Drama and Theatre
Drama and Theatre students have had an outstanding and exciting week! The Yr 12 IB Theatre classes wowed their audience with their highly impressive and thought-provoking performances, a special thank you to their teacher, Ms Esther Lamb, for her great work on Yr 12 IB Theatre. Upcoming is our external Shakespeare and Theatresports Competitions and we wish our teams well for representing Redlands at these external events. Our Drama Captain, Phoebe Barnett has also recognised a Drama and Theatre student of the week!
Yr 12 IB Curriculum Performance Evening
“On Monday evening, the Drama Studio played host to three vibrant worlds: those of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, Helen Keller, and Frida Kahlo. This performance evening had been a term and a half in the making; half-yearly exams and all.
From the get-go, the audience was immersed in the world of Gypsy Rose Blanchard – perhaps the best-known victim of Munchausen Syndrome by proxy – and her murderous quest for freedom. Eve, Dan, Daisy, and Maya presented a twisted retelling of Gypsy’s illnesses and eventual disillusionment at the hands of her own mother – and her reclamation of freedom in the least free of settings: prison.
Next, the life of Helen Keller – a blind and deaf icon who trailblazer her way through childhood disability to achieve major academic and philanthropic successes – took to the stage. Julia, Jonathan, Lily, and Jessica presented a compelling account of Helen’s life, combining 19th-century worldbuilding with technological innovations like projection and a live loop pedal to illustrate Helen’s achievements against all odds.
Finally, the space was transformed into the streets of 1920s Coyoacán, Mexico, the place where Frida Kahlo would sustain life-changing injuries that fuelled her art-making journey. Claudia, Lucy, and Sabrina effortlessly wove dance, song, and dialogue to craft an organic portrait of Frida and all she stood for.
Over this course, I learned the value of collaboration and the importance of persevering through group disputes and difficulties to reach a resolution. I had to step outside of my personal goals and interests to realise our shared vision, which ended up being a beautiful melange of our individual talents. Looking back, I’m thrilled to see how vastly different our end products are; a diversity that reflects not only the different group processes and dynamics under which these performances came about, but also the unique skills and passions of my peers that made these pieces so rich, multifaceted, and multi-disciplinary. A big thanks to our Theatre teacher, Ms Esther Lamb, our mentors Ms Sahya Saheki and Ms Amber Virtue, and the whole team behind tech and production!”
By Lucy Horton – Yr 12 IB Theatre Student
Best Wishes to our Competition Teams!
Our Theatresports and Shakespeare teams are competing at the external competitions in Week 5, we wish them the very best of luck – break a leg!
Senior Theatresports Team
Phoebe Barnett (Yr 12), Hallie Hunt (Yr 11), Claudia Lalich (Yr 12), Sholto Mirrlees-Black (Yr 11) – Drama Teachers, Mrs Sarah Sparke and Ms Amber Virtue
Intermediate Team
Remie Gibbs (Yr 10), Byron Kendrigan (Yr 9), Serafina Scotting (Yr 10), Abbie Sewell (Yr 10), Juliet Treloar (Yr 10), Drama Teachers, Mrs Sarah Sparke and Ms Amber Virtue
Shakespeare Group Ensemble Performance: Megan Kirkpatrick, Serafina Scotting, Remie Gibbs (Yr 10), Drama Teacher, Ms Samantha Novis
Shakespeare Duologue: Krishna Gupta and Grace Dawson-Damer (Yr 10), Drama Teacher, Ms Stacey Whitmore
Drama Student of the Week: Mackenzie Willis
By Phoebe Barnett – Drama Captain
This last term Mackenzie has been whole heartedly dedicated to his time in Drama with his commitment to many Extra Subject Drama classes during and after school. He has attended all the curriculum and extra-curricular drama night performances in support of his friends and has yet to miss a class. His organisation skills to balance his time through the arts and his dedication to commit to all his extracurriculars equally has not gone unseen. We can’t wait to see what comes next for him at Drama in Redlands.
Interested in Drama
If you are interested in joining Drama at any stage during the year, including Acting classes, Private Tuition, Musical Theatre, Filmmaking or our Production teams, P-12, please do not hesitate to contact drama@redlands.nsw.edu.au.
Click on Pulse for an outline of all Drama classes.
Ms Tamara Sweetman
Coordinator of Theatre and Drama
drama@redlands.nsw.edu.au
Gala Arts
Put it in your diaries, Gala Arts will be returning to The Concourse at the start of Term 3 on Friday 21 July.
Auditions close and must be submitted online by 6pm on Thursday 11 May – TONIGHT! – Mrs Boase