2024 Schools Program

CONTENTS

BOLDNESS

We are fresh, curious and courageous.

AGENCY

Everyone is encouraged to input. We listen and amplify youth voice.

OPENNESS

We nurture diverse perspectives & provide an open, safe and accessible space for ALL youth.

INTEGRITY

We lead with care & integrity. Our work is orginal, authentic & youthful.

It is who we are.

CREATIVITY

We create with rigour, producing consistently high-quality experiences.

Collaboration is key to our success

Our Standard

Multi-award-winning and industry respected, boasting esteemed alumni the likes of Tim Minchin, Claire Hooper and Katherine Langford, WA Youth Theatre Company (WAYTCo) is an arts organisation that transforms lives. Through theatre and the creative process, young Western Australians gain skills, attributes and insights into themselves and the world. The impact is lifelong.

Leadership, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, resilience and initiative are all learned through the creation and performance of Company works. Championing youth voice and diversity, WAYTCo professionally guides and enables members to tell their stories. Fresh and bold, staged with attention to excellence, our shows have dazzled Western Australian audiences in recent years, adding value to an a 40year legacy.

2019 site-specific work, REST, became the most awarded Fringe World show ever! With shows in the Perth Festival three years in a row (2021, 2022, 2023), and 2021-premiered ARCO, on offer for schools this year, having toured regionally, nationally and internationally, WAYTCo is working at its peak.

In 2024, following an increased investment from the State’s Department of Local Government Sport & Cultural Industries, and multi-year commitment from Partner Healthway, the Company launches a fully developed Schools Service. Programs presented in this booklet represent three years worth of service development work. WAYTCo has sought input from a wide range of schools and education consultants and tried and tested models of delivery to achieve refinement and ensure relevance and impact.

Throughout the year ahead, the Company will continue to seek feedback from schools about the quality of its programs, in order to have meaningful data to analyse and apply to ongoing program review.

As our company biography and opus of award-winning shows attests, we work to the highest industry standard. Coupled with our values-driven approach and commitment to evidence-based approaches to working with youth so as to enhance wellbeing, we believe our programs genuinely add value and help to prepare young people for the industry.

Amelia Burke, Artistic Director

“WITHOUT THE WORKSHOPS I WOULD NEVER HAVE UNDERSTOOD THIS TYPE OF THEATRE. THE VERBATIM AND FRANTIC ASSEMBLY ACTING TECHNIQUES WERE NEW TO ME AND I REALLY ENJOYED LEARNING ABOUT THEM.”

~ MOJTABA, STUDENT PARTICIPANT ~

Specialist Programs

The programs below may be booked as one-off or multi-week deliveries, and can be accessed in excursion format, involving visit to our custom designed studio in the heart of the CBD, or as incursion/s.

ARTS INDUSTRY WORKSHOPS

Customisable content, for all secondary year groups

Do you want new approaches or industry knowledge to support your curriculum needs? As WA’s leading youth theatre company, we can offer your students insight and practical experience relating to the different pathways in the theatre industry: acting, directing, writing, design, technical theatre and arts management. Our Teaching Artists provide fun and engaging workshops that are tailored to your students and their experience level.

CREATE YOUR OWN (CANDIDATE’S CHOICE)

For ATAR Drama students

Want to help your students stand out in their practical examination? This three-session masterclass is designed to help students create an original piece for Candidate’s Choice. Leaning into WAYTCo’s awardwinning reputation for devised works, this program will tap our practice of working safely with young people whilst achieving excellence. Practitioners covered: Antonin Artaud, Frantic Assembly, Steven Berkoff, Jacques Lecoq, Jerzy Grotowski and Complicité. Prepare your students to take on their exams with skill and confidence, whilst maintaining a sense of fun and a love of theatre!

IMAGES: COVER & LEFT, David Cox; ABOVE, Sophie Minissale

SPECIALIST PROGRAMS

DEVISER’S PLAYGROUND

Highly customisable, for all secondary year groups

Are you seeking a fresh idea for your school’s production? Taking place over one to two terms, students work together with Artistic Director Amelia Burke to create a new devised work. Our team will work with you throughout the whole process; from choosing the initial theme and ideas, to creating the devising methodology and rehearsal plan, through to getting everyone ready for Opening Night!

“WE HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH WA YOUTH THEATRE COMPANY... [AND] THIS HAS BEEN AN AMAZING OPPORTUNITY FOR STUDENTS TO LEARN FROM INDUSTRY, NETWORK, CREATE ORIGINAL WORK, WHILST FINANCIALLY SUPPORTING OUR LOCAL ARTS INDUSTRY.

I 100% WILL BE AIMING TO DO THIS AGAIN IN FUTURE YEARS.”

~ RENEE MILLER, DRAMA TEACHER, ST GEORGE’S ANGLICAN GRAMMAR SCHOOL ~

IMAGES: Below and right show WAYTCo Artistic Director, Amelia Burke, at work.

The below offering is best booked as a multi-week program. It can be accessed in excursion format, involving visits to our Perth-based studio, or as incursion/s.

Act Belong Commit

The thirty secondary schools scoring lowest on the Index of cultural & socio-educational advantage (ICSEA) are deemed eligible for these programs. Fully funded by our partner Healthway.

DRAMA INCURSIONS

Capped at 2x programs per eligible school

Looking to inspire your students and add value to curriculum-based learning? WAYTCo offers classtime drama programs to eligible schools at no cost. Centred on performance and theatre-making, and delivered by professional theatre artists, Act Belong Commit Drama Incursions are an opportunity to boost creative learning amongst your students. With every program, WAYTCo teaching artists tailor-make a safe environment and provide scaffolding, so that a range of students, of different backgrounds and abilities, can thrive and be extended.

“THE KIDS WERE SO EXCITED. THE T-SHIRTS HAVE JUST TOPPED OFF A REALLY WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE, FOR BOTH THE STUDENTS...AND FOR ANYONE WHO GOT TO SEE THE MAGIC ROLL OUT (ME).”

~ DRAMA TEACHER, WARNBRO COMMUNITY HS, 2022 ~

DRAMA HUBS

For eligible schools seeking to deepen their relationship with WAYTCo, subject to resource availability

Act Belong Commit Drama Hubs serve to embed WAYTCo, and its highly qualified teaching artists, in strategically located schools across the Perth Metropolitan Area. Current and previous locations include: Bassendean, Mirrabooka, Girrawheen and Swan View. Hubs provide theatre extension activities to students from Years 6 to 12 at no cost. Run after school, the program consists of 1x 1hr workshop/ week over eight weeks of the term. The final week of program will often involve a gentle showcase for family and friends.

Hubs centre on long-term engagement (beyond a single term) and the building of rapport with participants to achieve meaningful impact. Get in touch if this sounds like your school!

SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL WELLBEING

A Healthway-funded, Telethon-Kids-Institute-led (TKI-led) health and wellbeing initiative

We’ve all seen it in action! The power of the arts to enhance the social and emotional wellbeing of young people. The TKI SEW-Arts team have developed an evidence-based framework aimed at achieving more consistent, lasting and measurable boosts to youth wellbeing through arts participation. Since the launch of SEW-Arts in 2021, WAYTCo has been a key project partner, supporting the research and consultation phase, early framework development and 1st phase trial implementation.

In 2024, ALL WAYTCo Teaching Artists delivering Act Belong Commit Drama Incursions and Act Belong Commit Drama Hubs will be trained in the application of the SEW-Arts framework. We will also be introducing its application to Specialist Programs.

“I HAVE WITNESSED A LEAP IN CONFIDENCE, ACTING SKILL AND COMMITMENT OF THE STUDENTS THAT ATTENDED [DRAMA HUB]. THEY WERE MORE LIKELY TO EXTEND THEMSELVES, TAKE ON CHALLENGING ROLES AND TO DIRECT OTHERS.”

~ LIBBY STONE, HOLA - ARTS, 2022 HUB SCHOOL~

WORLD CLASS PRODUCTION

ARCO | JNR & SNR

Performance + Artist Q & A ARCO Jnr for children aged 7-13, 50min runtime ARCO Snr for youth aged 13+, 60min runtime

Keen to bring award-winning theatre right into the heart of your school? WAYTCo’s original show about life with autism is now available in schools. After a whirlwind two years of regional, national, and international touring (Best of Children & Family Award, FUSE International 2023), team ARCO is keen to shift mindsets locally by introducing a low-fi version, especially for the classroom!

Created by self-described ‘Autistic Gentleman’ Adam Kelly, and James Berlyn, ARCO takes a heartfelt look at the life and struggles of someone trying to make connections with the people and world around them. Featuring the whimsical animations of neurodiverse artist Ben Hollingsworth, ARCO is a story of yearning and optimism which shares the message that we are acceptable in our entirety; just the way we are.

For more information about ARCO, go to: www.waytco.com/schools-communities/specialistprograms/arco-schools

“AUTISM’S NOT SIMPLY SOMETHING THAT EFFECTS HOW I FUNCTION, IT IS HOW I FUNCTION, HOW I AM WIRED. ASKING ME HOW AUTISM FEELS IS PRETTY MUCH LIKE ASKING A FISH IT IT KNOWS IT’S IN WATER...”

IMAGES: Top, Leah Maund; Middle, Sophie Minissale; Bottom, James Campbell.

~ ADAM KELLY, PERFORMER & CO-CREATOR, ARCO ~

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

WAYTCo’s Professional Learning team can inspire your teachers to better support students in the achievement of outcomes against secondary English and the Arts curriculum, by bringing a fresh perspective and latest industry know-how. We can also support staff to find innovative ways to deliver on cross-curriculum priorities.

Modules of Professional Learning can be raised upon request and tailored to specific need. All modules equip teachers with a better understanding of how to ready students for viable careers in the industry.

SAFE PRACTICE & DEVISING

3hrs, including break; min 10 bookings to proceed

Looking to inspire your students to work safely with devised form? This session will provide a variety of approaches to devising and making work with young people. Our Artistic Director will empower you to create quality work without overloading your resources or students. Schools may request a teaching artist with a particular specialisation within devising; confessional theatre, verbatim theatre, cultural storytelling, physical theatre and more.

For the safe practice component of this module, we review the application of the Suzuki method, and draw on the Telethon Kids Institute’s Social and Emotional Wellbeing in the Arts framework.

WRITING FOR THE AUSTRALIAN THEATRE INDUSTRY

3hrs, including break; minimum of 10 bookings

See great writing potential in your students? Want to help them understand how to write for uptake by industry? This session helps teachers understand what leading theatre company Artistic Directors, presenters and publishers are looking for in new writing. This module is usually delivered by the WAYTCo Artistic Director. Upon request, and subject to artist availability, we can also engage locallybased published playwrights, or teaching artists who specialise in specific forms, such as devised drama, Theatre of the Absurd, realism or children’s theatre.

(no theatre lights & simple AV; up to 64 kids per audience - where two adjacent classrooms can be opened up)

“WAYTCo provides young people with a wonderful opportunity to learn and develop in a supportive, encouraging, fun and professional environment. Seeing our daughter thrive, watching her joy as she and her peers have grown with their experiences and feeling our joy from witnessing this growth has prompted us to contribute to the ongoing success of WAYTCo.”

- Peter & Fern Dyball, Pit Crew Management Consulting Services & 2022 WAYTCo Donor

TABLE: WAYTCo Schools Programs pricing as @ 1 September 2023

BIOGRAPHIES: Sample of WAYTCo Teaching Artists

Andrew Sutherland (He/They) is a writer and performancemaker between Boorloo (Perth) and Singapore. He holds a BA (Hons., 1st) in Acting from LA SALLE College of the Arts (Goldsmiths University), has twice been awarded WA’s Blaz Award for New Writing, and creates new and collaborative theatre as part of independent theatre outfit Squid Vicious. Recent works include Salome delta, Mother of Compost, small & cute oh no, 30 Day Free Trial, and a line could be crossed and you would slowly cease to be, which was commissioned by the Intercultural Theatre Institute in 2019 and subsequently restaged by The Esplanade Singapore.

Asha Cornelia Cluer (She/Her) is an arts educator, theatre maker and actor from Boorloo. A graduate of the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (UK), she worked as an actor in the West End and for UK No.1 touring shows. Selected theatre credits: Twelfth Night (Fremantle Theatre Co), Conception (Blue Room), ZOG (Freckle), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Oddsocks), Macbeth (Bristol Old Vic Studio), Who Cares (Royal Court). As a facilitator, Asha’s work includes Ngalaka

Daa 2023 (Yirra Yaakin-WAYTCo), and regular workshops for WAYTCo, Black Swan State Theatre Company, & Emergent Academy. In the UK, she worked for Mountview Academy of Performing Arts, Arts University Bournemouth, Teaching London: LDBS SCITT & Young Actors Theatre Islington.

Tegan Mulvany (She/Her) A graduate of Hayman Theatre & long-time member of The Big Hoo Haa, Tegan has worked in Perth’s theatre industry for 20+ years. Her play ‘This Is Not A Love Song’ debuted at The Blue Room (2013, Audience Award Winner) & won several Fringe Awards in Melbourne & Adelaide. Tegan was a core ensemble member of Variegated Productions ‘Frankie’s’ (2018) and in 2021 she was a member of ‘Bangtown: Improvised Musical’ ensemble & played the title character in Runaway Balloon’s ‘Someone Stole Dee Perse’s Tree’. Since it’s premiere in 2022, she has performed in Yirra Yaakin’s ‘Dating Black’. Film credits: Mad Kids’ ‘Gavin Tanner’ series, ABC iView’s DAFUQ? awardwinning ‘Margaret’s Got Talent’ (2018, Official Selection Australia’s Funniest Shorts), & Foxtel’s ‘Upright’ (2019).

Nadia Collins (She/Her) is an actor, writer, comedian and former lawyer. She has been performing improv, sketch and stand-up comedy since 2008. Training at École Philippe Gauiler in 2016, she was nominated Best Newcomer at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2018. Her film work includes lead roles in Partners and An Ideal Host, for which she won Best Actress at Nevermore Film Festival 2020. She has created a number of critically acclaimed solo shows, including The Bride (Winner, Best WA Comedy, Fringeworld 2020), Chrysalis, The Big Thingy, Virgin Bloody Mary (nominated Best Comedy, Perth Fringe 2017) and Bad Egg Boys (co-creator).

Emily Stokoe (She/They) holds an Advanced Diploma of Stage Management (WAAPA, 2011) and a Bachelor of Arts Screen Studies - Producing and Production Design from The WA Screen Academy (2012). Emily works across live production and screen in a multitude of roles, including Stage and Production Management, Producing and Tour coordination. She has worked for companies such as STRUT Dance, The Last Great Hunt, Black Swan State Theatre Company, WAYTCo, Strut & Fret, Co3 and Artrage Fringe World Festival, as well as various independent productions and for local government and education institutions. Emily is the resident Stage Manager for Barking Gecko Theatre and has most recently been working with Perth Festival as the Project Co-ordinator for the Beaufort St Lit Crawl.

Simone Detourbet (She/Her) is a Malak Malak & Gooniyandi woman from Darwin, now Perth-based where she is an emerging actor, writer and director. In 2016 she completed the Aboriginal Theatre & Screen Performance Course at WAAPA. Acting credits: Conversations With the Dead (Yirra Yaakin, 2017), Less Light (2018), Grace (2019), I Feel Fine (2019), City of Gold (Black Swan-Sydney Theatre, 2022). Directing: Let Me Finish (Assistant Director, 2018/19), WAYTCo’s 24hr Play Generator (Director of 1x short play, 2021). Simone has also participated in several artist residencies and in 2018 was a key creative for a documentary filmed in Rwanda. Simone is passionate about the development of young people, especially those who are First Nations, underrepresented or disadvantaged.

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Amelia Burke (She/Her) is a director who fuses her love of live performance with a passion for making work with young people. She has worked as a teaching artist and director for a variety of arts companies across the country. For NIDA Open, she directed and devised a version of Company Three’s Brainstorm and a new production of Lachlan Philpott’s Bustown. In 2022, Amelia directed and devised Meet My Grandies with a cast of young actors for La Mama for Kids and the Victorian Seniors Festival. She is a graduate of the BPA (Performance Making) from WAAPA and the MFA (Directing) from NIDA.

ALL WAYTCO STAFF & TEACHING ARTISTS ARE CLOSELY SCREENED. WE ROUTINELY PROVIDE WWCC CARD COPIES.

PARTNERS & SUPPORTERS

Partner support is vital to WAYTCo sustainability and underpins the Company’s capacity to provide exceptional theatre arts opportunities to West Australian youth. We are ever so grateful for the support of:

MAJOR PARTNERS

PROJECT PARTNERS

2023 DONORS

Erica Smyth AC

Fiona Stanley AC

Alison Morley

Mel Watts & Rob Rinalli

Osnat Harlap

Peter & Fern Dyball

Brian & Gemma Kelly

Patrick, Rebecca, Elliot & Alexander Tehvand

Remembering Elliot Tehvand Donor Circle

The Vakatini Family