The theme for the House Plays in 2025 was “Truth or Dare.” The Grade 11s were divided into groups of six pupils and received a specific setting and two compulsory characters for the plays that they had to write and direct. Peak’s play setting was a haunted cottage; Riverside was backstage at a talent show, and Lonsdale in a detention classroom. They wrote wonderful creative plays with the assistance of ChatGPT and a lot of their own input. They were limited to ten characters per play and the length of the play should not be more than about ten minutes. Thank you to Ms Yanou Pienaar (HOD English: Bishops College) for being the adjudicator as she has a wealth of experience – being a South African teacher, writer, and theatre director known for her work in the Cape Town school drama and theatre scene.
Peak – ‘A haunted House‘
They had fairly good staging with very dark, creepy lighting and sound effects. Emma Roets got awarded for one of the Best supporting performers, and Nathanael Thackwray for Best Actor. Special mention to Qaylah Omar for her strong characterisation. Also, special mention to the directors of Peak House for following the “truth or dare” theme very creatively and being very efficient with rehearsals and handing in of scripts to the tech team.
Riverside – ‘Backstage at a talent show’
Their setting of backstage at the talent show was wonderfully colourful, with good costumes and excellent staging and movements. All the performers were believable, unique and interesting to watch. Zoë Inegbese got the award for one of the Best supporting performers, and they all won the Best Directors and Best House Play Award. Special mention to Leah Kooyman’s excellent mime techniques; Kai de Kock as the panicky sock puppeteer; and very good characterisation by Sophia Stamatiadis, Belle Laithwaite and Hannah van Aarde.
Lonsdale – ‘An investigation in a school where a prank turned out badly’
They had a good stage set-up, and some ambitious sound cues, which just needed a few more rehearsals to get this to a more efficient execution. Georgie Credé received the award for Best Actress as the stern detective. Mia Nasson and Lara Hawyn received awards for Best Supporting performers. Special mention also go to Georgina Jellicoe and Grace Wilkins for portraying their characters so effectively.
AWARDS:
- Best Technical/Staging: Lonsdale
- Best Supporting Performers: Lara Hawyn, Mia Nasson, Emma Roets, Zoë Inegbese
- Best Actor: Nathanael Thackwray
- Best Actress: Georgie Credé
- Best Directors and Best House Play: Riverside
A comment from the Adjudicator:
“I just want to say thank you so much, it is so nice to be here, and to see all your plays and your creativity on stage, I really, I really enjoyed it. I thought there was some very clever staging, and I thought that most of you used the space really well, and you made a lovely attempt at technical things. I really enjoyed the stories, I thought that you, with your chat GPT prompts, used it pretty well, and there’s some really nice and original things, and it was just so nice to be here, and I hope to come back at some stage and see some more of your work, so thank you.”
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