Randfontein High School (RHS) is proud to announce that one of their pupils won the national acting competition held at Hoërskool Bellville in Cape Town at the end of May.
Alexandra West, RHS spokesperson said, “What does it take to win a national acting competition? Many hours of self-exploration, dedication, repetition, repetition, repetition and then the ability to deliver it all as if it is being said and done for the first time. Cantona James and Stacey-Ann Phillips, both Grade 12 pupils at RHS, auditioned for entry into the kykNET Nasionale Toneelkompetisie.”
The audition rounds were held in Pretoria in March. This year’s entries tallied 500 candidates from schools around the country.
James and Phillips were among the 80 candidates who were selected to proceed to the four elimination rounds in Cape Town from 19 to 21 May.
Both had to prepare three different pieces, a monologue, a poem and a piece of prose, which had to be performed separately during the elimination rounds and then one after another on the final evening.
During the course of the elimination rounds, the candidates were thinned out from 80 to 32, to 16 and then the final eight candidates performed in the final round.
In between the elimination rounds, the candidates were auditioned by RSG for their teenage story series called Ratels and for eligibility for auditions as a commentator on radio.
In addition, the candidates visited the kykNET set of Suidoosters, where they were auditioned in front of cameras for a role in the soap opera series. Finally, kykNET’s production crew for Binnelanders also auditioned candidates for a role in their soap opera series. At each of these events, the candidates received marks to grade their work for eligibility into the final round of the competition.
Phillips was selected to participate in the RSG series of Ratels and, if the radio station finds her a suitable candidate, she will be signed on for more recordings. The first recordings will be made in Auckland Park at the RSG studios.
James was announced as one of the final eight candidates and performed at the finale at Artscape Theatre in Cape Town on the evening of Saturday 21 May. In reward for stellar performances and his incredibly hard work, Cantona James won the kykNET Nasionale Toneelkompetisie. He was awarded a cash prize and won a full scholarship to study Dramatic Arts at Stellenbosch University.
He has also been selected to perform in a play that will be written explicitly for four candidates to perform at Woordfees. He is also being considered as a candidate for a role in Binnelanders.
Marita Henning, the principal, was delighted to attend the finale and joins the facility as well as pupils at RHS in congratulating both Cantona James and Stacey-Ann Phillips for their remarkable accomplishments.
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