
one bought a telescope
to look at the sky.

One blew a trumpet,
one played guitar,
two sat together
in a dodgem car.

One met an elephant
one saw a seal
and one went riding
on the whirly whirly wheel!


801. Poem Age 7 Noreen Ayling Cup No. 2

1. Late Night Caller by Sue Cowling

The tick of the clock
the click of the lock
a shoeless sock
on the stair,

the groan of the floor,
the squeak of a door,
the sigh of a drawer –
who’s there?

A current of air,
a pencil of light –
‘I’m back, son. All right?
Goodnight!’

Or

2. The Owl and the Astronaut by Gareth Owen

The owl and the astronaut
Sailed through space
In their intergalactic ship
They kept hunger at bay
With three pills a day
And drank through a protein drip.
The owl dreamed of mince
And slices of quince
And remarked how life had gone flat;
“It may be all right
To fly faster than light
But I preferred the boat and the cat.”


802. Poem Age 8 Reginald Campion Cup

1. My Sister Thinks I’m Hopeless by Valerie Bloom

My sister thinks I’m hopeless,
My sister thinks I’m dim,
She’s given me many lessons,
But I still can’t swim.

I cannot do the backstroke,
I cannot do the crawl,
I cannot do the butterfly
Or the breaststroke, not at all.

My sister’s loosing patience,
She’s shown me how to move
To stretch my arms and kick my legs,
And she says she doesn’t approve

Of how easily I give up,
She says I’m such a knuckle head.
But I think it’s really very hard
To learn to swim in bed.

Or

2. The Playground Monster by Pie Corbett

It grabbed me
with it’s tarmac jaws
and then it tried
to bite me

It grasped me
with it’s gravelly paws
and then it tried
to fight me

I live in fear of walking
across its great black back.

I think it knows I’m talking.
It listens at a crack!

I fear its greedy darkness,
the way it seems to need

to reach out when I’m running
and grab me for a feed.

It grabbed me
with its tarmac jaws
and then it tried
to bite me

It grasped me
with its gravelly paws
and then it tried
to fight me.


803 Poem Age 9 Hilda Jackman Cup

1.The Lonely Scarecrow by James Kirkup

My poor old bones – I’ve only two –
A broom shank and a broken stave.
My ragged gloves are a disgrace.
My one peg-foot is in the grave.

I wear the labourer’s old clothes;
Coat, shirt, and trousers all undone.
I bear my cross upon a hill
In rain and shine, in snow and sun.

I cannot help the way I look.
My funny hat is full of hay.
O, wild birds, come and nest in me!
Why do you always fly away?

Or

2. The Kitten at Play by William Wordsworth

See the kitten on the wall,
Sporting with the leaves that fall,
Withered leaves, one two and three,
Falling from the elder-tree;
Through the calm and frosty air
Of the morning bright and fair.

See the kitten, how she starts,
Crouches, stretches, paws and darts;
With a tiger-leap half way
Now she meets her coming prey.
Lets it go as fast and then
Has it in her power again.

Now she works with three and four,
Like an Indian conjuror;
Quick as he in feats of art,
Gracefully she plays her part;
Yet were gazing thousands there.
What would little Tabby care?


804 Poem Age 10  Chichester Players Cup

1. My Dog by Vernon Scanell

My dog belongs to no known breed
A bit of this and that
His head looks like a small haystack;
He’s lazy, smelly and fat.

If I say, ‘Sit!’ he walks away.
When I throw a stick or ball
He flops down in the grass as if
He had no legs at all.

Then looks at me with eyes that say,
‘You threw the thing, not me
You want it back? Then get it back.
Fair’s fair, you must agree.’

He is a thief. Last week but one
He stole the Sunday roast
And showed no guilt at all as we
Sat down to beans on toast.

The only time I saw him run –
And he went like a flash –
Was when a mugger in the park
Tried to steal my cash.

My loyal brave companion flew
Like a missile to the gate
And didn’t stop till safely home.
He left me to my fate.

And would I swap him for a dog
Obedient, clean and good,
An honest, faithful, lively chap?
Oh boy, I would

Or

1. The End of School by Nick Toczek

We shove gloves and scarves on.
It’s shivery and stark.
And out in the playground
It’s evening and dark.

We rattle the railings
With sticks for a lark.
The sky’s grown as grey
As the skin of a shark.

The branches are bare
On the trees in the park.
The wind took their leaves
Leaving winter-proof bark.

The streetlights are waking
And making their mark.
At first they’re a dull red
And glow like a spark,

Glow orange, then yellow –
A dazzling arc.
‘They’re forecasting snow,’
I heard one mum remark.

Sleet comes, then the bus comes.
We loudly embark.
The sunshine of summer’s
Fled south like a lark.


805 Poem Age 11 Storrington Cup

1. Everything Touches by Roger McGough

Everything touches, life interweaves
Starlight and wood smoke, ashes and leaves
Birdsong and thunder, acid and rain
Everything touches, unbroken chain

Rainstorm and rainbow, warrior and priest
Stingray and dolphin, beauty and beast
Heartbeat and high tide, ebb tide and flow
The universe in a crystal of snow

Snowdrop and deathcap, hangman and clown
Walls that divide come tumbling down
Seen through the night, the glimmer of day
Light is but darkness worn away

Blackness and whiteness, sunset and dawn
Those gone before, those yet to be born
Past and future, distance and time
Atom to atom, water to wine

Look all around and what do you see?
Everything touches, you’re touching me
Look all around and what do you see?
Everything touches, you’re touching me.

Or

2. What has Happened to Lulu? By Charles Causley

What has happened to Lulu, mother?
What has happened to Lu?
There’s nothing in her bed but an old rag-doll
And by it’s side a shoe.

Why is her window wide, mother,
The curtain flapping free,
And only a circle on the dusty shelf
Where her money-box used to be?

Why do you turn your head. Mother,
Why do the tear drops fall?
And why do you crumple that note on the fire
And say nothing at all?

I woke to voices late last night,
I heard an engine roar.
Why do you tell me the things I heard
Were a dream and nothing more?

I heard somebody cry, mother,
In anger or in pain,
But now I ask you why, mother,
You say it was a gust of rain.

Why do you wander about as though
You don’t know what to do?
What has happened to Lulu, mother?
What has happened to Lu?


806 Poem Age 12-14 Susan Brand Cup

1. Adlestrop by Edward Thomas

Yes, I remember Adlestrop
The name, because one afternoon
Of heat the express-train drew up there
Unwontedly. It was late June.

The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat.
No one left and no one came
On the bare platform. What I saw
Was Adlestrop -- only the name

And willows, willow-herb, and grass,
And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry,
No whit less still and lonely fair
Than the high cloudlets in the sky.

And for that minute a blackbird sang
Close by, and round him, mistier,
Farther and farther, all the birds
Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

Or

2. It Was Long Ago by Eleanor Farjeon

I’ll tell you, shall I, something I remember?
Something that still means a great deal to me.
It was long ago.
A dusty road in summer I remember,
A mountain, and an old house, and a tree
That stood, you know,
Behind the house. An old woman I remember
In a red shawl with a grey cat on her knee
Humming under a tree.
She seemed the oldest thing I can remember,
But then perhaps I was not more than three.
It was long ago.
I dragged on the dusty road, and I remember
How the old woman looked over the fence at me
And seemed to know
How it felt to be three, and called out, I remember
“Do you like bilberries and cream for tea?”
I went under the tree
And while she hummed, and the cat purred, I remember
How she filled a saucer with berries and cream for me
So long ago.
Such berries and such cream as I remember
I never had seen before, and never see
Today, you know.
And that is almost all I can remember
I never had seen before, and never see
Today, you know.
And the taste of the berries, the feel of the sun I remember,
And the smell of everything that used to be
So long ago,
Till the heat on the road outside again I remember,
And how the long dusty road seemed to have for me
No end, you know.
That is the farthest thing I can remember.
It won’t mean much to you. It does to me.
Then I grew up, you see.

807. Poem Age 15-16

1. From Twelve Songs by WH Auden

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crêpe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

Or

2. Pied Beauty by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Glory be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches' wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
And áll trades, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spáre, strange;
Whatever is fickle, frecklèd (who knows how?)
With swíft, slów; sweet, sóur; adázzle, dím;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is pást change:
Práise hím.


808. Poem Adult (17 years and above)
(Must be memorised)

1. Arundel Tombe by Larkin

Side by side, their faces blurred,
The earl and countess lie in stone,
Their proper habits vaguely shown
As jointed armour, stiffened pleat,
And that faint hint of the absurd -
The little dogs under their feet.

Such plainness of the pre-baroque
Hardly involves the eye, until
It meets his left-hand gauntlet, still
Clasped empty in the other; and
One sees, with a sharp tender shock,
His hand withdrawn, holding her hand.

They would not think to lie so long.
Such faithfulness in effigy
Was just a detail friends would see:
A sculptor's sweet commissioned grace
Thrown off in helping to prolong
The Latin names around the base.

They would no guess how early in
Their supine stationary voyage
The air would change to soundless damage,
Turn the old tenantry away;
How soon succeeding eyes begin
To look, not read. Rigidly they

Persisted, linked, through lengths and breadths
Of time. Snow fell, undated. Light
Each summer thronged the grass. A bright
Litter of birdcalls strewed the same
Bone-littered ground. And up the paths
The endless altered people came,

Washing at their identity.
Now, helpless in the hollow of
An unarmorial age, a trough
Of smoke in slow suspended skeins
Above their scrap of history,
Only an attitude remains:

Time has transfigures them into Untruth.
The stone fidelity
They hardly meant has come to be
Their final blazon, and to prove
Our almost-instinct almost true:
What will survive of us is love.

Or

2.The Darkling Thrush by Thomas Hardy

I leant upon a coppice gate
When Frost was spectre-gray,
And Winter’s dregs made desolate
The weakening eye of day.
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
Like strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
Had sought their household fires.

The land’s sharp features seemed to be
The Century’s corpse outleant,
His crypt the cloudy canopy,
The wind his death-lament.
The ancient pulse of germ and birth
Was shrunken hard and dry,
And every spirit upon earth
Seemed fervourless as I.

At once a voice arose among
The bleak twigs overhead
In a full-hearted evensong
Of joy illimited;
An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
In blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
Upon the growing gloom.

So little cause for carolings
Of such ecstatic sound
Was written on terrestrial things
Afar or nigh around,
That I could think there trembled through
His happy good-night air
Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew
And I was unaware.

SHAKESPEARE CLASSES

810. Shakespeare Solo Age under 9
Emily Chart Cup  
 Own choice, time limit 3 minutes.

811. Shakespeare Solo Age 9-11 years
Clarke-Jervoise Cup No.4
Own choice, time limit 3 minutes.
(with Class 810).

812. Shakespeare Solo Age 12-14
Audrey Bryant Challenge Cup
Own choice, time limit 4 minutes.

813. Shakespeare Solo Age 15-16 years
Own choice, time limit 4 minutes.

815. Shakespeare Solo (17 years and above)

(see Class 814).
Read or memorised.
Own choice, time limit 4 minutes.

817. Shakespeare Duologue Age under 14 years

Vivien Daniels Challenge Cup No.2
(with Class 818).
Own choice, time limit 5 minutes.

818. Shakespeare Duologue Age under 17 years

(see Class 817).
Own choice, time limit 5 minutes.

819. Shakespeare Duologue Adult (17 years and above)

(May be read or memorised). Own choice, time limit 6 minutes.

MIME CLASSES

820. Mime Solo Age under 10

Jenifer Pressdee Trophy with Classes 821/822

Own choice, time limit 3 minutes.

821. Mime Solo Age under 14
(see Class 820)
Own choice, time limit 3 minutes.

822. Mime Solo Age under 17 years
(see Class 820)
Own choice, time limit 4 minutes.

823. Mime Solo Age 17 years and above)
Own choice, time limit 4 minutes.

824. Group Mime Any age
3 or more.
Own choice, time limit 5 minutes.

825. Choral Speaking Age under 8
Northgate House Cup
6 or more. No conductor allowed.
Own choice, time limit 5 minutes.

Clarke-Jervoise Cup
6 or more. No conductor allowed.
Own choice, time limit 5 minutes.

827. Choral Speaking Age 12 and over
6 or more. No conductor allowed.
Own choice, time limit 8 minutes.

828. Poetry Reading Age under 12
Own choice, time limit 3 minutes.

829. Poetry Reading Age under 16
Own choice, time limit 4 minutes.

830. Poetry Reading Adult (17 years and above)

Own choice, time limit 4 minutes

833. Bible Reading Age under 12
Own choice, time limit 2 minutes.

834. Bible Reading Age 12-14
Own choice, time limit 3 minutes.

836. Bible Reading Age 15-16
Own choice, time limit 3 minutes.

837. Bible Reading Adult (17 years and above)

Own choice, time limit 4 minutes.

838. Sonnet Any age
CMF Cup No.12
Own choice.

839. Prose Reading Adult
Own choice, time limit 3 minutes.

841. Sight Reading Adult
Poetry or prose chosen by Adjudicator.

CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSES

(All three classes in any age group must be entered to qualify  for the Championship)

Classes 842 - 844 : Heatherwood Cup

842. Poem Junior Age under 12
Any humorous poem.
 Time limit 2 minutes.

843. Dramatic Junior Age under 12
Own choice scene
Time limit 3 minutes.

SIGHT READING

Classes 44/847/850  -
extra time will be given to those candidates with SEN proof

844. Sight Reading Junior Age under 12
Poetry or prose chosen by Adjudicator.

Classes 845 - 847: Dunning Challenge Cup

845. Poem Intermediate Age 12-14 years
Any poem about a person or a place.
Time limit 3 minutes.

846. Dramatic Intermediate Age 12-14

A dramatised extract from a classical novel.

Time limit 4 minutes.

847. Sight Reading Intermediate Age 12-14

Poetry or prose chosen by the Adjudicator.

Classes 848- 850: Beale Cup

848. Poem Senior Age 15-18

Any poem by Carol Ann Duffy. Ian Serrallier or Sir John Betjeman,

Time limit 3 minutes.

849. Dramatic Senior Age 15-18

A scene from any play written in the last 50 years

Time limit 4 minutes.

850. Sight Reading Senior Age 15-18

Poetry or prose chosen by the Adjudicator.

DRAMATIC CLASSES

CMF Cup No.6
Own choice, time limit 2 minutes.

852. Dramatic Solo Age 9-11
Dixon Memorial Cup
Own choice, time limit 3 minutes.

Classes 854-7:  L Evershed – Martin Rose Bowl

854. Dramatic Solo Age 12-14
Own choice, time limit 3 minutes.

855. Dramatic Solo Age 15-16
Own choice, time limit 4 minutes.

857. Dramatic Solo Adult (17 years and above)

(May be read or memorised).
Own choice, time limit 4 minutes.

Classes 858 - 863: M W Ayling Memorial Cup

858. Dramatic Duologue Age Under 10
Own choice, time limit 3 minutes.

859. Dramatic Duologue Age Under 12
Own choice, time limit 4 minutes.

861. Dramatic Duologue Age under 15
Own choice, time limit 4 minutes.

862. Dramatic Duologue Age Under 18
Own choice, time limit 5 minutes.

863. Dramatic Duologue  Adult
(May be read or memorised).
Own choice, time limit 6 minutes.

864. Family Class (Two or more members  of the same family) to present two items on a theme, prose or poetry.

One item to be learned, the other

can be read. Time limit, altogether 6 minutes.

865. Thematic Group (not less than 4

members)  Recital on a theme to
include at least two of the following:
Mime, Improvisation, Choral Speaking,
Scene from a play, movement.
Time limit 15 mins.

866. Public Speaking Age 12 & under

Speak on something that interests you i.e. Hobbies, Sports, Clubs you  belong to.

Time limit, 4 minutes.

867. Public Speaking Age 13-16
‘Be in Earnest’ – speak on a subject on  which you have definite convictions.
 Time limit 5 minutes.

867a. Public Speaking Age 16-19
‘Be in Earnest’ – speak on a subject on  which you have definite convictions.
 Time limit 5 minutes.

869. Original Unpublished Poem Age under 12

Maximum 20 lines. Poems to be submitted to Mrs. Cavanagh by 5th December 2011. Equal marks to be given to the quality of the writing and to the performance.

870. Original Unpublished Poem Age under 18

Maximum 30 lines. Poems to be submitted to Mrs. Cavanagh by 5th December 2011. Equal marks to be given to the quality of the writing and to the performance.

871. Original Unpublished Poem Adult

Maximum 40 lines. Poems to be submitted to Mrs. Cavanagh by 5th December 2011. Equal marks to be given to the quality of the writing and to the performance.

872. Acted Scene Age under 12 (2-4 actors)

Own choice. Not to exceed 5 minutes.

873. Acted Scene Age under 18 (2-4 actors)

Own choice. Not to exceed 8 minutes.

874. Acted Scene Adult
 Own choice. Not to exceed 10 minutes.

875. Group Drama Age under 12 (minimum 4 actors)

Own choice. Total Performance not to exceed 8 minutes.

876. Group Drama Age under 18 (minimum 4 actors)

Own choice. Total Performance not to exceed 12 minutes.

877. Group Drama Adult (minimum 4 actors)

Own choice. Total Performance not to exceed 15 minutes.

“MUSICAL THEATRE”

This is a section to demonstrate both singing and acting skills. Some impression of costume may be worn as well as use of appropriate properties. Recorded music may be used as accompaniment or if preferred a musical accompanist may attend at the competitor’s own expense.

For further information contact Sarah Cavanagh on 01243 531256 or sarahcavanagh@aol.com

Age Limit

Age limit in individual classes is governed by the competitor’s age on 1st September 2011

878. Musical Theatre Age under 8 years

Perform from memory a song of the candidate’s choice (this may be a nursery rhyme or singing game).

879. Musical Theatre Age 9-10 years

Perform from memory a song from British or American musical theatre, film or animated film or television.

880. Musical Theatre Age 10-12 years

Perform from memory a song written after 1950.

881. Musical Theatre Age 12-14 years

Introduce and perform from memory a song from 1950-1970.

882. Musical Theatre Age 14-16 years

Introduce and perform from memory a song from between 1920-1970.

883. Musical Theatre Age 16-19 years

Introduce and perform from memory an own choice song from before 1900.

884. Musical Theatre Adult (19 years upwards)

Introduce and perform three songs from memory and present a personal programme.

Marks will be awarded for individual presentation style and theme.

885. Musical Theatre Duologue Junior (Under 12 years)

Own choice, time limit 4 minutes.

886. Musical Theatre Duologue Intermediate (12 to 15  years)

Own choice, time limit 4 minutes.

887. Musical Theatre Duologue Senior (16 to 19 years)

Own choice, time limit 5 minutes.

888. Musical Theatre Duologue Adult (19 years and above)

Own choice, time limit 6 minutes.

889a. Under 10 Girls

Perform from memory “Truly Scrumptious” from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Verse 1)

889b. Under 10 Boys

Perform from memory “Consider Yourself” from Oliver

890a. Under 15 Girls

Perform from memory “Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz

890b. Under 15 Boys

Perform from memory “Mr. Cellophane” from Chicago

891a. Girls 15 and over

Perform from memory “Defying Gravity” from Wicked

891b. Boys 15 and over

Perform from memory “Master of the House” from Les Miserables

892. Ensemble for up to 6 Performers

Perform from memory two contrasting songs - Own choice

CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSES

893. Musical Theatre Junior (Under 12 years)

Introduce and perform two songs from memory one written before 1950 and one own choice.

894. Musical Theatre Intermediate (12-15 years)

Introduce and perform two songs from memory one written between 1950-1970 and one song own choice.

895. Musical Theatre Senior (16-19 years)

Introduce and perform three songs from memory one must be written before 1900 and two own choices from any period. Marks will be awarded for individual presentation style and theme

Speech & Drama Classes

Date

Venue

Contact

 Sunday    4 March 2012

 
Saturday  10 March 2012
  Sunday    11 March 2012

Musical Theatre at Oakwood School

Central School
Chichester

Sarah Cavanagh, Marchwood Grange, Brandy Hole Lane, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 5RY (Tel. 531256) Email: sarahcavanagh@aol.com