2014 School Magazine

SENIOR DRAMA PRODUCTION FREYA MCGRATH (12L)

This year the Brisbane Girls Grammar School Senior Drama production took a new direction. The drama department decided to present a series of contemporary theatrical works over two weekends, which we as students had a hand in shaping under the guidance of the Drama staff and mentored by industry professionals. This reflected the aim to create an independent and intimate theatre experience for both the girls involved and the audiences attending. After careful consideration, two main plays were selected — Return to Earth by Lally Katz and The Book of Everything an adaptation by Richard Tulloch based on the novel by Guus Kuijer. In addition, the group devised a physical theatre piece Hands Free to precede each performance. Hands Free explores the affect of technology on today’s youth. With its influence growing every day, our devices now become a new form of addiction. This piece was beautifully crafted by guest artist Noa Rotem within the architecture of our Creative Learning Centre. Audiences were provoked to reflect on their own interaction with technical devices and reminded to engage in the beauty and reality of the everyday world. The physical theatre piece was performed six times, across the entire Studio Series season, demonstrating the energy and endurance of this wonderful group of actors. Studio Series 1 featured Return to Earth , a poignant and quirky play about a girl called Alice, who returns home after a mysterious absence to find that coming home to normal life is harder than she imagined. The vision of the piece was led by Leon Cain, a well-recognised actor in Brisbane, currently based in Melbourne. He has performed for Queensland Theatre Company, La Boite Theatre Company and the Sydney-based Bell Shakespeare Company. Leon ran acting workshops that required the actors to develop their characters’ backstories, helping students to understand the complexity of the roles and dialogue. The ensemble of actors shaped the piece with the help of Mrs Riveros and Ms Martin, transforming the drama studio into Alice’s home … with a few

magical touches. This was a complex and conceptual play which gave our brilliant senior actors a chance to showcase their talents and hone their skills.

The Book of Everything was the main stage offering for Studio Series 2. It is a heart-warming play, set in Amsterdam just after the Second World War. Narrated by Thomas, a young boy with a wondrous imagination, it was performed as an ensemble piece that saw its nine actors never leave the stage. This ensemble was lucky enough to work with Brisbane independent theatre maker, Lucas Stibbard. Lucas was vivacious and fun and inspired us to be playful and adventurous in our rehearsal process. Lucas has a trademark performance style that is highly stylised and post-modern, relying on visual images and lots of physical action to tell the story. This process resulted in an imaginative and fresh piece of theatre. These pieces created a unique and highly memorable experience for audiences. The senior company and drama teachers gained a lot from this process and everyone was extremely proud of the beautiful, complex and magical theatre that was created. ■

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