VCE Drama

Studying Wittenoom from page to stage

In February this year, the Unit 3 Drama class began studying a play called ‘Wittenoom’ for our analysis SAC. We were lucky enough to have the writer of this play, Mary Anne Butler, come in to speak to the class about the process of writing as well as the key ideas and messages within the play script. Mary Anne gave us great insight into the history of this town, a real place in the regional Pilbara in Western Australia. She also gave us many tips to use when writing our own ensemble later in this term. 

We then all went to see a performance of the play ‘Wittenoom’ at Red Stitch theatre. The play was based around the tragic circumstances of the town and its inhabitants from the consequences of mining for blue asbestos. The play explored the effects on not only the miners but also the families and children who suffered many forms of cancer including asbestosis. The site remains the largest contaminated site in the southern hemisphere as a result of this mine to this day. It was a fantastic way to learn about this town that I had never heard of and learn about the events that happened in Wittenoom. We participated in a student forum at the end of the performance and were lucky to be able to talk to the actors Caroline Lee and Emily Goddard about the process of rehearsing, acting and designing which assisted us in our first analysis sac on the play.

~Sidney McGrath, Year 12 Drama