1985 School Magazine

JEAN TRUNDLE DRAMA COMPETITION, 1985 "Wasting Away" by David Young was this year's entry in the Jean Trund le Drama Competition. Centering around a girl who develops anorexia nervosa, the play was relevant to today's society, and it proved to be a successful cho ice for both the actors and the aud ience. After many lunctime and FRIDAY AFTERNOON rehearsals the cast and crew, under the d irection of Miss Burrows, wer~ ready for the "big night". Little did we know there were to be two "big nights", for we made it to the finals and finished a pleasing third, with an acting award going to Wendy Conomos. The play didn't end there, for we were asked to fi lm it by St Aidan's and by La Boite (the Broadway of Brisbane- well for us anyway!) to perform in a Youth Drama Festiva l. So Wednesday and Friday afternoons were aga in devoted to rehearsals (at the risk of socia l anonymity!) tore-block the entire production. Although the play had a se ri ous tone to it, a lot of merriment went on during rehearsals. Miss Burrows and Miss Hatton must have gained at least ten years and 100 grey hairs, wh il e Amanda Fitzsimons- our super sound ass istant and stage manager - must have had her mouth washed out at least ten times. The always punctual cast- Jo Clift, Chris White, Sue Lynch , Wendy Conomos and Katrina Voller - must have wasted away because little time was allowed to EAT (we still managed to smuggle some food in ) and we battled on through colds, flu , ulcers, hernias, twisted ankles, v iruses, etc. , etc. The stage c rew, Sam Leigh-Cooper, Kyli e Clark, Kirsty Porteous, Lindsay Fry and Nicky Hoey, to whom we owe a big thank you and cou ld not have done without, were always there in the w ings giving us the support and the props and costumes we needed. To " the dummy" we owe thanks fo r making a guest appearance, and to Mr Pincott our "great" designer, thank you for all you did. Lastly, but by no means least, huge thanks to Miss Burrows and Miss Hatton, fo r devoting all the time and effo rt into making " Wasting Away" a very memorable exper ience for all.

A MID-SUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM Practi ce for the school play began in earnest at the beg inning of the year, under the sk ilful direction of Mrs Osborne. The play provided some unique problems for both cast and c rew, but all these were th ankfully resolved by the openin g night, Thursday 15th August. Apart from a few minor catastrophes, th e play was a huge succeess. It owes its success to the enthusi asm and vitality of the cast and the skill and dedication of Mrs Osborne, who was also the sav iour of the play on Saturday night, when she leapt in to repl ace a sick member of the cast.

Congratulations to all th e cast and good luck next year.

Shani Doig

Katrina Voller

P.S. Tina Turn er and Mel Gibson, eat your hearts out!!!

61