Dominic students and The Kettering Incident

Dominic College has a strong connection to The Kettering Incident, the popular and critically acclaimed eight-part TV drama, now reaching its conclusion on Foxtel’s Showcase channel.

Haylee Fry with sister Libby, and Liam Harris are all involved in the dancing in the Kettering Community Hall. But the show really features Year 7 Creative Arts Scholarship student, Thomas Readman.

Thomas Readman plays a crucial role as ‘Kade,’ a young man who lives with his mother in the forest, and is central to the exposition of the weird happenings in the show.

We spoke to Thomas and asked some questions:

How did you get involved in acting and find out about the part on the Kettering Incident?

I have always loved acting and I was involved with Helen O’Grady’s Drama Academy and I heard about the role through them and it sounded like a great opportunity. I have been involved in school drama performances and acting is a passion of mine.

What was the audition process like? How many people went for your role?

Firstly, I had an audition in which I had to learn lines from the show and perform them, then I received a call-back and then it took over two months to find out that I had the part. I don’t know how many people went for my role.

Watchers of the show, are still unsure what is actually going on. Do you have any insights or spoilers you can tell us?

I have only seen the parts that I was a part of, but I am in the final episode, so you will need to tune in to find out.

We recently found out that you are not human? Can you tell us what is happening there?

I have no idea, I thought that I was human. It was a shock to me as well!

What’s next? Do you have any further plans to extend your acting career?

I have an agent and I am looking out for future jobs. Hopefully this is a stepping stone for bigger things in the future. My next performance is in ‘Stories from Suburban Road.’ I play Tom Hungerford as a young boy growing up in Australia in the 1930s. Other students portray his family and also play Tom at other times.

The Dominic College Creative Arts Festival runs from 7-10 September, and is full of inspirational student art, music, drama, photography, media, dance and displays.

Everything is free to enter and view, but the drama performances of an adaption of T. A.G. Hungerford's "Stories from Suburban Road" must be booked. Director of Creative Arts, Mike O'Brien, says the play is the dramatic centerpiece of the Festival and audiences will be moved and entertained.

'The cast is large - we have multiple actors playing characters as they grow older. The stories are about childhood, memory, growing up and connecting with our past; in short what it is to be human.' Information about the Festival program and booking tickets is at www.dominic.tas.edu.au/creativeartsfestival