Theatre Studies News
From the Ironbark Theatre
On Thursday the 27th of June, the VCE Theatre Studies class delivered their performance of 100 Things I Never Said by Adam Szymkowicz.
100 Things I Never Said, is a play about a school that is rocked by the sudden loss of one of their students – a girl named Julie. Friends and peers gather in a school assembly to say everything that has ever been left unsaid, to say goodbye and move forward.
As part of their work towards successfully completing Unit 3 in Theatre Studies, students must undertake an area of study called ‘Staging Theatre’. This requires students to work collaboratively on the three facets of the production process. In the lead-up to the performance, along with their acting duties, students undertook roles in lighting, stage, costume, and prop design. The performance itself was the culmination of five months hard work and sweat, with the overall interpretation of the play going through several changes until it felt right.
Students worked conscientiously to interpret the meaning at the heart of the play for each individual character and to create an atmosphere of loss, confusion, and understanding. They were understandably nervous as they took to the stage in front of an audience, but in reflection, they were able to discern the value of Performing Arts as something that is vital to success here at the College.
It was amazing to see so many families, teachers, and students turn out for their children, students, and friends on the night, and we thank you all for attending. We are incredibly proud of our senior performing arts students and look forward to their continued adventures in this field. We also had the pleasure of inviting some of our junior drama students to work on this play and we cannot express our gratitude or pride enough for the work they did.
On Wednesday, August 21st, the Year 12 Theatre Studies class attended a performance of Glenn Shae’s Three Magpies Perched in a Tree, at LaMama Courthouse Theatre in Carlton. The performance weaves the lived experiences of a Children's Protective Services (CPS) community worker with First Nation People’s stories of creation. It highlights the far-reaching consequences of the Stolen Generation and a system that has limited understanding of the impact removal from community and culture can have on the generations that followed.
Writer-Director-Actor, Glenn Shae is a child of the stolen generation and was a worker for CPS who was routinely sent into community to remove Indigenous children from their families. The stories that he shared with audiences are drawn from his experiences in that role, and the types of situations he was regularly faced with.
Following the performance, students attended a forum with Glenn Shae where he was asked about why he chose to tell such stories. “These are Indigenous issues,” he told the students and adults present, “but they are not only Indigenous issues. They are issues experienced by all people in all communities, and only by sharing them, does it allow us to create a better understanding of their impact.”
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