January 25 - 31, 2023 ◆ MEMORIES: Christine Duff with a book of theatre cuttings and memorabilia from her time in the North East theatre companies that friend Philomena TrevorHunt created for her and some of her Zonta Zappa awards.
Exit stage right... for now
By BELINDA HARRISON
WHEN Christine Duff was in the third grade she was cast as Mary in the nativity play. It wasn’t her first foray into theatre, having written, directed and acted in a musical with a group of neighbourhood kids at the age of eight and writing an anecdote to ‘all the silly soap operas which didn’t truly portray real life’ but it was memorable. She wore a slippery white polyester shift and a blue veil, and was primarily concerned with the fact that her five year old brother had managed to get himself cast as God and that the boy who played the donkey might wet his pants again. This early flair for theatre life took a back seat as Christine finished school and went to university to become a teacher. Unfortunately, secondary schools across the state were closing down and there were no jobs available for new teachers so Christine upgraded from an Army Reservist to full time Army service to earn a living. “I ended up becoming a medic and applied to study nursing,” she said. “When I finished my nursing studies I applied to Mildura and Wangaratta hospitals; Wangaratta said yes first, so I moved on up and took a job as a division one nurse.” It was also in Wangaratta that Christine re-entered the theatre world. “I wanted to get involved in theatre again and thought it’d be good to try out where nobody knew me as I was so worried I’d make a fool of myself,” Christine said. “The Wangaratta Players were auditioning for Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, so I decided to go along and I got a part. “We had a wonderful time with that show, I made some great friends and from there I auditioned more, got involved with the committee and props, worked front of house and eventually directed some of my own shows.” Christine said theatre groups are like many groups, in that they give a sense of belonging to their members and are a great way to make friends in a new (or existing) community.
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YOUR GARDEN N
ANIMAL CARE
WINE TALK
YOUR HEALTH
GONE ONE FISHING SHING
with BELINDA
with ATLAS
with ANITA
with LAURA
with ROB
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