Seisen Students Create Powerful Performances at 2024 KPASS High School Drama Festival

On Saturday, September 14, four Seisen high schoolers joined other students from international schools across the Kanto region for the 2024 KPASS High School Drama Festival, hosted this year by Saint Maur International School in Yokohama.

Seisen’s Drama Teacher Dr. Reimer joined the Seisen representatives at the event, which hosted 63 students from Grades 9-12 from ten schools: Seisen, Saint Maur International School, Yokohama International School, Zama American Middle-High School, the American School in Japan, Yokota High School, Nile C. Kinnick High School, K. International School Tokyo, Aoba-Japan International School, and the International School of the Sacred Heart.  

At the festival, students were split into six groups, each combining people from different schools and led by a professional performance practitioner in the Kanto region. This year’s workshop facilitators were Joan Chen, Laura Pollacco, Michelle Yamazaki, Charlotte Hammond, Shannon Cothran, and Andrew Woolner. Saint Maur’s Head of the Drama Department and Director of Fine Arts, Nicolas Gregoriades was the host of the festival.

These workshop leaders guided the students through a process of devising original 5-minute performances of their creation centered around a theme, which this year was “Crossroads.” 

At the end of the day, the six groups showcased devised pieces their members created over the day on the stage in Saint Maur’s beautiful auditorium. Each piece utilized simple yet thoughtful lighting and sound tech but otherwise focused on the use of their bodies and voices in space to tell a story. Each group interpreted the theme of “Crossroads” very differently; some groups took a comedic approach with chickens crossing roads,  and other groups made their shows serious reflections on choice and struggle. All of the groups effectively communicated a unified message in their shared vision of their presentations. 

Dr. Reimer said: “This was a fantastic experience for all of us. The students got to meet other young people interested in Drama from different high schools and experience working with professional theatre makers from around the Kanto region to create original short-form plays. The teachers, meanwhile, got to network with our counterparts from the other schools, sharing stories and ideas for our classes and school productions. It was so great that we could all come together once again and spend a day celebrating high school theatre.”

Such a strong turnout demonstrates the desire amongst high schoolers in the KPASS school system for opportunities to create theatre and meet other like-minded artists. With any luck, the High School Drama Festival will continue to grow and thrive for years to come.

Congratulations to all of the students who participated! Hopefully, all of their fun experiences at the festival this year will inspire the next generation of participants to sign up for future KPASS High School Drama festivals.

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Want to support Drama at Seisen? Mark your calendars to come see this year's Fall Plays 2024, featuring two one-act reimagining of classic plays – "Antigone" by Sophocles and "Much Ado About Nothing" by William Shakespeare – and the talents of Drama students from Seisen and Saint Mary's, October 25th and 26th, 2024, at 7:00 pm in SMIS's Multi-Purpose Hall. 

This year's KPASS HS Drama Festival participants were (from left to right) Noemi Spezzigu '28, Saya Yamamoto '28, Cassandra "Cassie" Bucy '25, and Fangyan "Vivi" Fu '25. 

Fangyan "Vivi" Fu '25 begging to become a space alien on the stage of St. Maur International School's auditorium at this year's KPASS High School Drama Festival.

Cassandra "Cassie" Bucy '25 performing as a disgruntled chicken on the stage of St. Maur International School's auditorium at this year's KPASS High School Drama Festival.

 

 

Dr. Reimer accompanied the participants (from left to right: Noemi Spezzigu '28, Saya Yamamoto '28, Cassandra "Cassie" Bucy '25, and Fangyan "Vivi" Fu '25) to this year's KPASS HS Drama Festival at St. Maur International School.

The participants and workshop facilitators of the KPASS High School Drama Festival 2024.