2021 House Plays Programme

Somerset College

presents the

House Plays Festival 2021

House Plays Festival Winner 2020

2020 House Plays Festival Highlights

Welcome to the 31 st year of the House Plays Festival.

A new year and a new structure as House Plays steps into Term 1, Week 4.

10 directors from Year 11 and 12 were selected to lead the festival in late 2020, with casting finalised before the conclusion of the school year. Our company of 80 performers have diligently tread the boards of our rehearsal studios in every spare moment they could find, dedicating mornings, lunchtimes, after school and weekends to assist in bringing their creative visions to life. This festival is a balancing act, as our students commit to the large rehearsal schedule, yet still manage to fulfill their academic, sporting, and general life responsibilities. There are always moments throughout the process where it seems that the finish line is moving further away, and yet the students always strive to get there. This is the case because, for these 80 students, performing is their passion and they feel an immense sense of pride to step out onto the stage in the Roberts Theatre, represent their House and entertain their audience. For many of our performers, House Plays Festival is the cultural event of their year. They live for the hours spent together, as they forge strong relationships with a selection of students across all year levels of the Senior School. The House Plays Festival does award a Best Play each year, but we are proud to note that the Spirit Trophy also contributes points toward the Arnison Cup. Houses can gain Spirit Points for a multitude of reasons including the number of students willing to audition to be involved in the festival, random acts of kindness, respect of the facilities, comradery in the rehearsal room, stepping in to assist a House in need, working as a member of the technical services crew or simply contributing to the festival in a positive way. This year we are proud to say the winner is going to be difficult to identify, as the Spirit has been strong. Our directors have led by example, being methodical in their ability to manage the deadlines that exist for a show to be ready in 4 weeks and taking the time to be caring with their casts. An example of a memorable Spirit moment from 2021 was witnessing a director taking the time to bake enough cake for every participant and sharing them during a Sunday rehearsal to celebrate the birthday of their co–director. A second notable example of Spirit has existed within the walls of the rehearsal space, listening to the directors and cast members celebrating and supporting successes when they observe someone truly embodying their role. It has been wonderful to talk to parents regarding their child’s experience with the 2021 festival and to hear about how excited they are to come to the College each day. These moments are meaningful and acknowledge how important the House Plays Festival is for our students. Experiences in the theatre add value to a student’s learning journey. They learn to see the world through a multitude of lenses, and it allows them to develop a deeper understanding of their own identity. They build on their ability to be resilient, empathetic, and open-minded individuals. None of what you see tonight could have been accomplished without the unwavering support of parents, staff, and students. On behalf of all directors and cast members, thank you to our adjudicator Steve Pirie and all who have assisted with the House Plays Festival for 2021.

Anna D’Arcy

Josephine Flynn

Assistant Head of Performing Arts

Theatre Manager

2021 House Plays Festival Adjudicator

Steve Pirie

Steve Pirie is a writer, theatre maker and youth arts worker currently based in Meanjin Brisbane. A graduate of the University of Southern Queensland, he is also the co-Artistic Director of Mixtape Theatre Collective, an independent company based in Toowoomba, Queensland. His first play, Escape From the Breakup Forest , has since been published by Playlab following state

wide seasons, and in 2014, Steve ’ s work 3 O Clock, Flagpole was selected for development as part of the Lab Rats initiative. In 2017, he was an independent artist with Queensland Theatre where he developed his work, Return to the Dirt as part of his residency, which was presented at La Boite ’ s HWY Festival in 2018. Steve has been a participant in Playlab ’ s Alpha Processing program and was a 2019 Artist in Residence with La Boite Theatre Company. In 2020, Steve was shortlisted for the Queensland Premier ’ s Drama Award for his works Motive (co-written with Emily Burton), City Hearts Loves You and Return to the Dirt . He is currently completing his Bachelor of Behavioural Science (Psychology) with Queensland University of Technology. Steve is the 2020-21 winner of the Queensland Premier ’ s Drama Award. Steve ’ s production credits include various creative positions with Imaginary Theatre Co, Brisbane Powerhouse, Artsworx, Queensland Theatre, La Boite Theatre Company, The Young Company in Cairns, Vena Cava Productions and the Festival of Australian Student Theatre.

Order of plays

There will be a 10-minute interval between each play

Theatre Technical Assistant

Sam Cash

Technical Services Crew

Miku Adachi Daleep Bains Karam Bains Nathalie Brown Steffani Chang Yuvi Chauhan

Noa Chester-Haviv Emelia Fink Liam O’Nuallin Olympia Pope Aarav Rawlley Lance Sherrington

House Plays Festival Photographer

Paul. A. Broben Darcy Beynon

House Plays Festival Videographer

Zach McCoy-Davies

VEIVERS HOUSE PLAY

Play: An Ode to 2020

Playwright : Ella Kirk and Eva Wingrove

Student devised work. Performance rights not required.

Synopsis : The year was 2020. Not a roll of toilet paper in sight, and around the world, people held their breath as bushfires ravaged Australian wildlife and terrain. You would hope that a year filled with such chaos would be remembered for centuries. Right? Wrong? As six students in the year 2078 learn through a bizarre turn of events.

Veivers House Play Directors

Ella Kirk

Eva Wingrove

Veivers House Play Cast

Benjamin Arnold

Saskia Barclay

Xenia Dariush-Far

Summer Edgley

Noah Jay

Georgie Kilmartin

Thomas Kilmartin

Benji Liu

Allegra Liussi

Maddi McLaughlin

Xavier O’Brien

Bradley Shepherd

Cam Smith

Sofia Smith

Courtney Stoten

Eliza Strong

Abi Van Den Brink

ANDREWS HOUSE PLAY

Play : Starstruck

Playwright : Belinda Bradley

Performance rights kindly granted by Australian Script Centre

Synopsis : A group of high school students find out more about themselves than they planned when they spend time in the Green Room while waiting to audition for the school musical.

Andrews House Play Directors

Jarvis Dover

Alissa McKenna

Andrews House Play Cast

Hayeon Byun

Megan Cattell

Ayla Chirathivat-Geralds

Lucy Colahan

Austin Dover

Heidi Hoffman

Kseniia Igumenova

Hamish Kennedy

Hannah Kennedy

Tatiana Leon

Huan Pham

Rishi Veeramachaneni

Oliver Yang

LAVER HOUSE PLAY

Play : Assembly

Playwright : Barry Weber

Performance rights kindly granted by Stage Partners

Synopsis : This is not your typical school assembly. Or is it? After yesterday's mysterious incident, all classes are gathered to learn how to be better students and more importantly how to sell more jalapeño creamed corn cookies for the school fundraiser. Let the safety experts explain how to stop a bear from attacking your school and sitting on you. And, if you are really good, you may even be treated to a special visit from someone called The Man with the Tie. Just don’t pay any mind to all the students being escorted out of the assembly. As you know, there are two kinds of students—those who get smiley faces and those who get frowny faces - and as long as you follow directions, you’ll be fine. An absurdist send-up of the ridiculous school assemblies we've all come to know and dread.

Laver House Play Directors

Soumia Lamont

Giulia Provenzano

Laver House Play Cast

Emmeline Anthony

Magnus Anthony

Elliot Bartley

Amaani Bhasin

Georgia Daly

Thomas Gray

Tarang Kondamudi

Anika Lu

Ava McCarthy

Mia Richards

Lillian Tan

Nicholas Tan

Aleeza Tariq

Isabella Vujanovic

STARKEY HOUSE PLAY

Play : Blind Love

Playwrights : Anastasia Kouts and Calvin Walther

Student devised work. Performance rights not required.

Synopsis:

Blind love is a dating show that follows the journey of a young bachelor, Matt, looking for new love. However, none of the contestants are a match, until he meets what he thinks is his perfect love. Little does he know; his past is coming back to haunt him.

Starkey House Play Directors

Anastasia Kouts

Calvin Walther

Starkey House Play Cast

Bella Beer

Mariella Bourke

Nic Burda

Angus Cheung

Raye FengXu

Molly Green

Fergus McKeon

Julia Puhalla

Iona Radcliffe

Abhiraj Sarmah

Daisy Symons

Sophie Ward-Harvey

Daisy Webber

Hannah Zubair

FRANKLIN HOUSE PLAY

The Psychological Adventures of Bill and Toohey

Play :

Playwright : Yeva Brereton and Ella Stewart

Student devised work. Performance rights not required.

Synopsis : Bill and Toohey are just two high school boys wanting to start a rock band, but when their failing classes threaten to ruin their hopes and dreams, they must pass their last class, psychology. The assignment, to find different types of people. Bill and Toohey will take a magical phone booth where they will travel through time on an incredible adventure to complete the best assignment ever, finding many interesting people along the way.

Franklin House Play Directors

Yeva Brereton

Ella Stewart

Franklin House Play Cast

Leigh Amores

Samantha Coomber

Emily Cosson

Sarah Cosson

Hamish Folliott

Matilda Folliott

Daniel Harvey

Charlize Hinze

Lael Jeon

Shanti Keats

Brigette Newing

Will Rodar

Niamh Rogers

Ellie Ryan

River Teixeira

Will Toohey