SEVEN boys from St Ita’s School, Dutton Park, flew to the Tournament of Minds’ Australasian and Pacific Finals in Melbourne to compete for “survival”.
After achieving first place in the state finals, second place going to St Ita’s girls’ team, the boys were off to Melbourne.
St Ita’s specialty field was Language Literature, which involved complex dramatic performances adhering to strict performance rules.
Year 7 teacher Anne-Marie Quinn, who accompanied the boys on the trip, said the only preparation allowed for the final performance involved the team being ushered into a room for three hours and in that time they had to come up with a plot, a script, costumes and choreography.
For all of the hype and intrigue surrounding the competition, St Ita’s team stayed cool during the tournament and ended up placing first in the Language Literature category.
As a little convent school, St Ita’s has not had a history of fame, fortune and big-city lights but this was definitely its moment to shine.
“Their performance was outstanding,” Mrs Quinn said.
“The boys were able to get humour into the play, they were very witty, and it was a humour that appealed to adults and their peer group.”
The performance itself involved the boys creating a dramatic piece revolving around Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive.
The boys had to exploit this theme whilst maintaining a plot that centred on an “inanimate object”.
St Ita’s performance was centred on an iPhone that would not turn off, causing mayhem amongst the phone owners.
The plot of the play was finally resolved with the help of a technician and the phone’s confession that it caused the whole ruckus just because “it did not want to be replaced by an Android”, Mrs Quinn said.
The boys have returned to their schools and have taken a lot from their experiences in Melbourne.
