Objects of Substance- Beginnings Script

Dramatic beginnings The year was 1994 and the School was already looking ahead to planning celebrations for the 120th milestone the following year. Principal, Mrs Hancock, had thoroughly enjoyed “The Mathilda Women”, that year’s Senior Production, and she subsequently had a brainwave.

The Beginnings script and ephemera.

“The Mathilda Women”, written by Sue Rider in 1988, explores the vibrant lives of nine extraordinary women from Australia’s past, including Queensland’s first female medical doctor, Lillian Cooper. As part of the 120 th celebrations, Mrs Hancock thought that it would be lovely to highlight some Grammar’s notables who had contributed so much, not only to our School community, but to our greater society. As a Lilley House Group teacher, I was interested in the contribution made by one of our founding fathers, Sir Charles Lilley and thought that it might be fun to write a play about him and have it acted by Lilley House students. After finishing the short script, as a courtesy, I handed it to Mrs Hancock for approval. It was a bit of a shock when I was called into her office one Friday lunch to be told that the script was not really up to scratch! Little did I know that Mrs Hancock was something of a Charles Lilley expert, having just finished her Master’s thesis on the topic. She gave me her thesis to read over the weekend and with rehearsals starting the following week, I felt the pressure to produce something more acceptable very quickly. For once, the gods of inspiration struck, and after reading Mrs Hancock’s thesis on the Saturday, I slept on it Saturday night and woke up on Sunday morning with it all in my head.

Mrs Hancock’s Master’s thesis looked at the reasons why Queensland would be first in Australia to establish free, secular education for all children regardless of class, religion, or gender. She pondered whether Brisbane, being a frontier town, with no real social elite made it a prime setting to embrace new ideas and experiment with notions of equality. Sir Charles Lilley was passionate about the right for women to have access to quality secondary education and, in 1874, he chaired a Royal Commission into Education that found that there was wide public support for the idea of giving girls the same educational opportunities “as their brothers”.

1995 Beginnings – “Mrs O’Connor with the Trustees”.

Among his many achievements, from being a Queensland Premier and Attorney General, helping to establish Brisbane Girls Grammar School in 1875 was certainly one of Lilley’s finest. The play, “Sir Charles Lilley’s Legacy”, featured characters such as the cantankerous BGS board members who made life difficult for Mrs Janet O’Connor, our first Headmistress, to Charles Lilley’s thirteen children. We even had cameo appearances from the very young children of the Head of Lilley House, Marise McConaghy.

1995 Backstage of Beginnings production. Sybil Edwards and Marise McConaghy with cast members

“Beginnings” included dozens of girls of all ages from all areas of the school. Compared to today’s polished, professional drama performances, it could be considered quaint, but it was, I think, heartfelt and close to our hearts – and a fitting celebration for our School’s 120 th birthday.

Sybil Edwards (1983) Head of Lilley House English Teacher

1995 Beginnings program and cast.

1995 Gehrmann Theatre during the Beginnings production.