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TEENAGER Benjamin Wall proved triumphant in the Intermediate level at the Bahrain Young Performers Festival (BYPF) this year with an impressive touch of originality.
The British School of Bahrain (BSB) pupil, performing on home turf, took the stage with an original drama solo he had created.
The competition boasted three levels, Novice, Intermediate and Advanced, each of which attracted a variety of performers who acted, sang, danced or played an instrument, including both solo and group performances. Head teacher’s son Benjamin, 14, was the only actor who performed his own material at the Grand Final.
The act titled ‘Life and Times of Adophis’, was described by Benjamin as an ‘inner monologue of a god of chaos within a fancy world who’s been turned to stone’.
Donning a black hat, black gloves and a burgundy cape that he recently had tailor-made, he said: “It feels pretty good. I wasn’t really expecting it. I want to be a writer when I’m older, so I’ve been writing stories. For BYPF, I thought I could make a monologue out of part of one of my stories.”
The ambitious young author enjoys using his vivid imagination to write about the fantasy genre. Some of his favourite books include Robert Muchamore’s CHERUB series of spy thrillers and Derek Landy’s Skulduggery Pleasant fantasy novels.
The director of Inspire Arts Centre and one of the judges, Lydia Martin, said Benjamin’s work had the audience ‘spellbound’.
Another judge and the head of the music department at BSB, Lavinia Mariana, added: “The competition went very well and it was not easy to decide at the very end because of the high standards of the performances and the variety as well.”
Seven awards were handed out to the talented performers who have worked hard for their moment at the Grand Final.
The Diversity Award went to Inspire Art Centre’s Safiya Jamali, who awed the audience with her expressive eyes and booming voice as she sang Bart’s Who Will Buy.
Life in Music’s Ian Fernandez scored the Star of the Future Award with his piano recital of Rain, which created a stunning mental image of water droplets hitting the ground right before a brewing storm.
St Christopher’s Sophie Moir and the BSB’s Academy of Performing Arts’ Alex Jones playfully twirled and flipped in their darling black polka-dotted skirts during their routine to ‘Six Feet Under’, which crowned them as the Novice winners.
Last year’s Advanced winner from St Christopher’s, Michel Toutoungy, and his fellow violinist, Rayan Bannaei, started off with a soft melody and picked up the pace with furious fervour to a well-deserved win with their violin duo composed by Bartok.
As for the closing acts, Cantata stole the show and sung their way into the hearts of the judges with their power-packed performance of He Lives in You by Lebo M, which won them the Choir Award.
And, to top off the awards ceremony, the Final Ensemble Award was handed to St Christopher’s School’s Arnold Brass, with a rendition of the classic favourite, Frere Jacques.
With so much variety in the acts, there are many factors when determining a winner in each category. Judge Mariana expanded on what the judges consider during the competition: “We are all looking for the same things. The technical level is important, but we also take into consideration age and the diversity of art involved. We were also looking for poise and presence on stage and entertainment. Most of all, artistic talent which is above, before, and beyond technicalities, but one without the other cannot be conceived.”
Benjamin’s mum, Carole, was there to cheer him on and was excited for her youngest son’s victory. Carole also has two other sons, Patrick, 21, and Peter, 19.
“It’s amazing. All these kids have worked really hard for weeks and weeks to prepare for today and they are all winners, really. It was a huge surprise looking at the standard of the performances. He came here to have fun because he enjoys being on the stage and he is a very lucky boy,” she said.
“He has always had a fantastic imagination and has always been a writer. That he writes wonderful things is not a surprise, but performing is new. He’s only recently started wanting to be on the stage and performing his writing. Now he seeks an audience wherever he can,” she added.
Proud dad, Dr Charles Wall, said: “Benjamin is a young man of few words, but when he does speak most people listen because it’s all very eloquent and very well put together. He reads a book a day and he is writing voraciously and tonight we learned about existentialism and the need for a pick axe. I’m very proud and it’s great to see Benjamin enjoying himself.”
As for Benjamin’s future plans, the aspiring writer would like to get his creative works published by a leading company.
