In March, The New Zealand Playhouse visited our school with a show entitled 'Battle of the Blaggards' that is currently touring all over New Zealand. Over 80 students from RHS and Rangiora New Life were treated to this performance in the school hall. Highly celebrated actor and entertainer David Ladderman played a number of highly energetic roles based on Shakespeare’s play King Lear. The plays dark themes of death and tragedy were treated in a melodramatic, over-the-top style of theatre. Ladderman’s busker background shone through in a number of highly interactive and confronting moments with the audience. This included jumping directly onto seats of students who made the mistake of paying attention to their phones rather than the show. The audience was treated to an unrehearsed but highly crafted sword fight that ended in an overly dramatic death scene starring Drama Captain, Josh Lees. Ladderman’s approach in teaching non-essential characters and happenings in King Lear resulted in the very catchy phrase, “You don’t need to know.” This is a phrase that is likely to be used for months, if not years, to come.