You Me We Together

Welcome

Welcome to the St Dunstan’s Festival 2023. It is our great thrill to be able to host you during this exciting twelve days of events. We hope there is something for everyone in the wide range of performances, competitions and workshops that are running across the college campus and at our dedicated Festival site on the Jubilee Grounds in the heart of Catford. The Festival has been part of the life of the college for many years in different forms, originating as an arts festival which was reignited when our current Head joined the college. In more recent years I have helped grow the Festival and broaden not only its scope but also its reach into other schools and the local community. At the heart of the Festival is a desire both to celebrate achievement, identity and our DNA, as well as to create opportunities for as many people as possible to experience something new, challenging or affirming.

The programme of events has been put together to give everyone the chance to explore who we are as a community both within the walls of the college campus but also more importantly outside of those walls. As we look at the trajectory of the Festival we can see how it has started to embrace a much wider group of people and we hope that by 2024 we will

Perform

Browse through the wide range of performances to watch or participate in. pg 4 – 7 be in a position to develop the event into the Catford Festival, showcasing the very best that the area has to offer alongside maintaining an expansive offering to our own students. Album Exorna, our college motto, is not just about being an individual in isolation, it is about taking our unique place in the world and by opening the Festival doors wide open we hope to provide a place for everyone to explore the part they play in community and wider world.

We invite you to join us at one of the many events in the Festival and enjoy, discover, celebrate, perform or compete together as part of the wonderful community we are.

Mr Richard Gregg Director of St Dunstan’s College Festival

Celebrate

Take the opportunity to celebrate who we are and the amazing achievements of the last year pg 8

Focus on what we can give to others or do for our communities. Pg 9

Relax and enjoy a range of fun activities for all the family. Pg 10 -11

Compete

It doesn’t matter if you enjoy sports, video games or even outer space, there are plenty of chances to compete against others with your favourite activity. Pg 12 - 14

Discover

At the heart of the festival is the opportunity to discover something new. Learn a new skill and expand your horizons. Pg 15 – 20

Calendar of Events

Check out the full calendar of events. Pg 22 – 23 Booking

Pg 24

Open Air Concert

25th June | Outdoor Stage | 5:00pm | £12.50/£7.50

Talented young people from St Dunstan’s and other local schools bring you an evening of music and song. From bands to instrumental ensembles, vocal groups and more. Relax in a deckchair, enjoy a drink or bring your own picnic for a summer evening of great music.

Chaos

26th June | Theatre | 7:00pm | £7.50

Directed by A Level students Chaos is a play made up of scenes that are both separate and interconnected. The characters explore themes such as love, violence, the universe, physics, and friendship simultaneously.

Matilda Jr

27th June | Big Top | 6:00pm | £12.50/£7.50

Rebellion is nigh in Matilda JR., a gleefully witty ode to the the anarchy of childhood and the power of imagination! Performed by Year 6 students and based on the Roald Dahl classic, this is the story of a girl who dreams of a better life and the children she inspires will have you rooting for the “revolting children” who are out to teach the grown-ups a lesson.

Lamda Slam

27th June | Theatre | 7:00pm | £7.50

A celebration of the work of LAMDA students across the college. An evening of monologues and duologues combined to entertain and provoke thought.

Dido and Aeneas

28th June | Outdoor Stage | 7:00pm | £12.50/£7.50

Presented by St Dunstan’s Music Department, Dido and Aeneas is the story of the queen of Carthage who falls in love with Aeneas, the Trojan prince, whilst offering him safe harbour on his journey home. A Sorceress, who hates Dido, plots to separate them by creating a storm and sending one of her servants, disguised as Mercury, to urge Aeneas to return home straightaway, forsaking Dido. Aeneas readies his sailors and lets Dido know he must leave. Dido cannot bear losing him and kills herself, after offering one of the most famous English arias, Dido’s Lament (“When I am laid in earth”).

Perform

We Will Rock You

29th June | Big Top | 7:00pm | £12.50/£7.50

Featuring chart-topping Queen songs including “Another One Bites the Dust,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “We Will Rock You,” “We Are the Champions,” and many more, the show follows two young rebels as they restore rock ‘n’ roll to “the iPlanet” in a post-apocalyptic world. Rehearsed in just 5 days, this is a musical for our time: a fistpumping, foot-stomping anthem to individuality.

Big Summer Sing

30th June | Big Top | 5:00pm | £7.50

An inter-schools choir event involving talented singers from local primary schools and SDC Junior School.

Film Project Premier

30th June | Outdoor Stage | 9:00pm | Free

Working alongside Central Film School, students will be showing the premier of a film they have made over the course of the Festival. Exploring isses that are important to them this is a chance to hear the voice of future filmmakers.

The Community Sings

1st July | Big Top | 7:00pm | £7.50

Seven community choirs are joining together to showcase a range of musical styles and tastes and joy of singing together. An evening full of varied music from local choirs large and small.

The Sound of Lewisham

1st July | Outdoor Stage | 4:00pm | Free

The sound of Lewisham will showcase an array of talented Lewisham borough-based young people from rappers, singers and a choir performing original songs spanning various genres of Hip Hop, Rap, Drill, R&B & Soul who attend the Lewisham Music Hub

Junior School Concert

3rd July | Big Top | 6:00pm | £7.50

The talented musicians of the Junior School will be entertaining you with a range of music from our orchestra, music ensembles and choir.

Macbeth

4th July | Big Top | 7:00pm | £12.50/£7.50

Murder, mayhem and revenge are the ingredients of one of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies. The St Dunstan’s Drama department take you on a journey into the mind of Macbeth and his power-hungry wife.

Festival Concert

5th July | Big Top | 7:00pm | £12.50/£7.50

Join us for an evening of great music from the college orchestra, big band, vocalists and massed choir. Uplifting, moving and energising, the programme of music is a perfect way to end the Festival.