Theatresports Cranston Cup has been on the Sydney theatre scenes for over thirty years. Another year of this eclectic Cup came to the end with last night’s Grand Final at the Enmore Theatre in Marrickville. 

Hosts, two time Cranston Cup winner Harry Milas and music theatre star Rob Johnson, made the audience feel at home as this year’s top six teams  vied for the Cup, coming up with hilarious, on the spot scenes.

There was musical accompaniment with every scene from the mercurial  Tom Cardy. The three judges sitting amidst the audience were Kate Coates (sketch comedian and two-time Cranston Cup winner, pictured below), Liz Hovey (Cranston Cup grand finalist, storyteller and cancer specialist) and Wean Campbell (comedian and four-time Cranston Cup winner).

A team of Newington college Theatresports coaches playing as the “James Hill High U/13B Reserves” (Elliot Ulm, Tamara Smith and Reuben Ward) were joint winners on the night, tying with “One Day Til Retirement”(Theo Murray, Luke Tisher & Steph Ryan) in an exciting and hilarious night of improvised fun. 

Newington College Stanmore provided another finalist in champion schools team “Year 6 Formal” – made up of year 9 and 10 boys starring in their 2nd final in two years, giving a fine performance and ultimately finishing 5th.

These were the final results: James Hill High U13B Reserves (Elliot Ulm, Tamara Smith, Reuben Ward) and One Day till Retirement (Theo Murray, Luke Tisher, Steph Ryan) tied for first. Third place went to We’re Cousins (Kate Wilkins, Isabella Pinson, Campbell Taylor). Fourth place went to The Bald and The Beautiful (Jon Williams, Kath Thomas, David Callan). Fifth place went to Year 6 Formal (Newington comprising a selection of Year 9 and 10 students). Sixth place went to the Pash Rats ((Alison Cooper, Rachael Colquhoun-Fairweather, Ruby Blinkhorn)

Featured image : The two winners of this year’s Cranston Cup. All production pics by Stephen Reinhardt.