Whanganui High School won the Hawke's Bay-Manawatu regional Showquest title. Photo / Ben Pryor Photography
Whanganui High School won the Hawke's Bay-Manawatu regional Showquest title. Photo / Ben Pryor Photography
A stage production about an infamous baby farmer who was the only woman in New Zealand to be sentenced to death has earned Whanganui High School a shot at the national Showquest title.
The school's production won the Hawke's Bay-Manawatū regional open along with the award for best use of props, costume, drama and the Tikanga Award.
Showquest is an annual performing arts competition for schools across New Zealand.
The video of their production will now go to national judges with the eight other regional winners once those are selected.
Maddi McKenzie and Eve Parker-Groves are the heads of culture at Whanganui High School (WHS), and the student captains for the school's Showquest production.
"A big feature prop for us was the hat boxes because, according to the legend, she killed a baby on a train and put it in a hat box because she didn't know what to do with it.
"People saw her go into the train station with a baby and a hat box, and come out with just a hat box. So that was quite a key prop for us," Parker-Groves said.
According to NZ History, police then searched her garden and unearthed the bodies of babies Dorothy Carter and Eva Hornsby and the skeleton of a 4-year-old boy.
"It was quite a dark theme," Parker-Groves said.
The production ended with the hanging of Minnie Dean. Photo / Ben Pryor Photography
The show had eight Minnie Deans who represented who she was and the different legends about her and what she did to children.
They started the show with a "nightmare sequence", as the legend of Minnie Dean used to be used down south as a tale to get children to go to bed.
"It then went into a scene where parents who would have children and couldn't keep them had to give their babies away to Minnie and watch them find out that she had killed all these children."
McKenzie said the show finished with Minnie Dean being hung.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, each performance was judged on a filmed performance at Palmerston North's Regent Theatre.
Their performance was filmed on May 27, and they had a digital prizegiving on June 3.
Head of music and performing arts coordinator at WHS Jeanette Jones said the production was very student-led.
"Maddi and Eve have done so much work. They organised all the practices, all the costumes, and props. It was all their idea," Jones said.
"We have quite a good history here with Showquest. Whanganui High School has won three national awards."
Napier Girls' High School's entry was second in the region, and Whanganui Girls' College was third, winning awards for best theme and best live music.
Showquest director Matt Ealand said that the aim for students participating in Showquest was for their confidence to grow and leadership to develop, all while learning through experience.
"This platform allows them to work in a team, listen to one another and do what they love," he said.
