Year 9 Drama: The Suitcase Series

Throughout Semester 2, Year 9 Drama students have been working with a specially commissioned script to create a devised ensemble piece as part of The Suitcase Series. Now in its 11th year, The Suitcase Series by the Malthouse Theatre is a participatory theatre-making program for Year 9 and 10 students. Combining in-class activity with in-theatre performance, this innovative program is an opportunity for students to develop and expand their theatre-making skills and share their work with peers. It empowers young people to tackle the greatest challenge of their generation: climate change. As the name of the program suggests, all of the props they required needed to fit in one suitcase.

At 8.30am on Friday 21 October, we made our way to the Malthouse Theatre. Shelford was scheduled on the last day of 8 days of performances with 5 or 6 different schools attending each day. After arriving, students were given 10 minutes on stage in the Beckett Theatre while their lighting was plotted and a sound check was conducted. They were able to position their performance in the space and familiarise themselves with the stage and lighting. After this, we had a short break before returning to the theatre to begin the performances. There were 5 other school groups that attended, each presenting their own unique performance of up to 20 minutes. After each school had performed, Lyall Brooks, the director of The Suitcase Series, and Kevin Richmond, a professional actor from the production of Atlantis, provided valuable feedback to the students. This was followed by feedback from the audience which included students and teachers from other schools. 

Shelford was the second group to perform and did a brilliant job. The girls captivated their audience, made them laugh and communicated a profound message. Shelford was commended on the creative way they engaged with and utilised the script by including movement and breath. They were also praised for their capacity to incorporate both comedic and sombre elements seamlessly into their performance, providing contrast to engage the audience and demonstrating versatility as performers.

Towards the end of the lunch break, some of our girls became involved in an impromptu game of table tennis with students from another school which garnered attention from almost all of the other students! We then headed back in to the theatre to watch the professional production of Atlantis by Chanella Macri. The production uses Plato’s ancient myth of a sunken city as an anchor point, making Atlantis an allegory for Australia in its current stage of climate crisis and the search for lost systems of knowledge that might help us understand our relationship to the environment. Drawing on Indigenous and Pasifika philosophies and modes of storytelling, this play is about young people stepping into their power as future guardians of country. It was wonderful for the students to see the script come to life after first reading it several months ago. 

The performance was followed with a Q&A session with the cast and director of the play where they discussed the processes behind developing the production. This included use of stagecraft, exploration of character and the rehearsal process. At 3.30pm, Shelford students headed back to school on the bus after a huge day of watching and performing theatre. It was a fantastic experience and a wonderful opportunity for all of those involved, where students could perform their work in a safe, supportive environment without the pressure of competing. I am very proud of their work and the manner in which our girls conducted themselves; they certainly represented Shelford well.

Kelsey Holden

Drama Teacher