CULTURE REACTION House Plays
Another round of lockdown could not stop the REACTION House Plays from happening successfully across August and September. As the audience entered the Hall for the first evening of House Plays on 17 August, the entire country was awaiting the latest news from the Government on its Covid-19 decision. As the show was about to begin we all became aware that we would be going into a Level 4 lockdown from midnight that evening. In the spirit of “the show must go on” the performers and the audience happily carried on and enjoyed an evening of connection, comedy and fabulous creativity. Lockdown ended two weeks later and rehearsals for the final five plays recommenced with the second evening of performances happening on 23 September. The fantastic judging team of Cameron Douglas, Jack Marshall and Craig Ogilvie pulled everything together and managed to come up with their awards for all 10 plays. There were many highlights across the two evenings and those lucky enough to see the first evening live or the second evening via the live- stream would agree that there was plenty of humour and a huge amount of talent, both on stage and off. Memorable moments include Ed Davidson soaring across the stage in the Flower’s House slingshot at the end of its play, the eerie live violin played by Joshua Hooker in Rolleston’s You Can’t See Me and the appearance of Winston the dog in Corfe’s The Dog Sitters . In the end, the Tothill Cup stayed in the hands of Somes for another year, with it winning Best House Play for its slick performance of Horror at Hellfire Hall which also saw James
Currie take out the Best Director award for 2021. James led his team with calm professionalism and the judges were impressed with his work. The Best Actor award was presented to Tim Stewart for his portrayal of Edgar in You Can’t See Me , a play also written by Tim. The play allowed him to investigate the unravelling of a character as he was taunted by spirits in an attempt to drag him towards insanity. Other wonderful actors received credit for their efforts. William Law was the fantastically despicable Sir Basil, Freddie Sudell an outstanding
narrator, Joel Fulford a gorgeous nosey neighbour and Oscar Gosling a dramatic psychic. The show could not have happened without the incredible group of technicians who worked tirelessly to ensure that sound and lighting happened without a hitch. Special awards for outstanding contribution and service to all Houses went to Remy Fitzgerald, Josh Burton-Lyall and Elliott Grey.
Hannah Clarkson Director of Drama
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Christ’s College Canterbury
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