House Drama 2016

by Vashti Turner  on May 26, 2016  in  Creativity Drama House Competitions Performance and Creative Arts

This year’s House Drama competition required each house to put forward 3 monologue or duologue performances – a competition requiring incredible resilience and Intrepidus from the competitors. Three performances were selected by each Head of House to represent Franklin, Pankhurst, Honeyball and Angelou. The resilience displayed by these finalists was extraordinary, learning their lines and rehearsing tirelessly in the run-up to the finals. Excitement brewed across the academy as the 3000 points up for grabs could change everything in the race for the House Cup…

The finals were judged by a VIP panel of stage and screen actors, Max Calandrew, Charlie Hawkins and Julia Pagett, joined by the new Drama teacher who will be joining KAA in September, Amy Gurnell.

The first half of the show was opened by Agnesa, representing Pankhurst, performing a self-penned piece entitled ‘Losing, Lost’, exploring the feelings connected to family, patriarchy and mortality. Joe and Patrick from Honeyball presented a scene from the play Blood Brothers. Franklin’s Cam’Ron captivated with a rousing interpretation of the famous ‘To Be Or Not To Be’ speech from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Mierna and Aya from Pankhurst devised another self-penned piece depicting the dramatic meeting of a mother and daughter after a long separation. Parmida from Honeyball performed the opening scene of a stage adaptation of Anne Frank, capturing the panicked thoughts of the young girl fleeing the Nazis. Jack and Ezekiel from Angelou concluded the first half with a self-penned comedy sketch following the escapades of two secret agents – a definite audience favourite!

Our students were lucky enough to be treated to not one but two monologues from the fantastic Max Calandrew. The first, a monologue from Shakespeare’s Hamlet wowed the students half way through the show.

The second half of the competition began with Amie and Aya, representing Angelou, performing a scene from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Next Honeyball’s Musa impressed with a dramatic monologue from The Merchant of Venice. Charlie and Jodie from Franklin performed the second comedy of the show, another self-penned sketch called Underdog. Maisie performed another Shakespeare monologue, giving a powerful portrayal of Lady Macbeth for Angelou. Hisham and Fatima played Romeo and Juliet’s death scene wonderfully for Pankhurst. The student performances were then concluded with a humorous scene from A Midsummer Night’s Dream – with Aya and Yasin depicting the fairy queen Titania falling for Bottom, a man with a donkey’s head.

Max Calandrew then treated the students to a monologue from his upcoming film before the judges retired to count up the scores and award the house points!

The judges were extremely impressed by the quality of every single performance, they praised the students for the incredible commitment they had put into preparing for the show, and the Intrepidus involved in performing to the entire school. However, the winners were finally announced, with joint fourth place going to Parmida, and Charlie and Jodie – each taking 250 points for Honeyball and Franklin. Cam’Ron was awarded third place for his Hamlet monologue, earning a further 1000 points for Franklin. Musa’s Shylock speech from The Merchant of Venice won the second place prize of 2000 points for Honeyball. First place – and 3000 house points – went to Maisie for her Lady Macbeth monologue. A fantastic victory for Angelou, and a chance to catch up to the other houses after finishing Spring 2 in fourth place.

Thank you to the Heads of Houses for their work coaching and selecting their finalists, as well as Mr Kavanagh for directing the show. A huge thank you must go to the judges for joining us for this exciting House Competition. Finally, congratulations must go to every single actor involved in this spectacular show.

Take a look at the photos below of our students in action!