Drama

from Annual: Trinity 2014

Roll Call

Ms Lisa Laurino Drama Coordinator

Superheros, villains, Australian icons, animals, angry members of a jury, Macbeth, Hamlet, Romeo, Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes, Cookie Monster, zombies – these are just a few of the many characters our students from Years 7-11 have played this year. It is safe to say that 2014 has certainly been vibrant and rewarding for Drama at the College.

Following the addition of Year 11 Stage 2 Drama we were able to offer many new experiences for students. In August the Year 11s put on the College’s production of 12 Angry Men. The full length production was set in a jury room in New York in 1957 with twelve jury members arguing over the verdict of a murder trial. It was a challenging play for students to perform as the cast developed characters that were not only older than them but also from a different time. Overall, the actors were outstanding and should be very proud of their efforts. In addition to the production, the Year 11s put on a variety of smaller performances covering a range of theatre styles studied in class: including Shakespeare, Australian theatre, absurdism and theatre of cruelty.

This year Miss Beth Parkinson took our first Stage 1 Year 10 Drama class. Over the course of the year the students studied comedy, epic theatre, physical theatre and Australian theatre. It was fantastic to see the students’ monologues at the end of the year as a way of gauging how far they have come as actors and how well prepared they are for Year 11. Miss Parkinson’s dedication to the Stage 1 course and assistance in all other areas of Drama this year has been invaluable.

Our elective programs from Years 8-10 had many memorable moments over the year, with fantastic performance pieces being produced. Our very talented Year 8 elective class showed off their excellent improvisation skills and put together brilliant one-act plays. In Year 9 our students studied melodrama; something they seemed to pick up quickly. Acting ‘over the top’ came very naturally to this year group and the students enjoyed being allowed to do so. Following melodrama, the students studied masking and its origins through a range of cultures. It has also been worthwhile bringing in specialists of particular areas of theatre such as comedy, improvisation, masking and epic theatre, to run workshops with the Drama students.

Cast of 12 Angry Men

12 Angry Men

12 Angry Men Production Back Row: John Bradford, Joseph Teakle, Jack Perry, Rory Kendell, Connor Cleary, Julian Chilcott, Ms Lisa Laurino Front Row: Jack Newman, Steven Dang, Dakota Epton, Benjamin O’donoghue, Trung Le, Declan Mayo Absent: Liam O’neill, Connor Black, Maximillian Burke, Giordano Ronzan

I would also like to offer a special thank you to Ms Elise Kukulka for her time and effort this year with the elective classes. Ms Kukulka is an integral member of our Drama team and will be sorely missed next year as she embarks on a year’s leave.

Drama Club with the Year 7s this year has been a lot of fun. This talented and dedicated group of students has provided us with many unforgettable memories. Students were introduced to Drama and the basic concepts which moved to a theatre games competition for the rest of the year. All teams competed right up until the grand finale to see who our theatre champions from Year 7 would be for the year. The competition was tight and the talent produced from the games was outstanding.

Another important feature of studying Drama is appreciating a variety of drama styles and forms at different levels. This has taken us to a selection of professional, semi professional and amateur productions around Perth to give our students the opportunity to experience the diverse range of theatre that exists.

This year we have had two showcase evenings where selected pieces from the elective and year-long courses from Years 8-11 were performed. Both evenings were a huge success and certainly proved the talent and creativity that exists among the students at Trinity. We also entered 15 pieces into the Catholic Performing Arts Festival this year and, as an added bonus, received six honourable mentions during this time. Our performances included entries in the Christian drama, scripted drama, devised drama, solo works and full length production sections.

We are excited to be introducing a new Year 10 elective in 2015: Stage Craft and Production. This course is designed for students who may not necessarily want to perform but would like to be a part of the many other aspects of theatre, including design, backstage work or management.

With the number of Drama classes increasing, as well as our first time having the subject in Years 7-12 and a motivated department, 2015 is already promising to be our biggest year yet.

Ms Lisa Laurino Drama Coordinator