Stratford High School production Madhouse opening this month

A tale of a dysfunctional family is coming together nicely as cast and crew of Stratford High's production of Madhouse get ready for opening night. Photo / Ilona Hanne

It’s a madhouse at Stratford High School right now, but there’s no need to panic - it’s all planned, or scripted anyway.

Madhouse is the name of this year’s Stratford High School production, and with curtains set to rise on the show in just a couple of weeks, cast and crew are certainly madly working behind the scenes getting everything ready.

Stratford High School arts coordinator Kate Hansen says with a cast of just under 30 and another eight students working backstage, the production is a real team effort.

“They’ve all been working very hard and putting a lot of hours to get it all together. We have some really talented artists creating the set, we have students doing the lighting, and of course the actors on stage.”

The play’s premise is simple - set on a dark and stormy night like all good mysteries and thrillers are, it features a dysfunctional family greedy to obtain an inheritance and a horde of strangers who bombard their home seeking shelter from the storm. Add in a hunt for a mysterious hidden treasure and a few twists and turns and you have all the making of a great show.

Charlotte Frazier, who plays Judith, a member of the aforementioned dysfunctional family, says the show is packed with plenty of humour.

“There are some great lines in it. It’s great to be part of because it’s such a fun plot.”

Ellie Brady, who plays Pansy - Judith’s sister - says she originally didn’t plan to be responsible for delivering any of those “great lines”.

“It’s the first school production I’ve been involved in, so I auditioned hoping to get a background role, but ended up with one of the main ones, with the most lines. It wasn’t what I had planned on, but I am enjoying it.”

“She was the first of us to learn all those lines too,” adds Charlotte, who is currently learning lines for a second play as well as the school production.

“I’m also in The Merry Wives of Stratford with the Stratford Shakespeare Society, and actually there’s only a few days between the two shows, so I am spending a lot of time in rehearsal at the moment.”

As a Year 13 student, Charlotte is also busy looking towards the future, which will definitely involve studying drama in some way.

“Either going to drama school or studying English and drama at university. Actually that’s very Judith-like now I think about it.”

Ellie who is in Year 11, says she can’t say if she is like her character Pansy.

“Because that’s a secret - some of the details about Pansy, you have to come see the show to find out about her.”

She will certainly get involved in future school productions, however, she says.

“I’ve enjoyed it, probably more than I expected.”

Before the curtains go up on the evening performances taking place later this month, the cast and crew are putting on a matinee production with local primary school pupils making up the audience. Charlotte says even if they are young, the audience will enjoy the show.

“They’ll enjoy it, it’s funnny so they will like that part of it. Even if some of the wordier jokes are a bit long, there’s a lot of comedy in how we act and move and it shows in our faces. It’s very expressive acting so they will get that.”

As for the adults and teenagers coming to watch the shows, Ellie says they will also enjoy it.

“It’s a good, funny story and there’s lots of characters in it. There are twists in it too.”

The Details

What: Stratford High School presents: Madhouse

When: Thursday, June 22 - Saturday, June 24. 6pm

Where: Stratford High School

Details: Tickets from the school office. Adults $15, child/student $10