House Drama
Festival
by Ella Watts O
nce again, King's staff and pupils
were provided with a theatrical
treat in the form of the House
Drama Festival. It's easy to forget exactly
how much talent there is swimming
around in this school, but this was the
wake-up call we needed.
The theatre was packed, and we got off to
a raucous start with Woodard's truly epic
parody of The Two Towers. An enormous
cast really helped the play to take off,
giving us an entertainingly slo-mo epic
battle and the Rohan riders on their
imaginary horses, something I doubt any
of us will be forgetting any time soon.
Speaking of horses, George Bayless'
impression of Shadowfax deserves an
Oscar, whilst Paddy Cartwright, Ken
Rogers, James Winsey et al need, at least,
best supporting actor nominations for
their vigorous hair flipping, posing, and
deep, meaningful speeches. Archie Watts
was great as both Sam and the King, and
Josh Stickland matched his Sam as if they
were made for each other. Jordan was a
hilarious Sauron. And finally, Greg Albery,
who let's be honest was really pretty
good. I mean, I've never seen someone
sustain the Gollum voice for that long,
convincingly and without choking.
Next was King Alfred's Sherlock, not quite
as streamlined as Woodard's
performance, but nonetheless a great
effort. Jake Fleming as Sherlock and Best
Supporting Actor James Fisher as the
cabbie were truly brilliant. It's pretty hard
to convincingly affect the personas of
actors in a BAFTA nominated series, but
they managed to do so, and they kept the
thrill of the storyline which made the whole
thing so popular in the first place. Rob
Cameron and Ted Vickery were great
supporting actors, and just like in the TV
show, Rob and Jake bounced well off each
other, keeping their scenes smooth and
convincing. Made me laugh, got me on
the edge of my seat, and managed to pull
off the brilliance of the actual series.
Alfred - 7/10.
Third was Carpenter, who performed an
extract from Waiting for Godot. Imogen
Segrave and Emma Smith took on this
quite challenging play at very short notice,
due in no small part thanks to me.
However, together with co-directors
Martha Gray and Hattie Kean, they pulled
it off, putting together something they
could really be proud of and which stood
up well alongside the other houses'
contributions, and they deserved their
Outstanding Contribution award.
Finally, the first night ended with Table for
Fourby Gussy Hydleman, winner of the
Best Play and of Most Original Script (with
Oscar Harding). Miss Hydleman has some
serious talent, and it deserves enormous
recognition. The play was funny, poignant,
believable, not too long, not too short,
smooth, and worked fluidly on stage,
taking full advantage of the set and the
lights. The actresses involved, Kuumba
Agbami, Ellie Coton, Daisy Daniell,
Rhiannon Williams, Kitty McIntosh, Tegan
Williams, Lucy Dunham, Alicia Mileham,
and Gussy herself, all did themselves
proud. For those who missed out (and
you really did miss out), the play was
about a bunch of girls having dinner,
wondering where they'd be in the future,
and agreeing during a drunken evening
out to write speeches in 13 years' time
about what they'd done with themselves,
for what will be their friend Sephy's 30th
54
Max Molle is an orc in Woodard's
epic The Two Towers