Selwyn House School - Yearbook (Montreal, Quebec Canada)

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Y 4 J 9- gg., voun attic! This year's Christmas Entertainment was one of the best, and certainly one of the largest we have had for some time. Four choirsgl believe an almost unprecedented number at this school performancehand three plays were presented. The first event at the afternoon performance was the singing of three Christmas carols by the Junior Choir: A Child's Song of Christmas, O Little Town of Bethlehem, and All my heart this night rejoices. The members of this choir should be congratulated for their ex- cellent performance. The singing of the soloists, Jan Wyllie, Robin Davies, John Kent and John Gwinnell, especially deserves mention. The second choir, composed of the best singers in Form I, started the evening per- formance, for the Junior Choir sang only once. This choir sang: Villagers all, this frosty time, Shepherds in the fields abiding, and a traditional Wassail Song. Once again the choir, and particularly the soloists, Victor Vickers, Pembroke MacDermot, John Pike and Bobby Tennant, deserved the greatest praise. The third choir, chosen from the boys in Form ll, also merited much gratitude and exhibited great unanimity in their singing of The Twelve Days of Christmas, See amid the winter snow, and I Wish you a Merry Christmas. The soloists, carefully selected from their fellows, proved their worth, and the rest of the choir did well also. These soloists were: Ian Robson, Rory Forbes, George Galt, Terry Hutchinson, Richard Dobell and Tommy Bourne. The fourth and final choir was the Senior Choir, which triumphantly ended the choral proceedings with four Australian carols. Sung apparently effortlessly, these carols from the other side of the world, with their mention of hot summer days, supplied a bright change from the thought of frosts and snowbanks so likely to arise from our own carols. The Day that Christ was Born on, Sing Gloria, The Oxen and Merry Christmas were all sung very successfully. Here, more than anywhere else, the soloists - Peter Wright, Ivan Ralston, Graeme Tennant, Jimmy Brunton and Jimmy Sedgewick-were of the utmost importance to the success of the choir. In the field of Dramatics, three plays were presented by the boys of the Senior School. The first was Le Cafe Cognac, a little comedy in French written by Strachan Turnbull and produced by Mr. lversen. The scene was the interior of a French cafe, where Les Quatre Escrocs met, These men, the villains of the piece, were acted very well by Michael Dorland, who adopted with ease the part of a defiant leader of bandits, Christopher Skoryna, George Hebert and Aleca Kairis. The atmosphere had a note of realism, partly due to the efforts of John Pike, le garconha very typical one! Humour was added by a few lines of English, ably spoken by Duncan McMartin and Gordon McNeil. Christopher Hoffmann as un petit monsieur, silent behind his newspaper, yet listening all the while, Peter Fialkowski as le chef, and Hugh Roberts as l'agent de police, all acted admirably. The second play, For Homework Tonight, was written and produced by Mr. Moodey, our Maths master. The play afforded unbounded hilarity for the audience, thanks to the excellent performance of the actorsg yet it was crowded into two brief scenes. The story was a homely one and the characters were a normal family - Ma, Pa, an aunt and the

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24 SELWYN HOUSE SCHOOL MAGAZINE children. Ma, the frustrated mother, was well acted by Raymond Douse, Aunt Zinnia by Graeme Tennant, and Pa, the gruff absentee from the family circle, by Allan Zinman, but in the family all centres round the children, and upon the entry of two of them, scattering their belongings behind them, all the fun began. Hardly had Angus, acted by Paul Valois, and Barney, acted by Miles Tyrer, comfortably settled to do their homework, than they were interrupted by Claude lMichael Shaughnessyl, who found little room for three sets of books on one small table. Then the fun began in earnest and the children, acted very well and very naturally, nearly threw the audience into hysterics by their antics. At the close of the scene, moreover, one of the children wishing help with his homework, Uncle Wilbur lThomas Birksl was called in, and he brought a friend, Leander, with him. The play concluded with Thomas Birks and Tony Stikeman lLeanderl acting brilliantly as Uncle Wilbur and his friend entangling themselves in the homework. The last play The Poison Party, written by F. Sladen-Smith, was acted by boys from Form V. Murray Whipps showed skill in acting the wily Queen Mother Marie whose char- acter was further enhanced by the adept touches of Stephen Wells, the Lord Bishop du Guesclin, secret confidant of her Majesty. One of the star parts in the play was that of King Philippe, a young king deprived of his responsibilities by the imperious Queen Mother, who nevertheless spoils him. The king, boyish and cheerful, with a large appetite and a great love for animals, was well acted by William Ballantyne. It was due to the latter characteristic that the Queen was foiled in one of her schemes to slightly reduce the population , for the whole play revolves round the plot of the Queen Mother to poison Denise de Beauiolis, a lady of the court apparently in love with King Philippe contrary to the wishes of his mother. The appetites of the king and his pet rabbit Madeleine avert, however, the impending catastrophe. Denise and her father, Monsieur de Beauiolis, attend the Poison Party. Jonathan Birks put into the part of the former a touch of hauteur suitable to a Belle Dame of the court, and Teddy Manthorp, as Denise's father, also succeeded with good elfect in portraying the character desired. The small parts in a play are the ones which often merit much praise, though they seldom receive it. Val-Jean, the Queens Page, and Christophe, Steward of the Household, acted by Gregor Maxwell and Christopher Roulson respectively, were very successful parts, the right touches of servility being achieved. Last but not least, those who worked behind the scenes deserve thanks, for were it not for their invisible hands the plays would not have been produced at all. D. W. The Choir Last June we were privileged to have Mrs. Forrest, a music specialist in the Westmount Protestant Schools, to judge our annual Singing Competition. This competition was a great success, the winners in the Intermediate bracket being Richard Dobell and lan Robson, those in the Senior bracket Ralph Walker and Peter Wright. The Intermediate group sang Eric Thyman's Sailing and the Senior group Bless this house, O Lord, we pray. All these boys should be proud of their achievement. The Prize-giving Choir this year was also very successful. It sang Henry Purcell's Nymphs and Shepherds, come away, to celebrate the tercentenary of his birth, Thiman's I have twelve oxen, a two-part canon, and Bless this house. The singing was of the highest quality and the parents greatly appreciated it.