Vauxhall High opens new door on theatre arts - Students to be equipped with marketable skills

Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

When the blue ribbon was cut last week to officially open the new drama facility at Vauxhall High School, it opened up wider possibilities for the Windward Road, St Andrew school's 20 theatre arts students.

Carl Samuels, who along with Myrna Holmes teaches drama and theatre arts at Vauxhall, welcomed those gathered at the brief ceremony to a "reopening of this newly renovated space". He made it clear that "to me it is a big deal. Very often you find Vauxhall makes the news about some things we may not be pleased about ... . So this, simple as it seems, I find a grand occasion".

The simply grand event, which involved students displaying their technical and acting skills in a mini-production for the audience, involved a number of persons. Among them are two student teachers from the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. Paul Wilson from the 2011/2012 academic year bought the lighting board and Le Jean Lee in the current academic year put in a stage door and costume closet, in addition to working on the lighting booth.

The school dealt with the required tiling and provided a dimmer bank, Samuels doing extensive renovation work himself to alter the space, which was previously very unattractive. He estimates that had everything been done at open-market prices, it would have cost about $400,000.

However, there is another set of dollar bills involved. At the launch, Samuels said after honing their technical skills at what is now known as the Vauxhall Drama School, "when the students leave here they can go right into employment in the technical area". There are intentions to make it an income-generating facility, Samuels saying after the launch production there were suggestions that an event be staged every month.

However, utilising the annual Caribbean Examination Council Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate theatre arts practical examinations to generate revenue for the facility's improvement is on the cards. Theatre arts was first included in the examinations in 2003.

Samuels pointed out that the new drama room provides students with a much better facility to do the practical assessment. Previously the examinations were done in the auditorium, "but there is a lot of distraction. Now we can lock away and have the students do it in a more conducive space".

At the opening ceremony, Vauxhall High's principal Angela Chaplain advised all to look at the credits after a film is finished and note the number of persons involved.

"We are preparing our students for an industry that is doing well," Chaplain said.

The newly opened Vauxhall Drama School has proven to be a catalyst, as there is now a rush to join the Drama Club. There are Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) certificates on display inside the room and Samuels said "most of the students look forward to the JCDC festival. Anything that will give them the sense of recognition and take them out of the (accustomed) space, they would naturally gravitate towards that".