Drama Updates

Year 9: Fairy tales in the modern world

by Fiona Martin, Drama Teacher Year 9

Archetypes presented in fairy tales represent the spectrum of human traits and we may recognise elements of each character within ourselves.

Why are fairy tales so powerful? How can we transpose the archetypal characters found in fairy tales into the modern world to give them new life and significance? Perhaps using a sitcom or a film noir formula?

Year 9 Drama students have been combining tradition with modern popular culture in the creation of meaningful and engaging drama work that makes comment on human nature and society.

Because fairy tales are so familiar to us all they are perfect launching pads for interpretation, as are other classics including the plays of Shakespeare.

Students are using skills learnt last term to bring fairy tale archetypes to life. They are applying the Laban Movement efforts and knowledge of space, time and place as well as Robert Plutchik’s theory of eight basic emotions in the creation of stylised characters.

We will now all decide whether to extend this work into a performance piece or use learning from these stand-alone workshops to move into a new unit.

I am so pleased to observe the Year 9 Drama students’ unique strengths and talents begin to surface as they start to gain confidence in performance and joy in collaboration.

VCE: Melbourne Talam @ the MTC

by Kate Ellis, Drama Teacher Years 7, 8, 10, VCE

On the afternoon of Friday 5 May, the Year 12 Drama ensemble and I went to see Melbourne Talam. The play features on the VCAA playlist and seeing it alongside Parasites (our previous excursion) provides an opportunity for students to have a choice when it comes to answering questions on the end-of-year exam. 

The play provided lots of examples of contrast, a dramatic element students at this level study. It follows the story of three people from India and their experiences of Melbourne, having moved here for work, study and marriage. 

The play exemplified many of the non-naturalistic techniques we study which means the students had lots to draw from for their recent SAC and likewise for the end-of-year exam.