Watch Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor students taking to the stage with their 2023 theatre show, Arthrawon!.

Learners performed for the public over three days as the annual Sioe Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor returned to Neuadd Dwyfor arts centre in Pwllheli for the first time since the pandemic.

Arthrawon! is loosely based on the 1980s play, Teechers, by John Godber. It is set at Ysgol Aberheli, where on the last day of term for Year 11, the drama department performs its original play for the whole school.

The play follows the life of Mr Nixon, the new drama teacher, from the viewpoint of his pupils, through a mix of comedy, drama and music.

Arthrawon! featured a cast of A-level students from both the Pwllheli and Dolgellau campuses, studying a range of subjects including Music, Drama, Chemistry, Maths, English, Geography, History and Law.

Learners were also involved in making props and costumes, and marketing the show.

Lecturer Gwenno Pritchard said in the programme notes: “After a difficult and busy period over the last few years, it is nice to be back, at last, in Neuadd Dwyfor with the students of Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor.

“The pandemic and the lockdown periods have been challenging for everyone and especially for our young people.

"They had to stay at home and miss out on an important part of growing up, socialising and making connections with their peers.

"This has been a blow to their confidence and they are gradually building back up.

“Arthrawon! is an adaptation of the play Teechers by John Godber. This is a play originally set in the 1980s about Year 11 students performing an original show about their new drama teacher.

“Of course, schools and young people have changed a lot since then, and this can be seen in our more modern adaptation... but I'm sure that children's impression of their teachers is still quite similar!”