From the Drama Department

Trophy Boys at the State Theatre

Last week, our 12 Drama students made their way to the Space Theatre at the Adelaide Festival Centre to experience Trophy Boys, the razor-sharp black comedy by playwright Emmanuelle Mattana, presented by State Theatre.

Set on the biggest night of College’s academic calendar, the Grand Final of the Year 12 Interschool Debating Tournament, the play unfolds entirely in real time. The debate team from an elite all-boys school are locked in a classroom during their one-hour prep window, tasked with arguing that “feminism has failed women.” What begins as competitive posturing quickly spirals into something far darker and more revealing.

One of the production’s most electrifying choices is its casting: the show is performed by a female and non-binary cast, a decision that had our students leaning forward from the very first scene. The transformations were bold, committed and wickedly funny, showcasing just how much power a performer holds when physicality and character truly align.

Fast, funny and sharp, Trophy Boys examined insecure adolescent masculinity, entitlement, and the ego of Australia’s next generation of powerbrokers and politicians. These boys are popular, sporty and admired, but the play peels back that polished surface with gleeful, uncomfortable precision.

The writing crackles with wit, the performances are electric, and the staging is brilliantly claustrophobic, everything contained within a single room, yet never once feeling small. The production takes audiences on a rollercoaster of emotions in a tight seventy minute running time, which flew by in the best possible way. There were moments of genuine laughter, moments of uneasy silence, and moments where the audience collectively held its breath.

For our St Aloysius students, it was a front-row seat to contemporary Australian theatre at its most fearless, the kind of production that reminds you why live performance is unlike anything else. The students left the theatre animated and already deep in discussion, which is perhaps the greatest compliment any play can receive.

A heartfelt thank you to our school for making this excursion possible. Plays like this one don’t just inform our study of drama, they ignite a genuine love of it.

Mr Tom Coultas
Drama Coordinator

Students Reflected

“I really enjoyed the overall rawness of each character’s emotions that was portrayed within the play.  I love the fact they vocalised these important issues in the production That the mainstream media mostly overlooks. Overall I thought the play was excellent and educational. I loved it” – Mattie Year 10

“I really love the production which I thought encapsulates many of the issues that men and women face within our society. Trophy Boys showed that it’s not just women who suffer under the patriarchy but men as well.” – Teah Year 12

“I loved how the play Trophy Boys explores how misogyny can affect young men in today’s society. Although confronting, the effect that misogyny has upon women was also at the centre of this production. Despite the challenging issues it was a very entertaining production.” – Sophie Year 12

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YEAR 11 DRAMA NIGHT – HOW TO SURVIVE BEING IN A SHAKESPEARE PLAY

Last week, the Year 11 Drama students presented How to Survive Being in a Shakespeare Play by Don Zolidis, a fast-paced comedy that takes everything you think you know about Shakespeare and turns it completely on its head. In Shakespeare’s world, drama is inevitable, misunderstandings are constant… and let’s be honest, survival rates are not great. But what if those characters had just made slightly better decisions? What if they had listened more carefully, trusted the right people, or simply avoided the obvious danger?

This play explored exactly that, offering a humorous “guide” to surviving some of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies, featuring characters you may recognise, but not quite as you remember them. The Year 11 Drama cast has worked incredibly hard to bring this playful, chaotic, and self-aware piece to life, and everyone enjoyed the twists, the humour, and the many questionable life choices along the way.

Sophie Calder
Year 12 Drama Leader

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