A celebration of the Performing Arts at Haberdashers’ Adams, Dixon Cup 2026 was also a feat of teamwork and student leadership. Pupils are off timetable for the day to contest four categories: Public Speaking, Film, Set Scene and Dance.
Mrs Molin, Teacher of LAMDA at Adams and a seasoned Dixon Cup judge was joined on the judges panel by:
ON Dr Chris Hose (Class of 2017), Chris was a member of Webb House and went on to be School Captain. Recently Chris completed his PHD and is now a lecturer in law and a fellow at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge. He was also a judge in the 2024 competition at which he awarded the first ‘Hose Cup for Drama.’
Aisha Numah trained at Hylton Bromley Theatre School and then graduated from London Studio Centre with a BA(Hons) First Class, receiving the Sheila O’Neill Award for Achievement in Music Theatre and Dance. Her theatre credits include: The Play That Goes Wrong, Aladdin, King Lear, Peter Pan, Starlight Express and many other stella productions.
All the entries are led by Sixth Form pupils who work with their house members to create the wonderful results that are performed. The Judges Choice Cup, for individual contribution, was this year awarded to all the House Arts Captains for being able to create such an impressive show a month earlier than in previous years.
Public Speaking
Pupils in each age group have the choice of three topics to speak on for no more than three minutes. The winners were:
Junior: Sienna Atwal (Talbot House) Should mobile phones be banned in schools?
Middle: Jaiyan Gibson (Sa’adu House) Should climate education be compulsory in schools?
Senior: Utsav Jawadekar (Webb House) Do our leaders need to show greater respect towards their adversaries?
Hose Cup
Students brought the world of Charles Dickens to life in each of the set scenes. These included much loved classics like ‘Great Expectations’ and lesser-known titles such as ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’. Only two set scenes were shortlisted for performance in the evening: Darwin and Talbot.
Darwin’s interpretation of ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ brought the horrors of the French Revolution and the guillotine to life. Alice Murnane and Abena Marfo acted and directed this performance. However, it was Talbot House who won and pushed Darwin into second place. Ava Sobey directed ‘Hard Times’ about the cruelty and hardship of The Industrial Revolution with exceptional performances from the cast. The judges also commended Sa’adu’s performance of Great Expectations directed by Gabriel Gater.
Mason Trophy
The film category allows pupils free rein to show their creative skills from script writing through to acting, filming and editing to produce a film that is no more than 8 minutes long.
Sa’adu House won with their original and innovative film called: ‘The Curse of the Mirror”. This film was a mysterious thriller directed by Rosie Sheehy and starring Gabriel Gater, Emilia Gidman and Josiah Iddon. Talbot took second place with a comical play about Talbot’s front team directed by Sammy George. Watch the winning film on our YouTube Channel.
Baker Cup
In the Dance category, pupils were asked to create ‘Moments in Time’ and were able to use up to 80 house members. Sa’adu were runners up with their ingenious interpretation of The Titanic including a scene where divers explored the wreck. Emilia Gidman’s vision as choreographer was excellent.
However, Theo Pham’s story that included the Berlin Wall, Suffragettes, the Indian Revolution and Black Lives Matter took the top spot for Talbot House.
Dixon Cup
The overall winner of Dixon Cup 2026 was a very well deserved Talbot House who last won the competition in 2022.
A huge thank you to the PE department for giving up the Sports Hall, the backstage team, the Heads and Deputy Heads of House, the PTA, Mr Latter and Mr Jopling.
