Last night, anticipation was high when our Middle School production, This Changes Everything, graced the Packer Theatre stage.

Students from Years 8 to 10, both boarders and day girls, have been rehearsing this terrific UK play since last term and were so excited to open the show, bringing the fruits of their labour to an enthusiastic opening night audience.

The play is a universal story about the eternal human quest for a better world. A group of young women have vanished into thin air, running away to build an experimental society called ‘The Community’ on an abandoned offshore platform. This new world promises a fresh start, where the shackles of societal norms can be discarded. Yet, beneath this utopian façade, a shadow of darkness looms.

Guest director Jessy Heath said, ‘This Changes Everything takes place in an isolated society run by teenage girls but is, at its core, a didactic allegory for our own world. Commissioned to address gender imbalance in the theatre, through the creation of a large-cast play written specifically for young performers, Joel Horwood’s riveting script provides students the rare opportunity to play characters their own age.’

What a fantastic night it was! We wish our cast and crew a wonderful time for the rest of the run this weekend.