Schools on Stage

It’s A Hard Knock Life

Image: Rehearsal for Pulse Alive. Photofrapher: Anna Warr.

In her latest Behind the Scenes column, Debora Krizak looks at how tough the pandemic has been on school performing arts.

Cancelled. For most, this means a simple disruption to the social calendar. Throughout the pandemic, most of my friends continued to work from home. For those of us working in The Arts, putting on a show from home just doesn’t pay the bills.

Time To Play Again In 2022

Image: The Tempest - Amy Usherwood and Drew Livington by Seiya Taguchi

Sport for Jove Theatre Company believes that teachers are unsung heroes of the pandemic for managing remote leaning. To lighten their load, the company is encouraging them to return to the theatre with their students in 2022, for seasons of Shakespeare, and mini productions of plays, in Sydney and on the Gold Coast.

Adapting Laurinda

A Q&A with Diana Nguyen

Already a fan of Alice Pung’s work, Diana Nguyen is thrilled to now have the author’s blessing to adapt her award-winning YA novel Laurinda for the stage. As part of her Melbourne Theatre Company NEXT STAGE commission to adapt the novel, Diana Nguyen will work with dramaturg and director Petra Kalive to bring to life Pung’s funny, feisty and moving characters.

What can you tell us about the project to adapt Alice Pung’s novel Laurinda?

MTC Digital Education

Image: MTC's As You Like It. Photographer: Jeff Busby.

Melbourne Theatre Company Education is inviting students to take a behind the scenes look at how ‘magic is made on stage’ through the MTC Digital Education program.

Black Swan’s Creative Learning

Image: City of Gold. Credit: Joseph Myers.

The Black Swan State Theatre Company’s 2022 season celebrates family, friendships and the relationships that connect us. Four productions that will especially appeal to educators and students are accompanied by comprehensive Creative Learning Resource Packs.

Australian Musical Theatre Festival 2022 Schools Program

The 2022 Australian Musical Theatre Festival will take place in Launceston, Tasmania from 18-22 May. This is a major event for everyone interested in the performing arts and an opportunity for teachers and students to get involved in this welcoming, creative, ever-enthusiastic and family-friendly art form. 

Stewart Bell Takes a Final Bow at Haileybury

When Stewart Bell, Haileybury’s outgoing Director of Performing Arts, arrived at the school in 1981, he never imagined that — 40 years later — he’d still be there.

In December, Mr Bell will leave the school where he has built an impressive Performing Arts curriculum, helped some well-known students towards a career in the arts industry – and where he met his wife, Philippa.

Playing with Shakespeare a Win for Primary School Film Makers

“You think it’s not going to be interesting, but it’s cool” – that’s how award winning Year 4 student Daisy McLean describes Shakespeare.

Daisy, along with sister Georgia, twins Piper and Lilia Buhagiar (Cronulla South), and Toby and Isla McAlary (Robertson) won the Bell Shakespeare Shorts Festival competition in the Primary Film and Excellence in Performance Category, with their film, The Writers’ Room.

Disney Moana Jr.

Music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foa’i and Mark Mancina. Book adapted by Susan Soon He Stanton. Music and Orchestrations adapted and arranged by Ian Weinberger. Gosnells Primary School. Directed by Grace Johnson. Nov 2-4, 2021

Gosnells Primary School’s biannual production features four classes of Yr 5 and 6 students, working beautifully as a team to present this Disney favourite. 

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

By C.S. Lewis. Willeton Senior High School. Directed by Stefan Brand. Willeton SHS, Willeton, WA. Aug 26-28, 2021

In a way, seeing a production at Willeton Senior High School is like entering a magical world. From the moment that you enter the school you are embraced by its inhabitants - a huge team of smiling and welcoming Front of House staff who make you feel welcome and valued. This continues throughout the evening, and is especially noticeable in this production of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.