Last Friday, 8 November, 97 Prep School boys from Y3 to Y8 took to The Quarry Theatre stage to perform in the fifth annual House Drama Competition. This was the largest cohort of actors to take part in the event to date, and they did not disappoint. The theme for this year’s event was ‘Stuck’. Each house presented a 15-minute piece of original theatre based on the idea of being stuck someplace, somewhere.
RSC actor Emma Manton (Love Labour’s Lost, The Wind in the Willows) judged this year’s event and found it very difficult to pick a winner. Emma commented on how each house worked superbly as an ensemble, told imaginative stories and maintained excellent focus throughout.
Howard were the eventual winners for their piece, Stuck on the Playground, and Oscar Barker (Y8, Whitbread) won the Best Overall Actor prize on the night for his performance as a matronly schoolmistress, Mrs Fortingbras. It was noted that he had perfected the walk of a 60-year-old woman!
A thoroughly enjoyable evening, made all the more rewarding for the fact that it was the first time that many of the boys had performed on stage.
