Drama wins top award for friends

Heather White and Mia Howells fight over Tom Hockenhull

Good friends showed off their acting skills when they became enemies in a drama and their performance scooped top honours.

At Rochdale Youth Festival of Performing Arts, nine students from Whitworth Community High School entered three plays they had written.

Year 10 GCSE drama students Heather White and Tom Hockenhull along with GCSE Performing Arts student Mia Howells won the trophy for their age group – Year 11 and under – and an Honours Certificate.

A second Year 11 and under entry also won an Honours Certificate for Daniel and Christopher Heath.

In the Year 9 and under class, Heathcliffe Howard, Jasmine Somerwill, Aysha Quigley and Joseph Zielinski received a Highly Commended Certificate.

Heather, 14, said: “We were given six titles by the organisers and we picked ‘Friends turned enemies’ and wrote the drama.

“We came up with the idea of two girls fighting over one boy and then we started to develop the characters.

“Mia and I are really good friends but in the play I had to be really horrible to her when I was in character. I couldn’t face that Mia was going to be happy with Tom and I did everything to try to break them up.”

Tom, 15, who played a cool basketball player, said the character was the complete opposite of him.

“I found it a bit awkward at first,” he admitted. “After I while I settled into the character. Two girls fighting over me… it is just too much of a drama.”

Heather has already had extras roles in Coronation Street and the 4 o’clock Club on CBBC and is on the books of Salford agency Laine Management. She hopes to be an actress.

Mia, 15, has been dancing since she was eight and attends Signature Dance School in Salford; she would like to be a professional dancer.

Tom is also hoping to get signed to an acting agency and is proficient at mimicking accents.

Heather has entered the festival three times with school acting alongside different students each time and has twice been Highly Commended.