Parents and friends of Shiplake College were wowed by the College’s whole school performance of Loserville at The Kenton Theatre, before half term.
Set in 1971, Michael Dork, played by Year 13 student Dominic Deakin, is determined to find his ticket out of ‘Loserville’ and is convinced he can get computers talking to each other. However, Michael and his friends, Lucas (Noah Scotchbrook, Year 9), Francis (Charlie Thomas, Year 13) and Marvin (Louis Holland, Year 11) are classed as a bunch of misfits by the rest of the school and are treated as social outcasts and pushed around by Eddie (played by Michael Scanlon, Year 13) the coolest kid in school. Eddie is also the son of one of the country’s biggest tech firms who is in a race against time to crack the computer communication code.
Then one day, new girl Holly played by Lottie Fahey (Year 12), joins the school. With her ambitions to join NASA, Michael falls head over heels and once he plucks up the courage to talk to her, they join forces to work on getting computers to talk to one another.
However, true love isn’t plain sailing and Holly and Lucas end up being blackmailed by Eddie to claim the computer breakthrough for himself and impress his father.
Will Eddie take the glory for himself, or will Holly and Lucas see the error of their ways and help Michael uncover Eddie’s lies?
It was a really entertaining show with lots of laugh out loud moments, due to great comic timing from Charlie Thomas (Francis) and Louis Holland (Marvin), and the hysterical German exchange students Ivanka and Marina, played by Casper Good and Alex Taylor-McDowall.
Eddie Arch’s henchmen, Wayne, played by Reuben Logan (Year 10) and Huey, played by Henry Kunzig (Year 11), were a great pairing, portraying a pair of hapless idiots who hid behind the class bully, while at the same time failing to have the impact on the gang of geeks they thought they would.
Dominic Deakin did a great job of portraying a goofy teenage computer geek, and Year 9’s Noah Scotchbrook was amazing as he held his own in a lead role next to sixth form students, with fantastic singing and acting.
The lead girls, Holly (Lottie Fahey), Samantha (Emily Booth) and Leia (Ellen Hodson), all exuded ‘girl power’ throughout the show with Holly wanting to work in NASA, Samantha channelling her inner geek and Leia eventually seeing Eddie Arch for what he was - a fraud - and hooking up with Lucas after reading his Sci-Fi book. Lottie’s singing solos were particularly en pointe.
Thank you to the Year 7 and 8 boys who made up the blue and yellow choruses, helping to create ambience during the party scenes and Sci-Fi convention. Also to the green chorus, made up of Year 9 and 10 pupils Sam Chambers, Billy Fundell, S Gillen, Milo Griffiths, Monty McClaren-Clark, Max Noakes, Lewis O’Donaghue, Louis Poundall and J Sommerville, making regular appearances for crowd scenes and dance numbers.
A special mention goes to the live band - Matt Waring, Patrick Kenny, Tom Mythen, Isaac Ashfield and Johnny Miller who, under the direction of Mr Curran, were simply amazing and professional throughout the performances.
Finally thank you to Mrs Farrell, Head of Drama, Ms Davies and Miss Griffiths and everyone who worked behind the scenes to make the production possible. A huge amount of time and effort was put into rehearsals, set design and costumes to name but a few.
We can’t wait for the next production!
