The Undergraduate community has chosen its Students Club executive and committee for 2025. Congratulations to the newly elected:
Senior Student: Matilda Walker
Honorary Secretary: Jack Dawson
Honorary Treasurer: Gus Gregg
Committee Members: Kate Brenner; Will Cox; Jack Rowe; Harry Scambler and Ollie Webster.
The committee-elect begin their roles in the New Year with a retreat to coalesce as a team and to work with the Warden, Dean and residential life staff to formulate plans and goals for the year ahead.
Readers will notice our Senior Student[1] for 2025 is Tilly Walker and we offer her particular congratulations being the first woman to hold this most significant role at St Paul’s. Congratulations on this electoral result. We all wish Tilly and her committee the very best for next year.
The College community acknowledges the work of the incumbent committee under Senior Student Ed Taylor and thanks them for their untiring support for the College, Intercol, and the work they have done and are still doing for the benefit of every member of the St Pau’s community.
2024 Senior Student – Ed Taylor; Hon Secretary – Alex Robinson; Hon Treasurer – Mitchell Arcus; Rawson Rep – Banjo Cole; Rosebowl Rep – Ami Naito; Palladian Rep – Nick Stack; House Committee – Natalie McRory; House Committee and Palladian Rep: Charles Weston.
[1] In July 1928 the St Paul’s College Students Club was formed under its first constitution and in so doing elected the Senior Student and committee. Prior to this the senior student was the resident who had been longest on the books of the College. [see Alan Atkinson, Hearts and Minds, 2017 p 246]
On 11 November 2024 the College pauses for a commemoration service in the Chapel at 10.30 am and at 11.00 there will be silence in remembrance of those who have given their lives in battle. The form of service is the one used on the very first commemoration of the Armistice on Sunday 17th November 1918.
The Senior Student Ed Taylor and Senior Student-Elect Matilda Walker placed floral tributes and read the names from the Pauline World War One Honour Roll before the sounding of ‘Last Post’, one minute silence, and ‘Rouse’ at 11 am.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” [John 15:13]
For more about Remembrance Day from the Australian War Memorial CLICK HERE
Murder’s in the Heir – a Knives Out Mystery from the Impresario’s players, the Waddy Theatre – 12 October 2024
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
from our own Lady Whistledown
It was a dark and stormy night.
12 possible murder suspects are gathered in the house of Simon Starkweather; family members, staff and (conveniently) a Private Detective, all brought together for a public reading of his will. Starkweather is worth billions, and he is at death’s door, as evidenced by artfully placed talcum powder in young Henry Flint’s all-too-lively hair. Never fear, a will has been drawn up that divides his fortune between his remaining family members, barring small amounts to be given to his long-suffering staff – one third to niece Fiona Starkweather and her son Jordan (Vered Lalrinpuii and David Vacek), one third to his great-niece Paula Thompson (Claudia Hall), and the last to grandson Simon Starkweather III (also Henry Flint). However, in a shocking twist right at the top of the show, Simon Starkweather Sr has decided to clone himself, effectively leaving his entire fortune to his clone, to be born via surrogate, his PA Kathy Collins (Kate Mountain). The family members will each receive a small amount of money – a fraction of what they were originally promised. This second will is being drawn up this very night by lawyer Lois van Zandt (Katherine Rosen), and will become valid when Starkweather signs the dotted line.
It will come as a surprise to no one that Starkweather is found dead a short time later. There is a blackout, and the old man is wheeled out into the living room, with a blood pressure cuff wrapped around his neck and drops of red liquid on his shirt.
So, who did it?
By the time the interval rolled around, we the audience were none the wiser about who the culprit could be. The ending hadn’t been set up at all, which is to say that everyone had been framed as a possible murderer. Was it the elderly Fiona Starkweather, convincingly portrayed by Vered Lalrinpuii, with her clumsily spilled deadly heart medication; or her sleazy son Jordan who was out to get everything he wanted, including maids and personal assistants? David Vacek put in a wonderful performance in this role, and assured the reviewer he was only pretending. Could it be Paula, the gun-toting niece who revealed to us all that Claudia Hall can do an extremely convincing southern accent? The Lawyer and the PA aren’t suspects because they have no motive. Katherine Rosen showed some real acting chops as lawyer Lois van Zandt, and this was clearly not her first rodeo. The same can be said of Kate Mountain in her role as the sweet Kathy Collins. The Private Detective is also immune, as is the heir Simon Starkweather III because he didn’t arrive until after the interval, and he is footing the bill for the investigation after all…
How about the staff? Mrs Trent, the housekeeper knows and sees everything. Mahati Garimella delivered her lines with impressive force, and showed a rarely-seen side to the quiet, sweet Mahati who resides here with us all. Bensonhurst the Butler, played ably by Claudio Garcia, was suspiciously carrying a wrench around in the middle of the night, so could the killer be him? Claudio’s right eyebrow completely stole the show as he broke the fourth wall conspiratorially. Nancy Pollard the maid was present during much of the action, and Ava Greay acted admirably, having to fend off Jordan’s advances and defend her life choices to the cook, Minerva Walker. Justina Emoh played Minerva with sass and pizazz, ominously brandishing her meat cleaver and waving it around like a would-be murderess. Miss Withers the Nurse, played by Juhi Joshi, was not happy about having to put up with the cranky old Starkweather, so her motives for doing away with the old man were plentiful. Juhi was a convincingly fed-up nurse, and didn’t smile once throughout the whole show, made all the more impressive because she is rarely seen without an enormous smile when not in character. Jim Wong Ulrich played Rufus, the loveable village idiot in hi-vis, and delivered a performance that can only be described as Jim. He was the catalyst for much raucous laughter as he appeared on stage with various household items, including an axe that needed to be brought inside and dried – a perfect murder weapon, no?
With all of these suspects and plenty of motives floating around, how was Detective Mike Davis supposed to wade through the evidence and find the killer? Paddy Golemo was very convincing in this role, endearingly portraying the unsuspecting detective thrown into a murder investigation. He and Henry as Starkweather III questioned each character until they happened upon the killer, and – spoiler alert – it was Paula who wanted to ensure that she got her rightful inheritance. The giveaway was the red candle, given to her by the housekeeper, that had dripped on poor Starkweather’s shirt. Given the vast array of potential killers, it was no surprise to learn that the play had been rehearsed with alternate endings, and each of the characters was a potential killer. The votes that were cast by the audience at the interval did in fact determine the killer, and this was a very clever device from playwright Billy St John.
Well, a rollercoaster was promised and that is certainly what was delivered. Directors Nusrat Asad and Kate Mountain put in a huge amount of effort to bring this play to fruition, and deserve bouquets for their dedication and wonderful skill. They pulled together an extremely entertaining night of theatre, ably assisted on sound and lighting by our own David Wright, as well as Lauren Lim, Jethro Mahon, Alan Huang, Sharon Chou and Simon Homsany, all in various supporting roles. I left feeling very glad to have this abundance of talent and wealth of generosity among the members of Graduate House, and looking forward to what the Impresario’s Players will produce next.
If nothing else, let us take a lesson from David Vacek and Paddy Golemo, and forge on with the show at all costs.
For their second play in 2024 and second in the Waddy Theatre the undergraduate theatrical company, St Paul’s College Mummers, presented one of the largest productions seen in many years over three shows on 25, 26 and 27 October. No less than fifteen cast members were needed to present a re-write of all 37 of William Shakespear’s plays. “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised] {Revised Again} and Rewritten” by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield was directed by Ryan Bond assisted by Freya Carmody, William Nicholas and Max Philips.
“The Complete Works …” was originally performed by its creators Long, Singer and Winfield at the 1987 Edinburgh Fringe. Being a ‘hit’ it remains the second longest-running West End comedy in history and has been translated into over thirty languages. It is described as a vaudeville show in which three charismatic, ambitious actors attempt to present all of Shakespeare’s plays in a single performance. It is a hilarious time as the players make a meal out of the rudimentary concept of the stories and imperfectly memorized famous lines (source: Google Books).
The Mummers cast was: Max Philips; Freya Carmody; William Nicholas; Charlotte Hocking; Sam McCredie; Helen Jordan; Olivia McMillan; Felix Power; Jack Rowe; Ryan Bond; Jennifer Pilarinos; Annika Johnson; Archie Taylor; Heidi Best; and Grace Newton. They were well supported by the crew of: Ryan Bond – producer/director; Ben Varela – stage manager; Jack Beck, Gillian Lawrence, Robbie Sanderson – backstage; Ria Alva – designer; Ines Treharne, Tahlia Sorgiovanni, Grace Morrow – costuming; Ines Treharne, Greta Bourne – makeup; Ria Alva, Matilda Johnson, Greta Bourne – set design; Aiden Cheung, Sophie Wright – props; Milly O’Connel – lighting; Alex Mudri – sound; Gilliam Lawrence, Matilda Johnson, Tia Durovich, William Chang – photography; Jack Rowe – afters; and special thanks to Jack Stephens, Jack Vukasovic, Karyn and Steve Bond.
“A splendorous, sparkling night” was a guest’s comment after seeing the 60th production of Victoriana in October. Delighting a full house on each of 27, 28 September, 4 and 5 October the ‘good old numbers’ just ‘popped’ under the solid control of 16 talented residents of the College who were supported by a handful of alumni and professional musicians. The old favourite songs were sprinkled with some refreshing new Victorian songs about food and childhood rivalry.
The cast included current students: Ryan Bond, Freya Carmody, Bryson Constable, Gabriel Desiderio, Charlotte Hocking , Annika Johnson, Helen Jordan, Max Philips, Felix Power, Sam Richards, Jack Rowe, Andrew Siu, Archie Taylor, Lachie Walter, and Bailey Yeates on the piano; staff members Brianna Louwen and Jack Stephens, alumni Patrick Massarani and Dr Bill Brooks on the piano. From beyond the College to sing was Nina Coombes, and our master of ceremonies Jonathan Borg. Guests artistes who appeared on certain nights were: James Bell, Matthew Manchester, Julian Brun and Simon Ward.
[Photos below by Matilda Johnson]
Supporting them in the all-student crew were: assistant director Max Philips; assistant producer Charlotte Toll; stage managers Andrew Siu and Sophie Bradshaw; stewards Orlando Throsby and Abigail Ballhausen; people at arms Ryan Bond, Jack Rowe, Greta Bourne, Archie Taylor and Mack Johnston; wardrobe Grace Morrow, Sophie Wright and Olivia McMillan; finance Jack Lockhart; music scores and props Luka Vujanovic; illustrator Ria Alva; and photographer Matilda Johnson. From outside our ranks: lighting Benjamin Johnston; and from the College kitchen TWG’s Chef Rob Sgroi and maîtres d’hôtel Cameron Blake and Jaya Daemion.
The great “anthems” of Victoriana, On the Road to Mandalay, If I Should Plant a Tiny Seed of love, and Land of Hope and Glory all raised the roof of the 1859 Dining Hall. The anniversary show attracted some of the gentlemen who helped bring this show to the College in 1964 including its producer Alan Walker and that show’s pianist Pauline Chriostopher Burrell. Sadly Pauline Lloyd Waddy, director of that show and responsible for bringing the production to St Paul’s, was unwell but was hailed during the proceedings for his legacy.
Congratulations to everyone in the cast and crew and to the 2024 director and producer our Director of Music, Jack Stephens.
For the link to the SMH article on Victoriana CLICK HERE
[photos below by Richard Morgan, Victoria Harper and Justin McLean]
Jacaranda Week is a hallowed tradition of St Paul’s College, this is the week before Stuvac and it always coincides with the blast of lavender blossoms all over Sydney. Jacaranda trees in the College grounds are looking amazing this week and our students are studying hard and rapidly finishing assignments. The tradition is that you must be already preparing for exams when the blossoms appear!
With a little sadness and much joy the College celebrated the immense contribution of our third year undergraduate cohort with the traditional Valedictory Dinner. The celebrations began at a very full Valedictory Chapel Service with its rousing ‘bangers’ of hymns, all chosen by the Students’ Club Committee. Thank you to the Warden for a stirring sermon about spiritual rebirth and coping with change using the second reading from St John’s Gospel (3 1-15) about Nicodemus and the parable Jesus told of Moses and the bronze serpent.
The Chaplain, Rev’d Antony Weiss, included a special prayer for each and every student at St Paul’s which particularly mentioned the late Zac Lerner who would have been one of the 2024 valedictorians.
Drinks in Chapel Quad followed and then to the black tie dinner in the Main Quad where over 300 were seated. The 56 valedicts were honoured with pithy speeches about their time in College and contribution to their three years during which they experienced, supported and led massive change in the life of the College.
During the celebrations the College Prizes for 2024 were presented by the Warden:
The Albert Medal for Instrumental Music Huge Baker (BA III)
The Felix Arnott Medal for Drama Ameila Tabary-Edwards (BComm/BAdvStud II)
The Asimus Medal for Oratory Bridget Pye (BE(Hons)/BPrjMgmt(Civil) I) and Olivia McMillan (BE(Hons)/BA I)
The Drury Medal for Singing Andrew Siu (BPharm/MPharmPrac III)
The Waddy Medal for Debating William Defina (BE(Hons)/BComm)
Fresher Sportswoman of the Year Heidi Best (BE(Hons)(Aero) I)
Fresher Sportsman of the Year Iwo Ellis (BComm I)
Sportswoman of the Year Eloise Knights (BComm II)
Sportsman of the Year Luka Mattani (BVS/DVS I)
The Kokoda Award for the 2024 Students Club Committee Ed Taylor (BE(Hons)/BA III),Alex Robinson (BE(Hons)/BComm III), Mitchell Arcus (BE(Hons)(Aero) III),Banjo Cole (BBus III)
Natalie McRory (BA II), Jack Sproats (BMedSci/BAdvStud III), Nick Stack (BComm/BAdvStud III), Tilly Walker (BEd II)
The Kokoda Richardson Service Award for the student who has best represented the ideals of service, courage, endurance, mateship and sacrifice Charles Dight (BA/LLB III)
The Vessel of St Paul Himself for the student whose demeanour and involvement embodies the Pauline spirit and character – one who possesses and consistently demonstrates the qualities we hope to instil in all who attend this great College Bligh Walter (BSc III)
The Lehane Medal and Scholarship for a student who has been resident for at least three years and who, by their participation in the activities of the College, and by their academic, cultural, sporting or other achievements, has made an exemplary contribution to the life and standing of the College Max Phillips (BA/BAdvStud III)
The College community offers it congratulations to this year’s awardees and acknowledges the great contribution over the last three years by our valedictorians.
Between 19 and 23 October Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla are on their second overseas trip and first to a Commonwealth nation. National and international media coverage is enormous and there are snippets of news that are relevant to Paulines.
On 20 October the King visited NSW Parliament House and toured the exhibition celebrating the Bicentenary of the Legislative Council. During the visit old Pauline the Hon Ben Franklin MLC, the President of the Legislative Council, was the host to His Majesty.
Associate Professor Cindy McCreery has written an interesting article on the University of Sydney website about the significance of this royal visit. Cindy is Director of the Modern Monarchy in Global Perspective Research Hub in the Discipline of History. For her article CLICK HERE
For a detailed story on the Bicentenary of the NSW Legislative Council and its Pauline connections CLICK HERE
With 430 resident Paulines the College boasts two theatrical troupes: Mummers, founded in 1948 by the then Warden Felix Arnott, and The Impresario Players, founded in 2018 by Graduate House Dean Antone Martinho-Truswell.
The new Waddy Theatre provides a remarkable facility at St Paul’s for the rehearsing and staging of a variety of performances. Mummers have already set a ‘high bar’ with their Semester 1 play “Black Comedy” by Peter Shaffer and they are maintaining their excellence preparing a large cast for “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised] {Revised Again} and Rewritten” by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield. The production is directed by Ryan Bond.
Friday 25 and Saturday 26 at 7.30 pm and Sunday 27 October at 4.30 pm (doors open 30 minutes beforehand for bar sales) in the Waddy Theatre.
“The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised] {Revised Again} and Rewritten” was originally performed by its creators Adam Long (UK), Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield (USA), at the 1987 Edinburgh Fringe. Being a ‘hit’ it remains the second longest-running West End comedy in history and has been translated into over thirty languages. It is described as a vaudeville show in which three charismatic, ambitious actors attempt to present all thirty-seven of Shakespeare’s plays in a single performance. Get ready for a hilarious time as the players make a meal out of the rudimentary concept of the stories and imperfectly memorized famous lines (source: Google Books).
Academic achievement among members of Graduate House is an important part of the celebrations during the cycle of the academic year. We have recently farewelled several Doctor of Medicine Year IV students whose coursework finished at Mid-Semester break. All of these budding young doctors head off to their first full-time internships at hospitals around the state in the coming weeks or after a short well-earned break. Other coursework higher degrees finish at the end of the semester but those doing masters degrees or doctorates by thesis are finishing gradually with thesis submission, and then emendations and resubmission.
Jack Stephens, apart from being the resident Director of Music, has also just submitted his completed thesis for the award of his Doctor of Music, one of the rarest of all degrees at the University. The Graduate House community congratulated Jack on his amazing work at the Academic Dinner on Monday 14 October. In recognition of his standing as a new DMus graduand he received a Cambridge doctoral bonnet (originally worn in 2019 by Dr Brandon Munn, UG 2012-14 and GH 2019, the first PhD in Graduate House) and the sword of learning (an original gift to the College in 2020 from the second PhD in Graduate House Dr Mingyuan (Yvonne) Bai, GH 2020).
Katherine Rosen was also awarded an Amy Louise Hart Scholarship for attaining the highest accumulated marks of all the members of the Graduate Community this year. She is studying for a Master of Communications through coursework. She joins ten other Hart scholars currently resident.
Distinguished guests included Dr Philip Clifton-Bligh Endocrinologist and former Associate Professor in Medicine and David Greco, who is a Lecturer of Classical Voice at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music
University Scholarships and Prizes
Josh Gaul is in his 2nd year of a Doctor of Medicine and his first year in Graduate House and has been awarded the University’s Dr John Osbourne RN Scholarship. This scholarship supports residents of St Paul’s College enrolled in the Doctor of Medicine in their second, third or fourth year of study and was established through a bequest to the University in 1919 by Kate Cunningham Moffat.
Ines Wen, in her second year of a research PhD in the Business School and her first year in Graduate House, has been awarded numerous grants for her research and travel: from the Business School Research Unit to present a paper at the Global China Conference in Melbourne and a Postgraduate Research Support Scheme grant to present at the Academy of International Business Oceania symposium in Sydney; the International Association for Chinese Management Research for data collection abroad; a Taiwan Government Scholars in Australia grant; and the 2024 SUPRA Social Impact Grant to organise sustainable decision-making workshops for PG students at the University. Ines, originally from Taiwan, came to Sydney via study at home then in France, Germany and China and is conducting regular tutorials in Chinese at St Paul’s. She has a MBusAdmin and BBusAdmin (MechEng) from the National Taiwan University. Her research into business management disruption in China is described in more detail in this story: https://www.stpauls.edu.au/international-research-award-for-graduate-house-phd-student/
Lara Holburn, in her 1st year of a PhD in Chemistry and first year at Graduate House, has been awarded the University’s Agnes Campbell Prize, a postgraduate scholarship supporting postgraduate students in the School of Chemistry who demonstrate excellence in organic chemistry. This scholarship was established in I996 by a bequest from Jack Campbell Norrie to provide scholarships to students enrolled in a master’s by research or PhD.
Congratulation to all those post graduate members of the College who are achieving so much at the highest levels of academia.
Join us at the Summer Soiree
The Warden and the Union Committee warmly invite Old Paulines, their partners and friends to join us for an unforgettable evening of festivities and live entertainment in the Quad and Salisbury.
