DRAMA: VCE Drama Performance

A Social and Political statement about Asylum Seekers

This year's VCE drama class has been working tirelessly in conjunction with their ingenious teacher, Ms Grainne O’Boyle, since the beginning of the year, on their upcoming ensemble piece set to take place on Tuesday 16 May. The topic they have been working on is the Economic Discrimination against Asylum Seekers in Australia.

Since the summer holidays, the class has been researching asylum seekers and also learning about some of the stories of real asylum seekers from the organisation Hope Co-op. To find out more about who we are raising money for please visit their website.

Hope Co-op is an amazing organisation set up to support asylum seekers to gain an education in Australia. Their vision is for full social and economic inclusion for people of asylum-seeking background in Australia. They have created a book called ‘The Shape of Hope’ which is a collection of stories from asylum seekers as to why they left home, how they got to Australia, and what it’s been like to start building a new life battling social and economic discrimination against them. All proceeds for this book are used to support asylum seeker education. The stories of Sarah, Ahmed, Omid A, Maria and Asma are what have inspired this talented group of skilled Year 11s and 12s to create their powerful and dynamic performances.

After splitting off into two groups, the class has created two meaningful, eclectic performances about the Economic Discrimination against Asylum Seekers in Australia and we will be giving you a little insight into the groups of these remarkable, young actors.

Group 1:

Group 1 is made up of 8 brilliant young actors; Lucy Diggerson, Scarlett McMahon, Hannah Cullen, Stephanie Rostan-Herbert, Grace Gauder, Isabel Juricskay, Atlas Anelli-Newitt and lastly Sinitta McCarthy (who unfortunately can’t join us on performance night). The name of their performance is ‘Separate Journeys, Shared Trauma.’ Their performance so far is already so moving and it is brilliant to see how quickly they have picked up using the eclectic theatre techniques and refined their acting abilities being a group of only year 11s.

They convey their message of “be the voice they don’t have” with such delicacy, it’s really something you wouldn’t want to miss. They chose this message as many asylum seekers and people with asylum-seeking backgrounds don’t have a voice to tell their story and show how corrupt the current system for asylum seekers is. This group follows in the footsteps of their message, being a strong voice for asylum seekers, most certainly having loud voices as displayed by Lucy Diggerson when she yelled ‘DON’T TOUCH THE SOUNDTRACK’ so loud while rehearsing, you could hear it from the other side of the earth. This is definitely a performance you have to come and watch.

Group 2:

Group 2 is a determined group of 7 young actors; Zara Collins, Rahel Abraham, Georgia Fotinopoulos, Sienna Black, Tanya Tozoulis, Harper Smith and Stella Tassone. For many of these bright young actors, this isn’t their first time putting on an ensemble performance which is clear to see in the current performance. Through all their creating, rehearsing and Taylor Swift music breaks, this group has devised an exemplary performance by using their refined acting skills and embracing eclectic theatre techniques to create symbol, meaning and depth to their performance. Their message is “What if you were the faceless one” which is tribute to the fact that asylum seekers are often not portrayed in the media and when they are, they are often just a statistic. They convey their message through their clever prop of white plain masks to represent being faceless in society. They are able to put their audience in the shoes of asylum seekers throughout their performance. If you miss this performance, you’ll be missing out on a full journey.

Throughout the drama classes' research on the economic discrimination against asylum seekers, they have done intense research on TPVs. TPVs or Temporary Protection Visas are given to asylum seekers who are found to need protection. TPVs are not a viable solution for people seeking asylum. The TPVs are highly restrictive, here are some implements of the TPVs:

They don’t allow any financial assistance for people who came here with nothing
Many refugees are unable to attend university as they have to pay for it in full as they are considered temporary citizens. Many of these refugees are incredibly smart, even getting accepted into medicine at Melbourne University, but unable to attend because they simply can’t afford to.
TPVs also don't allow family reunions or international travel. This means that if you only came here alone you would not be able to see your family at all unless you were given citizenship or your Visa changes.
Being on a TPV Visa also bars you from stable and emergency housing and no access to English classes or translation services.

As is inferred the whole TPV process is inhumane and the Australian Human Rights Commission inquired into the TPV process and found that this process was inhumane and directly conflicted with Australia's Obligations under the Rights of a Human Child. The TPV is often used as a punishment for coming in illegally however it makes no real change. The boats are still coming in and people are still dying at sea.

After having spent so many hours rehearsing after school, during lunchtime and even during their Easter break, it got this class of bright minds thinking about how else they can help make a difference in the lives of asylum seekers and refugees. So they have decided to help fundraise for the organisation Hope Co-op. They will be holding a bake sale on Thursday 11 May, selling ‘The Shape of Hope’ book on the night of the performance and will have an entry fee of $5 for the performance. All the proceeds will be donated to Hope Co-op to support asylum seeker education. So please, come join us in watching this compelling and immersive performance

Date: Tuesday May 16th

Time: 6 pm

Venue: Drama Room

Tickets: TRYBOOKING $10.00 Adult $5.00 Student/child

All proceeds support HOPE Co-Op. Trigger warning for the performance: Mentions of suicide, mentions of rape and sexual assault. Images of War and Violence. Not appropriate for Children under 12.

Sienna Black Yr 12 Drama Student

ART : Alexander McQueen exhibition

Art Academy at the NGV

The Art Academy was fortunate to visit the NGV to see the Alexander McQueen: Mind, Mythos, Muse exhibition, showcasing more than 120 garments and accessories. It allowed us to be transported into his creative world of art and fashion. Focusing on ideas that at times challenged politics, religion and environmental destruction, the audience are submerged into different atmospheres, from staged environments of walking a haute-couture fashion runway, all the way into the depths of the ocean.

I really appreciated how the exhibition was immersive, as it allowed you to gain an insight and experience his world of art, with captivating emotive background music, flashing lights to represent the paparazzi and mood changing staging effects to assist capturing different emotions, depending on what gallery space you were in.

The show-stopping outfits and one of a kind pieces were breathtaking, ground-breaking, original and out of this world. McQueen had the talent to design clothes that empowered women, to make them feel daring and confident. The designs are elegant yet bold, which create a beautiful juxtaposition and challenge the ideal of fashion at the time.

The curator of the exhibition has showcased an incredible span of works, allowing each of McQueen's collections to be brought to life, depending on the mood and political statement of his designs. All who attended the exhibition loved McQueen's work, and would recommend anyone interested in art and fashion to go and see it, as it is definitely worth your time.

Olivia Cover, Year 11 Green

MUSICAL: Legally Blonde Jr

Very soon, Legally Blonde Jr will be coming to our very own Hall, and opening night is in just under a month! The Legally Blonde journey started at auditions, where I completely forgot some of the lines in my audition song because of nerves. It was made much better by the fact that we auditioned in pairs this year, so you would have a friend with you for moral support. Fewer students got in than in previous years because for the first time in a while, the cast is made up of both the Academy girls and Simonds boys, meaning a wider vocal range across the whole musical.

Rehearsals have been a flurry of singing with the piano and trying to get all the harmonies right, trying to remember all the dance moves, remembering lines and cues, figuring out when you should be on stage and when you need to get off and trying to organise all the props everyone’s using. It’s exhausting and it can be a lot of work but it is the most exciting part of the week. We get to wear fun costumes and act completely differently from how we ever would normally, AND we get to see Ms Hamilton’s dog Sparkles at every rehearsal, and you’ll get to see her too when she makes her debut on stage as Elle’s dog, Bruiser.

Being in the Productions over the years has done wonders for my confidence, and I feel so much better and more comfortable in my own skin, and it has making public speaking a breeze. With the roles I have the opportunity to play, there have been some unique challenges, specifically with the alternate cast. The alternates are similar to an understudy for a lead character, so they learn the role as well but unlike an understudy they get to actually perform it at the Saturday matinee show, so if you want to see that version of the show, that is for one performance only, make sure you get tickets to that one. In our production, I play Enid Hoopes, except for the Saturday matinee, where I will be playing one of the lead roles, Emmett Forrest. Learning two roles has been tricky, especially since these two characters in particular are often in the same scenes, so I’ve needed to learn a few of the same scenes from two different perspectives. While it has been difficult, it has also been an exciting challenge and the experience has really proved to myself that I can do more than I think.

Now for the super exciting part, as of 1 May, we have officially finished choreographing the entire musical!! From now until show week we will be polishing and refining everything, practising over and over until it looks the best it can look for everybody who is coming to watch. All of us are super excited to get to share this with all of you, and being in the musical has been a super awesome experience for the entire cast, so book your tickets, read about the cast & watch our story:

Under licencing contract this production is prohibited form filming, so if you don’t buy tickets to come see it in person you will completely miss out as there will be no way to watch it later. Hope to see you there!

Ella Clifford, Year 10

MUSIC: Yr 7 Music Breakfast Concert

Date: Tuesday 6 June

Time: 7:30am

Venue: Hall

Students from 7 Blue and 7 Green have been learning to play an orchestral instrument in Semester One, under the guidance of our Instrumental music specialists and classroom music teacher, Ms Alison Hocking. The budding instrumentalists have been making incredible progress and as a part of their assessment for the program, these students will be showing off their amazing skills by playing a variety of music items at the Yr 7 Breakfast performance.

All family, friends and staff are warmly invited to the breakfast concert and we look forward to your attendance in support of the Academy music program. This is a fun-filled concert, showcasing our beginner musicians in small and large ensemble performances.

Ms Mirelle Morris Instrumental Music Coordinator

Ms Alison Hocking Ensemble Director

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