On the 27^th June, 35 UIV pupils headed to the Victoria Rooms to compete in the annual Bristol Latin Play Competition 2023 . This was the first time St Mary’s had entered since the pandemic, and we were very excited to tread the boards once again at this wonderful celebration of Latin Drama.

On the way, we stopped for a picnic on the Clifton Downs before heading to the Victoria Rooms, which are part of the University of Bristol’s Music Department. When we arrived, the Junior Competition had just begun, and soon it was time for the Ludi Scaenici (Senior) Latin Play Competition to start.

There were three schools competing; Badminton, Bristol Grammar School and St Mary’s Calne, with a total of nine plays entered. The plays are written by the teachers and then performed by the students in Latin.

The first play from St Mary’s Calne was one of Mr Mathew’s classes, who performed a very witty scene set in a school in Rome called Roman Schoolboys. The second was our version of the famous myth Echo and Narcissus, which was performed by Miss Cavanagh’s Latin Class. The final St Mary’s play was a version of Eros and Psyche, performed by Mr Mathew’s other class. 

The girls did tremendously well, speaking confidently and clearly in Latin in front of a very large audience. Once all the plays had been performed, the judges went to deliberate while the pupils had some refreshments.

When the judges returned, they awarded ‘Roman Schoolboys’ a commendation for the script, Eros and Psyche was awarded joint 3rd place and. to our absolute delight, Echo and Narcissus won 1st place!

The judges commented that they very much enjoyed the script, the flute music (provided by Emilie) and the strong acting performances.

We returned jubilant to St Mary’s Calne after a very successful day.

Miss Louise Cavanagh
Classics Teacher