Dance and Drama

From the Co-ordinator of Dance and Drama

Year 8 Incursion – Shock Therapy productions ‘The Stones’ Performance and Drama Workshops

On Wednesday 1 May, as part of their Pastoral program the Year 8 cohort participated in an incursion to explore risk taking and responsibility for one’s actions. They watched a production of ‘The Stones’, performed by Shock Therapy Productions. Based on a true story about risk taking behaviour and the pain of guilt when things go too far. 

Following this, they participated in practical drama workshops directed by Shock Therapy founders Sam and Hayden, supported by our Drama staff. These workshops aimed to provide students with opportunities to think about these themes in their own context, and learn and implement the skills of improvisation, characterisation and playbuilding as a way to successfully communicate scenarios or themes. 

From the students’ perspective…. 

We’ve always greatly appreciated minimalistic plays like 'The Stones', just seeing so much done with so few props or sets has been a rollercoaster to watch. Seeing 2 actors play multiple different characters was something we’ve never seen before. The Drama Workshop was an engaging and interactive experience, as we used animals as an inspiration to create unique and special characters exploring levels of tension, similar to how the actors approached their characters, was fantastic.  All in all, thank you Shock Therapy Arts! 

Will, Remy and Frederick (G8)

I enjoyed 'The Stones' performance because it was an engaging performance that had a deep meaning behind it. By only using two actors for the performance and minimal props, it showed to the audience that you don’t need a big stage to perform a successful play. After the performance, we did a workshop with the actors that helped improve our creative thinking and performance skills, by acting out freeze frames from the performance and using animals to create characters. Thank you, Shock Therapy Arts, for teaching and performing for us.

Isabelle (C8)

'The Stones' performance of a true story was interacting, funny but most of all communicated the idea of how just a couple of normal, young Australian lives could change so dramatically. Hayden and Sam’s expression of this was so realistic it left the audience in sniffles. This presentation of hard work towards a great outcome showed me how being fully into it really looks professional and genuine on a stage performing to an audience. A few periods after we watched the play, we got to see how they did it, they showed us all sorts of tricks and skills, for example how they framed this play to have a resemblance of the characters at the start and how the growth of their character expanded towards the end. They taught us how tension is everything in telling the story of a play, how it can grow and soften toward the circumstance. I think this opportunity was very valuable to me and the other young people in my year as not only did it teach us a lot it also was very entertaining! 

Tahlia (C8)

This performance had me on the edge of my seat. It made me feel a rollercoaster of emotions. Shocked, amazed, sad, and sympathetic. I believe this performance had a truly deep meaning to it. There were scenes that used peer pressure and manipulation, showing not only a story, but something to relate to. The activities we did let us express ourselves. No one judges you for your movements and expressions. In these activities, we were taught how to use our bodies in drama, even as an inanimate object, this guided us to widen our imagination.

Josie (C8)

On the 1st of May we had Shock Therapy Productions came and performed 'The Stones' for us and then do a workshop with us. We gained valuable insight into different acting techniques and learned about the ‘Stone Saga’ that took place in Melbourne back in the late 1960s. We are all very grateful for this opportunity to learn more about the art of theatre.

Jackson (G8)