By Ahmed Al Mansoori & Tala Barham
Grade 10
On the night of Wednesday November 21, the Grade 11 Drama class of Raha International School gave an outstanding performance of the play, “The Giver”, based on Lois Lowry’s novel of the same name.
It is a very renowned young adult novel, written in 1993, and most popular for its futuristic dystopian setting. It is a highly-acclaimed novel that is taught in many schools around the world due to its perceptional insight on the human psychology.
The story narrates the conflicting dilemma young Jonas faces when he is appointed as Receiver of Memory: should he stay in a community with no love, no color, no choices, and (above all) no freedom? That is the question.
One of the major themes that were evident in the plot of the play is the importance of memory, which highlights its significance to human life since it is the essence of feelings and emotions.
Another major theme of the play is the power of knowledge that has both pros and cons depending on how we, as human beings, use it.
While interviewing one of the major casts of the play, Harrison Gowan, he said “The Giver touches on many ideas of conformity and censorship, and I think it’s important for an actor to understand that while doing a production”.
Therefore, the play deeply explores moral principles and ethical beliefs and their great effect on human societies.
The play was produced and directed by Ms. Rhea Lynn, RIS Drama teacher, and it was evident she has done an outstanding job and added a lot of effort into the play, as all cast members were well-rehearsed.
Harrison Gowan, who starred in the play as Jonas, was in character throughout the whole play, and spoke with excellent projection and enunciation. He was very believable in terms of facial expressions, and created a sense of liveliness on the stage, since the whole play was centered around his life.
Also, another cast member was Adam Palmer, who appeared as the Giver. His role was very believable as well, due to the effective use of makeup and props, which made him look old. He managed to maintain a powerful stage presence too, making him stand out.
The costumes used in the play were amazing in creating the full atmosphere of Jonas’s community, since they were all dressed in grey, thus showing the colorless and tasteless society, making it all the more authentic.
The use of props like the colored apple was very nice, helping the audience understand the repressiveness of the society the play was set in.
There were also some small touches of lighting and sound effects which were very interesting as they were not used before in previous school plays, and showing how resourceful the Drama Department can be with the school facilities.
According to one of the other cast members interviewed, “all three major performances, I would say, went well and I do believe our hard work paid off in the end”.
It was a great play that highlighted the artistic talents existing in our school community, and it was a great opportunity to show it off to everyone else.
Good job to the Grade 11 Drama Class on their hard work and strong determination toward this play, and we hope to see more of them later on during the year.
Grade 10
On the night of Wednesday November 21, the Grade 11 Drama class of Raha International School gave an outstanding performance of the play, “The Giver”, based on Lois Lowry’s novel of the same name.
It is a very renowned young adult novel, written in 1993, and most popular for its futuristic dystopian setting. It is a highly-acclaimed novel that is taught in many schools around the world due to its perceptional insight on the human psychology.
The story narrates the conflicting dilemma young Jonas faces when he is appointed as Receiver of Memory: should he stay in a community with no love, no color, no choices, and (above all) no freedom? That is the question.
One of the major themes that were evident in the plot of the play is the importance of memory, which highlights its significance to human life since it is the essence of feelings and emotions.
Another major theme of the play is the power of knowledge that has both pros and cons depending on how we, as human beings, use it.
While interviewing one of the major casts of the play, Harrison Gowan, he said “The Giver touches on many ideas of conformity and censorship, and I think it’s important for an actor to understand that while doing a production”.
Therefore, the play deeply explores moral principles and ethical beliefs and their great effect on human societies.
The play was produced and directed by Ms. Rhea Lynn, RIS Drama teacher, and it was evident she has done an outstanding job and added a lot of effort into the play, as all cast members were well-rehearsed.
Harrison Gowan, who starred in the play as Jonas, was in character throughout the whole play, and spoke with excellent projection and enunciation. He was very believable in terms of facial expressions, and created a sense of liveliness on the stage, since the whole play was centered around his life.
Also, another cast member was Adam Palmer, who appeared as the Giver. His role was very believable as well, due to the effective use of makeup and props, which made him look old. He managed to maintain a powerful stage presence too, making him stand out.
The costumes used in the play were amazing in creating the full atmosphere of Jonas’s community, since they were all dressed in grey, thus showing the colorless and tasteless society, making it all the more authentic.
The use of props like the colored apple was very nice, helping the audience understand the repressiveness of the society the play was set in.
There were also some small touches of lighting and sound effects which were very interesting as they were not used before in previous school plays, and showing how resourceful the Drama Department can be with the school facilities.
According to one of the other cast members interviewed, “all three major performances, I would say, went well and I do believe our hard work paid off in the end”.
It was a great play that highlighted the artistic talents existing in our school community, and it was a great opportunity to show it off to everyone else.
Good job to the Grade 11 Drama Class on their hard work and strong determination toward this play, and we hope to see more of them later on during the year.