This year’s structure asked each House to create a performance that showed the discovery of a previously thought imaginary or mythical animal and the consequences of its discovery. The House Captains selected a mythical creature at random from the House Drama hat.
The House selections were:
Boyne
Anansi. A Ghanaian mythical spider that is known for their trickery and magic.
Clarke
Kitsune. A multi-tailed fox from Japanese folklore that possesses supernatural powers.
Hughston
Phoenix. An immortal bird, from Greek, Egyptian and Persian mythology, that has the power to rise from the ashes.
Maxwell
Yatagarasu. A mythical crow with three legs from Shinto mythology.
Murdoch
Kraken. An enormous Scandinavian mythical sea creature with dangerous and destructive powers
Ower Kaibyo. A supernatural cat capable of controlling electricity and light from Japanese folklore.
Welcome to Fintona’s House Drama performance for 2023, Myth and Magic.
What a fantastic way to end the year for our students, collaborating to create something special to share with you, our audience. House Drama is a celebration of Fintona’s students and the extraordinary things that they are capable of.
Each year the Houses are given a topic that challenges them to utilise contextual information, stimulus selected at random and an overarching theme in their performance. Again this year, all of the Houses have risen to the challenge and created a unique and entertaining piece of Drama, which they are very excited to share with you. Congratulations to Year 11 students for creating the script, choreography and design and to all of our Years 5-10 performers and artists. I hope you are proud of what you have achieved together.
An event of this size and complexity does not happen without the contribution of the whole school community. I would particularly, however, like to acknowledge the unfailing energy and attention to detail of John Batterham, without whom this event would simply not happen. In addition, James Burdan, Luke Breen, Brett Bates, Jack Harvey and Sarah Bell have gone above and beyond to help ensure the success of this year’s House Drama. A particular thanks must also go to our incredible Heads of House: Fairlie Marsland, Meredith Harris, Emily Erwin, Joanne De Meester, David Smith, Sheryl Manassa and Linzy Pattison who have supported and encouraged their Houses throughout the process and performances.
Thank you for your enthusiasm for this final House event for 2023.
Bronwyn Bye Drama Learning Leader
LET’S GET KRAKEN
The peaceful coast is overcast because of a selfish betrayal 2000 centuries ago. Two ancestors belonging to the land and the ocean people respectively have discovered the Kraken – a giant undersea cephalopod monster – and planned to eradicate the danger together to protect the land and seas. However, greed and glory plagued the Land Ancestor, and his betrayal led to their demise. 2000 centuries later, animosity continues to bubble along the coast. The land and ocean people want to gain control of the Kraken to crush their enemies instead. But is this rage directed at the right foe?
CAST
Pearl Madeleine Whitehead
Gill Criselle Cayetano
Willow Emily Semczyszyn
Rocky Eliza Creek
Ocean Queen Phoebe Creek
Land Queen Jenny Qiu
Kraken Sera Tankir
Ocean Ancestor Tayla O’Neil
Land Ancestor Amelie Ashley
Dancers
Ocean Villager 1 / Mussel 1 Nicoletta Bakiritzis
Ocean Villager 2 / Mussel 2 Ananya Chekka
Ocean Villager 3 Sofia Maramas-Turner
Ocean Villager 4 / Mussel 3 Gisele To
Land Villager 1 Yuton (Wendy) Chen
Land Villager 2 Tayla Chan
Land Villager 3 Yiyun (Evelyn) Zhang
Eloise Calder, Anna Chen-Tilley, Hei Wun (Emily) Cheng, Hei Lui (Hailey) Cheng, Ira Desai, Lan Duong, Laura Feng, Yueshan Gao, Della Gassert, Katherine Hinh, Emma Houguet, Yongxi (Vicky) Huang, Ying Si (Cecilia) Huo, Elsa Ji, Sharmeen Kaur, Marcella Kedzierski, Zhiqi (Lily) Lin, Carol Lou, Yanruyu (Annie) Miao, Ruby O’Brien, Chloe Qi, Sera Tankir, Mila Tankir, Veronica Wang, Vienna Wong, Yixin (Cynthia) Xiong, Stella Zhao
Chloe Chiu, Sophie Lauder, Anika Bartholomeusz, Angelina Tavlaridis
Properties
Lejia (Emma) Feng, Yuhan (Sarah) Liu, Elizabeth (Ibby) Wotherspoon, Ava Kirkwood, Yuxin (Sarah) Wang, Xiangyue (Laura) Nan
Costumes
Yuhan (Sarah) Liu
Sound
Chloe Chiu, Linh Duong
Lighting
Lejia (Emma) Feng, Chloe Chiu
Stage Managers
Angelina Tavlaridis, Linh Duong, Sayeh Esmaili, Sarah Liu, Sophie Lauder
Multimedia
Angelina Tavlaridis, Linh Duong, Sayeh Esmaili
VOODOO VENGEANCE
Being rejected and outcast in the fairy kingdom, Mama Juno seeks to take revenge and make all the fairies feel how she felt, through summoning an evil, mind controlling spider god called Anansi. A group of 5 fairies; Aurora, Willow, Skye and twins, Maisy and Milly witness Mama Juno’s grand plans, and soon discover the fairy kingdom is at risk of being taken over. As time is running out, and fairies start to disappear it seems that the kingdom is doomed...or is it?
CAST
Mama Juno Sumsum (Diya) Zheng Summer Ruimi Zhang
Anansi Zimo Ding
Willow Aurelia Tropea
Daisy Samantha (Sammi) Dang
Flora Yuxi (Oceana) Ma
Skye Victoria (Tori) Gonsalves Ivy Evelyn Teng
Aurora Aria Nantes
Maisy Zoe Brown
Milly Nicola Skliris
Ensemble
Autumn Chloe Saleh
Lily Gigi Zhou
Ara Amir, Xinlai (Grace) Yu, Wei (Sylvia) Sun, Shalina Hananto, Aya Zhou, Ghaanavy Yathavan, Mallika Jaisinghani, Navya Sethi
Isabella (Izzy) Burdan, Yee Sum (Summy) Yee, Anna Cronin
Sound and Multimedia Design
Isabella (Izzy) Burdan
Lighting Design
Demi Arvanitis, Isabella (Izzy) Burdan
KIT ON COURT
Set in the magical land of Balwyn, two basketball teams are fighting for first place in the Hillside Championships. Whilst the Blazers seek to do this through training and teamwork, the lazy, squabbling Thunder Strikers have other plans. They recruit the help of the Kitsune, a mischievous four-tailed fox, to play pranks on the Blazers in the hope that their nemeses will forfeit the impending grand final. However, despite these setbacks, the Blazers can emerge victorious through their dedication and efforts. Following this, a devastated Kitsune reveals to the Thunder Strikers that, amid the team’s division and fighting, she has lost three of her tails. The Thunder Strikers must learn to work together to bring the Kitsune’s tails back to her.
CAST
Kitsune Shari Pieris / Emma Lavery (dance)
Georgia Alessia McCormack
Jacob Aahana Pandey
Luke Jessica Leung
Lily Cynthia Dong
Coach Sophie Ang
Ryan Sophie Ang / Zoe Sun
Dancers
Nico Matilda Hodge / Ruby Herbert
Josh Rebecca Ang
Phoebe Megan Clarke
Basketball player 1 Zoe Peng
Basketball player 2 Phoebe Zhang
Referee Ratisha Rao
Dance Soloist Emma Lavery
Minghan (Rena) Chai, Megan Clarke, Elena Dimou, Cynthia Dong, Yuxuan (Elly) Fu, Isabella Gale, Mia He, Oneli Hewakoparge, Matilda Hodge, Annie Holland, Wanzi (Gigi) Huang, Cleo Kenos, Yuhong (Hannah) Lan, Bridget Lavery, Hana Le, Abigail Leung, Mila Masalkovoska, Audrey Masters-Fleming, Alessia McCormack, Aahana Pandey, Kate Parmenter, Zoe Peng, Vidya Sivakumar, Chloe Snaden, Zoe Sun, Claire Wang, Ruoshui (Alice) Wu, Jiayi (Jelena) Xin, Hailey Yeung, Emilie Yu, Chloe Yung, Zi Xuan (Christina) Zhai, Amy Zhu
PRODUCTION
Scriptwriters
Sudiksha Dand, Amelia Graham, Aaadthana Nishakar, Sowmya Sivakumar, Justina So
Choreography
Alexandra (Ally) Lewis, Katerina Marcus, Mia McGavigan, Amanda Mitropoulos
Amelia Graham, Alexandra (Ally) Lewis, Aadthana Nishakar, Mia McGavigan, Sowmya Sivakumar
Multimedia
Justina So
LIGHTS OUT
Set in Osaka, Japan, the beginning of the play introduces the Attenbros, a discovery group tasked with finding and protecting all mythical creatures on Earth. They soon find the Kaibyo, a sacred Japanese mythical creature, with invisibility and healing powers, who they believe is the last of its species. However, their plans are foiled by a secret heist group who wish to take advantage of the Kaibyo’s powers for their own benefit. Chaos and destruction erupt, whilst unexpected friendships take root.
Alexandra (Alex) Retallick, Bernice Kha, Thuy Trang Pham, Sarah Poustie, Arya Gupta
Sound & Lighting
Maggie Little, Arabella Boschetto, Sarah Poustie, Alexandra (Alex) Retallick, Hera Thavarasah, Mathangi Sritharan, Arya Gupta, Bernice Kha, Thuy Trang Pham
Stage Managers
Sarah Poustie, Mathangi Sritharan, Bella Boschetto
Multimedia Design
Maggie Little, Sarah Poustie, Hera Thavarasah
Props
Alexandra (Sasha) Radze, Isabella (Issi) Weedon, Chereen Zhang, Xin Ye (Nina) Lei
PHOENIX
In the medieval land of Genovia, a queen rules over her kingdom – however, when people begin to get sick, James and Betty, destined lovers, decide to investigate. Alongside a gathered team, the pair sets out to discover the truth, finding out that the Queen has stolen the mythical Phoenix who once maintained the cycle of life in the kingdom. The Queen has imprisoned the bird and is using its powers to keep herself young and beautiful! For the good of the people, the gang infiltrate the Queen’s castle to free the Phoenix and restore the health of Genovia.
CAST
James Yahara Wimalasuriya / Larissa Lazaris (dance) Mildred Elisa Wang
Betty Kalyani Shasitharan / Ranzi Lin (dance) Gladys Mia Nguyen
Zayn Lilah Gillman-Sheer
Phoenix Nia Jayasinghe
Queen Isabella Madden Augustus Clarissa Hagues
Louis Yichun (Helene) Zeng
Niall Amy Gillman
Guard 1 Adrija Dutta
Guard 2 Sophie Zeng
Liam Natalie Lin Young Queen Onelli Wimalasuriya
Louis Helene Zeng Queen’s Mother Aleisha Malic
Harry Charlotte McNally Flowers Amanda Yung, Anna Yung
Receptionist Stephanie Gillman
Ensemble
Andrea Chan, Lucy Chen, Charlotte Chung, Melody Deng, Amy Gillman, Lilah Gillman-Sheer, Amelie Huynh, Sirui (Vivian) Li, Erika Liao, Yoyo Long, Charlotte Mah, Aleisha Malic, Chloe
McNally, Jayda Mukhilf, Mia Nguyen, Haana Pedram, Hana Sameer, Jalyn Sanqui, Sienna Siswojo, Khisha Sivajayaprakash, Miranda Wilson, Qingya (Melody) Yang, Emma Yung
One night in Japan, a loving family of nine is plagued by the same prophetic dream, one that features a conflict that divides their family forever. Noticing the similarities between what they have experienced and the myth of the Yatagarasu- a mystical crow that serves as a messenger from the gods, delivering prophecies through dreams- the family seek the advice of Musashi, a wise owl who shares that the prophecy will come true unless they kill the Yatagarasu. But Musashi also warns them that killing it comes with a great cost. As the future foretold by the Yatagarasu approaches, the family are left with a devastating choice- one that, once made, will mean their family will never be the same again.
