VOLUME 2, ISSUE 3 The Insight 12TH FEBUARY 2015 INSIDE THIS Spanish Play Reading Society ISSUE: Chawker’s Play 2 As most of our readers will be aware, at Winchester College there is a diverse Dates For The Diary 2 range of society to satisfy the interests of all the boys. Whilst Debating Soci- ety, Psychology Society and Bell Ringing Society all have sufficient demand Cardinal Beaufort 4 to warrant regular meetings, many societies can go long periods of time with- Lecture out meeting. Hockey XI 4 Fortunately, Spanish Play Reading Society has not fallen away like various The Opening Of 5 others, and its first meeting of the year, at the end of January, was a great New Hall success. Following a series of task times on Spanish Golden Age literature with JKH, seven VI Book Hispanists were allocated roles in Calderón de la Young Enterprise 6 Barca’s “El Médico de su Honra”, or “The Surgeon of his Honour.” The Trant’s House Play 6 meeting also featured four girls from Peter Symonds College and their teach- er, Mrs. Pounds. Watercolour Exhibi- 7 tion Led by the powerful voice of Henry Portman (K) as the protagonist, Don Gutierre Alfonso Solís, the supporting cast of Matt Roller (I), Ollie Clark Awards & Notions 8 (X), Tom Wigley (K) and Robert Hewett (C) helped to keep the play moving, and Julia Hebron’s vivacious performance as Doña Mencía de Acuña showed an excellent ability to tackle the tough language used. SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST: However, the star of the meeting was undoubtedly Sasha Reviakin (H), who took on the role of the ‘gracioso’, or joker, with aplomb, and even broke into WinCoFo Notions song on a couple of occasions. Many thanks must go to him, JKH and CMC New Hall Reopening for organising the event, and all to Peter Symonds College for their participa- tion. Matt Roller (I) PAGE 2 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 3 Chawker’s House Play The first play of the calendar year saw Chawker’s put up their production of ‘The Grimm Tales,’ a selec- tion of fairy tales written by two German brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm. The cast consisted primarily of first timers to the QEII stage, with a number of JP and MP boys taking part; this was very encouraging for the future of acting within the house. The play consisted of five short stories, highlighting perhaps the most famous of the Grimm Tales: Hansel and Gretel, Rumpelstiltskin, Snow White, Ashputtel and Iron Hans. The two directors, Yannick Schremper and George Tall, in adapting the script, made a con- scious effort to keep the essential elements of the storyline intact whilst also managing to add in some Wiccamical elements and references. This made for a very enjoyable and humorous show that had the right balance between comedy and drama. The play revolved around a central narrator, played by Ned McCrossan, who was essentially recounting the stories aloud to the audience. The directors used the QEII stage to its full capacity, with the narrator interacting with the audience in a very commendable fashion. Hansel and Gretel, portrayed by Tom Pike -Caesar and Etienne Le Goater respectively, highlighted the hardships faced by poor German families in the 19th century. Next, Jack Cheng’s depiction of Rumpelstiltskin led to a fair few laughs in the audi- ence, as he showed a developed understanding of the character. Snow White, Ashputtel and Iron Hans all followed with a variety of actors portraying a wide range of characters; James Korossy as Snow White particularly stood out. A number of actors had multiple roles in the different stories, which dis- played the versatility and adaptability of the cast on the whole. All the actors said their lines in a sort of personal narration, almost as if they were reading from the actual book of tales, while simultaneously acting out their parts. This was a very interesting way to go about telling these stories and I think that overall it was an extremely effective one. Akhil Mithal (F) Dates For The Diary 22nd February - Leave-Out Ends 27th February - Kenneth Clark Prize Final 28th February - XVs 8th March - Confirmation 9th-10th March - ABRSM Music Exams 14th March - VIs: OTH vs Commoners 17th-19th March - School Play: The Revenger's Tragedy 21st March - School goes down PAGE 3 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 3 THE INSIGHT PAGE 4 Cardinal Beaufort Lecture OW Robin Baird-Smith was invited to give the annual Cardinal Beaufort Lecture for 2015, and spoke on the topic of ‘The Book is Dead. Long Live the Book: Publishing, Reading and the Life of the Spirit’ to a wide-ranging audience. His thirty-minute speech covered a wide variety of topics, including the rise of the e-book, the manner in which we read, the relationship between the Catholic Church and reading, and the life of a publisher. After this enthralling monologue, he then opened the floor to a great number of questions and responses, as debate broke out between those in favour of physical copies of books and those who voiced their pref- erence for electronic versions. The other main focus of the talk was that of the spiritual nature of reading; he believes that his apprecia- tion and understanding of literature, and poetry in particular, has been helped by a sense of calmness and reflection when he reads. Perhaps this point was not discussed to the same extent as the Kindle debate, but it too was an enthralling topic. Mr Baird-Smith, who attended the College from 1959 to 1964, has held positions at Collins and Blooms- bury, as well as several other publishers and also currently holds a role with the Catholic newspaper ‘The Tablet’. As a result, it is easy to see that he is well-qualified to speak on the subject of books, and his traditional stance was echoed by various current members of staff. However, amongst the younger at- tendees of the talk, there was perhaps a more open-minded view towards the matter. This was certainly a stimulating and enjoyable lecture from Mr. Baird-Smith, and his vast contribution to the industry of publishing was clear. Matt Roller (I) Hockey XI Winchester College Hockey is one of the fastest developing sports in the school at the moment, with a formidable Hockey XI leading the way, backed up by a very strong (and large) junior squad. With Mr. Robert Moore, triple Olympian for hockey, contributing more and more to the hockey side of things de- spite being the don in charge of golf, and rumours of a new astro turf to be built, hockey is definitely one to look out for. With regards to this year’s Hockey XI, we are continuing to see good results coming up from the senior team. This is no doubt due to the strong leadership of Mr. Wright, and captain Jasen Soopramanien (C), as well as the invaluable contributions from the rest of the team. Names to look out for on the pitch are the Scriven brothers (Jolyon (X) and Harvey (F)), goalkeeper Rory Bedford (X) and the perennially enthusiastic Fergus Horsfall (K). Down in the junior teams, players that have shown promising talent for years to come include Julian Moore (I), Florian Garland Hoff (F), Jeremy Cheng (H) and Tom Nottingham (I). Often branded as the underdogs against some of the big sporting schools, we managed to steal a 1 - 0 victory against the ever-strong Radley, which was the first victory we’ve managed against them in well over 10 years. A narrow defeat away at Pangbourne as well as the honourable draw with Cheltenham has already left us with a renewed confidence in our ability to perform as a team. It’s still early days in the season, and yet we are becoming ever more optimistic about some of the tough games to come. Our next opponent is Marlborough, who, I’m told are going to present us with yet another major challenge to overcome, and Eton follows them. Our results against Eton have not been too fantastic in recent history, but this year could be a turning point in the ever-heated derby between the two rival schools. In my totally honest, unbiased opinion as a keen hockey enthusiast, I would say that Winchester Hockey most definitely has a bright future and coupled with our other first class companions in Boat Club, Soc- cer XI and Lords, will help to maintain our reputation for sporting achievement amongst all our rival schools. Angus Altham (I) PAGE 5 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 3 The Opening Of New Hall Sunday January 18thheralded a new age in the history of New Hall. A spectacular ceremony marked its official re- opening after its refurbishment. The hall itself is now splendid. Attractive as well as functional, it is everything the old New Hall was not. The evening of its opening offered an immense show of talent from the school with boys as well as dons getting involved. The evening started with an introduction and welcome from the Warden. He recounted the history of the magnifi- cent building and the history of the beautiful wooden panelling which gives the hall an ancient feel despite its ob- vious modernity. After his speech, the Vice-Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire Mrs Lindsay Fox officially re-opened New Hall. The first show of talent was the recital from The Origins and Life of William of Wykeham by The Sen- ior Tutor (Mr Anderson), the Second Master (Mr Wyke) and Temi Bolodeoku (C). The recital started off in Latin read fluently and compassionately by Mr Anderson; however, Mr Wyke, sensing the soporific state of the audi- ence, politely interrupted in English.