House Drama 2025 - The Butterfly Effect

WOW! One of my favourite days… judging the House Drama... became even more exciting and fun this year!

Firstly… a big thank you to the audiences who behaved so well this year… and to Mr Taylor for looking after our every need, including a heater: we sat in a small warm patch in an otherwise chilly hall.

Mr Such, Miss Burke and I enjoyed a full day of excellent drama, making it the most difficult to judge in all our years of doing this

First up was MS, and The Time Office. Written and directed by Joseph Shelton and Sophie Mothersele, this was a clever, witty script with a clever idea behind it, and one that clearly mirrored the theme. They had a big cast, with representation from all years, and gave all a chance to shine. Unfortunately, many of the lines were lost from not being sufficiently projected, and/or spoken too quickly, but we loved those we heard! As one would now expect from the James Rowland-Hill and Joe Shelton light and sound team, the effects were most professional and added much to the overall performance.

KH’s play, “The Admiral”, written by Joe Fifield, and directed by him and the King twins, was, unlike the last couple of years, a good length, and in fact the longest of all 4. Again we struggled to hear many of the lines, especially when spoken over music, but there were many elements we loved. There was a beautifully choreographed hoe-down, a small flock of sheep (honest!) and a wagon quickly and effectively constructed on-stage. Several of the key cast-members were from years 8 and 9 and we look forward to seeing them in future productions.

TS, who have won for the last three years, were next to perform with their play “The Butterfly Effect” written by Saskia Howard and Apollo Stocker. The idea was simple and effective, and professionally directed by Saskia, who carefully ensured no-one was masked, that there were differing levels (people sat, standing, laying down etc…) and that all could be clearly heard. Unfortunately the pace was very slow with the cast seemingly unsure of lines and/or cues.

RP performed last, with “Très Masculin”, written by? and certainly directed by Edward Underwood. Apart from an irritating programme, not only using white text on a pale background, but also missing out most of the cast and backstage, we absolutely loved this. You can tell when we are really engrossed, as we forget to make notes… It clearly fitted the theme, with two possible outcomes given following one minor incident, and was done in hilarious fashion albeit with a deep implicit moral. We heard every word, and all actors performed well, including the excellent classmates and party guests. Even the fact that they could not get their video to work didn’t detract from our enjoyment… and when we finally got to see it (an aftershave advert filmed on site), it was a great bonus. The direction was good with a beautifully executed slo-mo-throw moment, and a brilliant fight between Asa (not our tallest student), and the loftier Sam Kirby. This was easily our winner… it was just judging between the others, and choosing our actors that was excruciatingly difficult!

Again, the behaviour from all participants in the hall as results were announced was supportive and kind, and RP’s repeat performance was unsurprisingly well-received by all.

Congratulations to all involved, and thank you for continuing to make me feel proud to be part of this school.

Best Programme: KH… well done for including a synopsis and years of the cast

Best Backstage: James Rowland-Hill and Joseph Shelton MS

Best Supporting Junior Actor: Alex Button TS as a robot

Best Supporting Senior Actor: Ashwin Muralitharan KH as The Wrangler

Best Junior Actor: Martha Miles KH

Best Senior Actor: Sam Kirby RP

Best Script: Joseph Shelton & Sophie Mothersele MS

Best Director: Saskia Howard

Overall…

1. RP              2. KH              3. TS               4. MS

Next year... “All That Glitters...”