ARTS MATTERS

FINDING THE PLAY IN REMOTE LEARNING

The core business of theatre is assembling together. This is true for the theatre-making process, where collaboration is the heart of bringing a play to the stage. And it is true for the product, where we perform for an audience who, in turn, share the magic of an experience together. So... how does Drama and theatre-making work in a classroom setting that keeps us apart?

Thankfully, the Year 11 Theatre Studies lessons during lockdown have been a bubble of joy and play. We've pulled silly faces at each other (practising application of facial expressions), made slapstick videos (demonstrating understanding of the pre-modern theatre style of Commedia dell'Arte) and hurled Shakespearean insults through the screen (warm up for Shakespearen monologue performance). 

Throughout remote learning I’ve been surprised by how well both my teacher and peers and even myself have coped with doing something so physical online. It’s definitely been a process to get to this point but nonetheless it was a great challenge and experience I think we all needed to think outside the box especially creatively and how far all of us could go to keep our structured lessons going like it would in class. Elle Benezra (Year 11) 

Online theatre classes have put a lot of attention on the processes involved in making theatre. This is really helpful as when we can work collaboratively again, we can apply these newly learnt processes to make our productions better.  Drew Thompson (Year 10)

The theatre video chats are nice and I do look forward to them, but remote learning does give a feeling of restriction to these lessons. It's as if I'm not able to give a full performance because there are others in the house. Sabri Bayanta (Year 11)

As you can see, we're excited to get back into the theatre this week to share monologues and collaborate in person. With some appropriate physical distancing, of course! And we can't wait until we can share our work with a live audience again soon. 

Lucy Angell

Theatre Studies and Drama teacher

KAWS VIRTUAL EXCURSION

On Wednesday 13 May, we attended an online excursion to see the KAWS at the NGV. The exhibition opened in September 2019, featuring over 100 of his works.

The virtual excursion was a very different but interesting experience. We looked at the development of KAWS’ artworks, from street art and bus stop posters, to becoming one of the highest selling living contemporary artists. Brian Donnelly started out as a graffiti artist. He began by taking advertisement posters for big brands like DKNY, from New York bus shelters, painting his motif (the skull and cross bones) on and then returning them. 

His first work on a billboard was created in 1993, on an ad for Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum. This made KAWS’ art and name well known and familiar to the public. We learnt about Donnelly’s use of colour and composition in art appropriation, and how this creates a certain mood and the narrative behind it. He recreates popular culture imagery using more simple faceless characters so they lose their familiarity. These characters make the audience feel a sense of innocence, nostalgia, as well as companionship. 

Seeing the KAWS exhibition through a collection of photos was informative, however I don’t think it compares to really being in the NGV. Walking through the gallery space feels more meaningful with other people and actually visiting the art in person. We were still able to communicate with each other at home by messaging in the call. 

The online KAWS experience was unlike a regular excursion to the art gallery, but was enjoyable and we learnt a lot.

Jenny Hoang

Year 10 Student