Young thespians owned the stage at Port Alfred High School last Thursday in the school’s interhouse one-act plays. With production simplified by a restaurant setting for all three entries, all comedies, it was left to the student actors and their directors to make the most of the scripts – and they did.
Kicking off with The Enchanted Scoop, adapted from Wade Bradford’s The Twilight Cone, Red House played the real-life references to the hilt. the magic in the forbidden flavours of ice cream allows a crew of sassy young women (Jane harmse, Kylie Jattiem, Lianie Senekal, Zenande Mbabela and Gcina Tshungulwana) to pretty much speak and act without limits; and the hapless Marcus (Elijah Gaunt), left in charge of great-aunt Tamara’s shop, to face the consequences. Liyema Manyati, the narrator, finds himself evicted from the stage as the characters take over and determine their own outcomes.
Blue House performed Waiter, there’s a fly in my soup, adapted from Elizabeth Jiede’s Tips more than appreciated. There must have been a good number of people in the audience with first-hand experience of working in or visiting slightly dysfunctional hospitality establishments because there were knowing laughs as they followed the story set in family owned Hobson’s Restaurant. There, Lara (Qiqa Mapatalala) , who has never worked in a restaurant before, is hired on the spot. Against the foil of manager Jessica (Gisele Baros-Pestana) a series of difficult customers follows…
After the interval, Gold House performed Undercover Crust, based on Super spies and pizza pies by John Shanahan. Secret agent antics, pizzas and wonderful disguises rule in this delightful adaptation.
And that, coincidentally, was the winning order, as judged on the night.
The inaugural play competition was organized by teachers Waiven Singh and Nicola Crawford.
Crawford said, “We decided to introduce them to the school as an effort to promote culture and instill more of a house spirit from a cultural perspective. One-act plays are short and effective and generally include a cast that is big enough to include a range of learners across the grades.
“The casts of all three plays included learners from grade 8 to 11 across the spectrum of boys, girls, sportsmen, debaters, academics etc. I really enjoyed watching how the learners took ownership of each play and the connections made between learners that may ordinarily never interact with one another,” Crawfod said.
“We tried to keep the plays light-hearted and uncomplicated as for most of the cast, it was their first time on stage.”
While Singh and Crawford were in charge of directing the plays they had received input from the young actors as they gained confidence and made each play their own.
“I think it was very successful and we are hoping that the interhouse plays will become a biannual event. Ultimately we would like to alternate them with a big, high school production.”
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This article was first published in Talk of the Town, June 5, 2025. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
