Programme House Plays 2024

34 TH ANNUAL House Plays Festival

15 to 16 February 2024 Suzanne Roberts Centre for Performing Arts Somerset College

Welcome

Take your marks… Directors are selected, and plays are written or selected.

Get set… Auditions run, and casts are selected.

Go! Let the play-building begin.

Welcome to the 2024 House Plays Festival, where you, our wonderful audience, get to witness the race to the finish line, with the goal to win the Best Play Trophy and gain points towards the Arnison Cup. Last year, Andrews were victorious, but as always, it looks to be a photo finish. Let’s take a quick look at our 5 teams.

Andrews House will be exploring themes of bullying and belonging, as they highlight the complicated na ture of social media.

Franklin House added the additional challenge to their process of writing a new work, as we learn how important it is to take first aid kits on school excursions.

Laver House also tackled the task of performing a student written play, and to add an extra element of difficulty, they decided to work with a 28-person cast, the biggest we have ever seen!

Starkey House infuse the style of Roald Dahl and Tim Burton in their gothic fairy tale. Add in a pinch of rhyming text, bake offs and a beast, they will surely be a contender.

Finally, Veivers House work within the style of magical realism to tell their tale of the school yard, where the Year 7’s are not to be messed with and class pets are more than what they seem.

A rainbow has been created as these 5 Houses race around the track, fuelled by strong House Spirit and a determination to entertain and engage their audience.

House Plays moves so fast it can leave our company breathless, as they fit rehearsals into mornings, lunchtimes and after school, balancing academic, sport and life commitments. The Sunday rehears als allow for our company to see the finish line in the distance, as they work tirelessly to turn their vision into a reality. The support and care shown by our directors and actors allows each House to stay in their lane. There are stumbles, hurdles and inclement weather throughout the race, but together our company handle challenges, learn from their mistakes, laugh, play, and now, surge forward onto the stage. On behalf of the House Plays Festival directors, actors, and technical crew, we would like to sincerely thank the families of all participants for your support. Without your commitment, the festival could not run. Lastly, we extend our thanks to all staff for their assistance (and acting prowess!)

Please enjoy the show.

Anna D’Arcy

Josephine Flynn Theatre Manager

Assistant Head of Performing Arts

2023 Festival Highlights

Andrews - c0m14y76k0

2024 Festival Adjudicator

CLINT BOLSTER is a Clown, Physical Actor, Mask Theatre Specialist, Stilt Performer & Trainer and Teaching Artist from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. With 20 years of experience committed to developing new works and training extensively, Clint regularly performs in Australia and interna tionally in the United Kingdom, Europe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. Clint’s repertoire of original performance works is highly active throughout Australia, New Zealand & Asia. They have extensive annual programming in regional Australia, particularly in the commu nity, cultural and education sectors. He has developed an incredibly reliable and robust local and International network. His unique and innovative creations are represented by over 70 international production houses and arts agencies worldwide and have amassed a live global audience in the millions. He was also recently accepted into the Cirque Du Soleil database of Clowns, is in the 2022/2023 Australian Tour of Slavas’ Snow Show; is a proud Queensland Member and Mentor for The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, and is a Board Member for Indel-Ability Arts. Clint is thrilled to be the 2024 House Plays Festival Adjudicator.

Order of Plays

Andrews - c0m14y76k0

Technical Assistant

Thomas Bell

Technical Services Crew

Lucas Hannaford Noah Chester-Haviv

Matthew Walker Grace Webber Oscar Wheldon

Liam O’Nuallain Bailey Pourre

Yuan Yu

Festival Photographer

Paul Broben

This year Laver has opened a window into the future. In their fictitious world, an oil drilling company has created a town somewhere in the Australian outback. Instead of searching for the perfect hires, the company decided to clone two of its best workers - Tom and Abe. Abe is a genius and Abes’ clones work the best jobs in the town. Tom’s are subordinate and do the Abes’ dirty work. This uneasy balance is broken when the first Tom becomes the president of the town. Although he means well, he had to take some lives to get there. Will this come back to bite him? Find out in Laver’s The Village. Written by Elliot Bartley THE VILLAGE

Directors

Elliot Bartley

Tarang Kondamudi

Cast

Annabel Bartley

Athena Agnew

Emmeline Anthony

Magnus Anthony

Hugo Derksema

Livi Budd

Ashton Crasto

Darcy Daly

Griffin Egtberts

Ava Gillis

Aurell Gupta

Liam Hartley

Sasha Henrison

Ryan Longfield

Jack Hodge

Grace Hickey

Cast

Scarlett Moffrey

Natalie Mai

Mikaela Mulheran

Anika Lu

Zara Punch

Cru Scott

Henry Saldumbide

Xanthe Stewart

Aleeza Tariq

Amber Tran

Amelie Wong

Mia Woodthorpe

Andrews - c0m14y76k0

Written by Nathaniel Moncreiff APRIL ARDVARK

EZ and his gang of bullies have created a fake social media account to inflict torment and misery on their fellow students. The account’s name, “April Aardvark”, echoes through the halls with fear and confusion. The gang is smugly satisfied with the results, until the day a student shows up to class claiming to be April Aardvark. She is the liv ing, breathing manifestation of the account – a mean, obscene insult machine. She spreads chaos through the school, turning student against student and bully against bully. But is she really who she claims to be? And if so, how can she be stopped? Only one thing is certain – she is the greatest bully that ever lived.

Directors

Hayeon Byun

Hamish Kennedy

Cast

Jamie Chirathivat Geralds

Riddhi Athota

Ayla Chirathivat-Geralds

Eliana Brienza

Sophie Colahan

Austin Dover

Isabella Green

Audrey Cirocco

Amani Ismail

Rishvi Rawlley

Miranda Shum

Kush Veeramachaneni

Emma Warwick

Liana Warwick

IVY SHAMBITT AND THE SOUND MACHINE

Written by Daniel Evans

The small town of Apronwood appears normal enough, if a little tired and rundown. But the people of Apronwood harbour a dark secret that they will do anything to keep… even if it means murder… In this delightfully Roald Dahlesque tale, Daniel Evans warns us what happens when a community neglects its children and how the past comes back to haunt us.

Directors

Sienna Briggs

Bella Beer

Cast

Lily Allen

Noah Carter

Sophie Beer

Brooke Bowden

Raye FengXu

Esther Fink

Sara Gacina Richardson

Julian Kelly Correa

Saeesha Kumar

Advait Naik

Peter Pilarinos

Clara Ratcliffe

Abhilasha Sarmah

Leylah Zubair

Daisy Symons

Abhiraj Sarmah

THE MELTING POT

Written by Secret Goetz and Matilda Guthrie

The Melting Pot, written and directed by Secret Goetz and Matilda Guthrie, follows a class of school students on an excursion to Salem, Massachusetts. However, the ex cursion takes a turn for the worst when they realise that a Puritan cult has taken over the town. After accusations of witchcraft and the murder of a townsperson, it’s up to Lyla, Matt, Brittany and Frank to save their classmates.

Directors

Secret Goetz

Matilda Guthrie

Cast

Samantha Coomber

Matilda Folliott

Faye Al-Freah

Sarah Cosson

Katie Hammett

Xanthia George

Sania Gill

Sehaj Gill

Ryan Hisco

Abi Hunt

Ashane Kulawickrama

Ruhara Mapabandara

Cast

Mia Miles

Tony Stephens

Roni Shamsi

Riya Nagrani

Evie Wilson

Riko Tateno

Izzy Volzke

River Teixeira

Tiffany Winter

Written by Steve Pirie 3’CLOCK FLAGPOLE

It’s the first day of a new school year for Stella Bunt, and everything is changing. New rules, new teacher, new responsibilities. Stella and the rest of Year 10 Biology have a new class pet, Squish the octopus. Stella can’t explain why, but there’s just something about Squish that doesn’t feel right. But when Squish goes missing and a terrifying new kid arrives at school the very next day, Stella suspects they might be connected in some way… and she and the whole school could be in danger if she doesn’t find out how. To make things worse, this new kid has his eyes on Stella everywhere she goes. Can Stella warn her friends in time of a coming disaster? Or will everyone find out why some mysteries of the ocean and its creatures are better left mysteries?

Directors

Benjamin Arnold

Haysal Denzongpa-Bathols

Cast

Saskia Barclay

Bronte Clifford

Ivy Bannerman

Victoria Chan

Xanthe Clifford

Dean Goldsmith

Erin Davies

Arya Denzongpa-Bathols

Henry Hoare

Sabrina Li

Benji Liu

Alex Kilmartin

Cast

Maddi McLaughlin

Joey Mewing

Ciara O’Brien

Xavier O’Brien

John Oluteye

Byron Taylor

Natalia Zotti

Grace Pan

Somerset College ABN 54 010 343 227 Somerset Drive Mudgeeraba, Queensland 4213 07 5559 7100 | 07 5559 7345

mail@somerset.qld.edu.au www.somerset.qld.edu.au