Week One - Week Two 2006

Week One: Introduction to the Unit

(Paul returns to Children's Theatre; this time to complete a PHD... oh Doctor!)

Welcome to Children’s Theatre. The aim of this unit aim is to extend your performance and/or production skills within the specific context of theatre created for an audience of primary school children. While the unit is relatively new, the project of making theatre for children at Murdoch is not. We shall therefore be drawing on a body of work that goes back to 1991 when Samantha Seal by Pieter Scholtz was taken to schools in the Perth metropolitan area as part of an outreach programme envisaged to make Murdoch more visible to the community it was supposed to serve. The Astounding Antics of Antoinette Ant (an adaptation with a gender inversion of another Scholtz play) followed in 1992 and this, after successful performances in the Drama Workshop, toured to Geraldton. It then seemed important to create pieces that had a Western Australian slant and, as the previous pieces had engaged with environmental issues of general concern, making the next trilogy of plays address Western Australian matters seemed to make sense.  And so The Galah’s Gambit (1993) which toured to Jurien Bay; Ningaloo Knights (1994) and The Dragon Variation (1996) all premiered in Nexus Theatre and played to over 3000 students and teachers from primary schools during their two-week seasons. The aim of the projects was to explore serious environmental themes (clear-felling of the forests of the South-West; the threat of mining to Ningaloo Reef; and the implications of uranium mining in the North of our state) through the medium of theatre with the goal of educating children (and hopefully those of us involved in producing the work as well) through entertainment. In 2000 Murdoch Children's Theatre presented The Greatest Show on Earth: A Circus Story, The Minstrel’s Tale followed in 2001 and Shakespeare at Sea (2002), Zak Zebra’s African Safari (2003) Athena Emu at the Olympics (2004) and Captain Quokka’s Adventures on the High Seas (2005) with a cast of nearly 30 students had an extremely successful season in Nexus Theatre. Children’s Theatre regularly plays to full houses of delighted primary school children and we are consistently rewarded by extremely positive critical (and educational) responses from the teachers who accompanied them.

Jenny de Reuck

(A hilarious interpretation of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears")

A few thoughts about Children's Theatre overall:  I think that Children's Theatre is such a great unit because it allow people to apply their strengths towards a practical end.  Jenny allows and tries to incorporate everyone's talents, and because we can use everyone's strengths, the production is made stronger for it. The first week this year shows to me that once again we have a lot of talent running through our group, actors, crew and the like.  It is already shaping up to be the best show yet.
 

Lauren Boon

(Some of the new students for the 2006 Children's Theatre year)

(Original drafts of Fairy designs by Julian Hembrough)

The following is Julian's first journal entry, detailing his initial thoughts on the Children's Theatre unit... I began Children’s Theatre this week with the usual mixture of dread and excitement that I reserve for all Drama units. Although I have had some prior experience with acting and performance workshops both on and off campus, I still consider myself to be very much at the beginning of a journey. Therefore, it was with some trepidation that I found myself entering the Drama Workshop this week. I needn’t have worried. The environment of the introductory workshop was safe and supportive, and I soon felt a developing sense of camaraderie between my fellow classmates and me. I believe this bonding process is essential in any Drama group in order for individuals to trust that they can safely access and actualise their inner selves, without fear of judgement or ridicule.

 To facilitate this bonding between group members, we were given the opportunity to introduce ourselves and speak a little on our reasons for choosing this unit. Needless to say that there was a broad variety of skills and talents throughout the class, with experience in Children’s Theatre ranging from the novice to the ‘old hands’. It will be exciting to watch this disparate bunch weld itself into a cohesive team over the next thirteen weeks, each using their unique skills.

 I am enrolled in Children’s Theatre because I both enjoy creative and challenging subjects, and also to complete a BEd. (Secondary), with a major in English and a minor in Drama. I also have a professional background in design and illustration, a fact not lost on Andrew Kocsis, who has already conscripted me to produce images of fairies for his website, the Ed Pack, and who knows what else! I am not sure whether or not I will choose design as my role in the production as I feel I would like to push myself in other areas such as acting, but we’ll wait and see how cold my feet get.

 After words from Cheryl Miller and a talk on safety issues from Jeff (Geoff?), we started the workshop with some light warm-ups and vocal exercises before breaking into groups for a singing activity. Normally, such an activity would have me breaking out in a cold sweat, as I have a real problem with singing in public (blame a particularly sadistic primary school teacher for that one). However, everyone seemed so enthusiastic that before I knew it I had joined in. Again, trust was essential here in enabling me to overcome my initial feelings of vulnerability.

 The workshop concluded with one of my favourite tasks, which was to improvise a story from a keyword, phrase or title. The class was split into groups of five and given the title of a fairy tale, in our case Jack and the Beanstalk. I felt that the group worked really well together, and it was interesting to note that everyone was at least intuitively familiar with the offer > accept > extend technique of improvisation. Through offering suggestions for both dialogue and physical action, which were then accepted and extended by other group members, everyone had significant input into the final work.

 The first week of Children’s Theatre seems like an ideal time to reflect on what I would like to achieve during the course of the semester. I would certainly like to increase my confidence in acting (and perhaps singing), whether through the workshops or production. I would also like to enhance my production and technical skills and increase my ‘behind the scenes’ knowledge. If I can achieve any of these goals, this unit will have been worthwhile.

Julian Hembrough

(Another re-jig of a fairy tale; this time "Jack and the Beanstalk")

Week Two: Movement and Improvisation

(Lindsay Lloyd shows the group her new designs)

(Lindsay Lloyd's initial design of the backdrops for the latest production)

After the Week One workshop, I feel excited about the prospect of contributing to the production of ‘A Fairy Tale’, but also a little daunted by the enormity of the challenge. I spent much of the week drawing and inking fairy designs for the Ed Pack, with three finished and another two still on the drawing board.

Julian Hembrough

Click here... Fairies  to view Julian's competed drawings

(Script read through of 'The Dragon Variation' )

Unit Objectives

(Another group read through a past Children's Theatre script)

I suggest below a number of topic areas for this component of the assessment. You are, however, free to discuss with me or your tutor your particular area of interest and to formulate, in consultation, your own essay/report topic.

Topics/Questions:

 1.           Comment critically on some of the ethical issues encountered when developing a theatre project for children.

 2.           In what ways do you think the extra-dramatic elements of theatre (music, video, other technologies) contribute to the production.

3.           What are some of the strategies you find effective for conveying a message in a production for children? Comment by way of detailed reference to a scene or scenes from a script.

 4.           Consider some of the alternative spaces within which theatre for children could be staged. Select a scene from the script and develop a prompt book for it with a critical commentary on the reasons for your selections/directions.

5.           Write a critical report detailing the ways in which you addressed your role in the production and indicating what you have learned during the process.

(Original designs for the latest production by Jason Hatchett)

When I received Andrew’s email asking for submissions for the Children’s Theatre Website, I thought “Crap!” How can I write about Children’s Theatre when I know that it will be posted for everyone to read? What I mean is, how can I be witty and funny and interesting and intelligent and say something that is actually worth reading and… and… which is kind of how I felt last year when I entered the Drama Workshop for my first introduction to Children’s Theatre. I was late for the workshop, which didn’t help, and I quickly felt overwhelmed by my (imagined) inadequacies. Everyone seemed to have over-the-top-larger-than-life personalities and I didn’t feel as though I could possibly compete with them. Don’t even get me started on all those ISC and Honours students (ha-ha, love you guys)! I really did feel overwhelmed and intimidated especially when it was drummed into us that Children’s Theatre was going to be a LOT OF WORK. So I kind-of sidestepped the issue a little (but not the workload) by becoming a crew member, that way I wouldn’t have to compete with the amazing number of talented actors. To cut a long story short, I got involved with as many of the different production aspects as I could manage. There were a lot of things to organise that I hadn’t considered and I was able to consolidate my existing skills as well as learning new ones. I met some really great people, worked hard, invested a lot of time and energy and had a wonderful experience along the way. It’s corny but true; it is the journey not the destination that is important. Having said that, one of the best things about Children’s Theatre for me, was being able to stand at the back of Nexus (I was also a front of house person) and watch almost all of every performance. It was like re-‘seeing’ a favourite movie that you had already watched many times. Every performance brought something new, i.e. observing audience reaction (every crowd was different), seeing the energy levels of the performers fluctuate, waiting for my favourite ‘bits’, and marvelling at how all of the diverse facets of the production managed to come together to create a truly collaborate performance. This year I am one of ‘that group’; an ISC student. Yes, I have done Children’s Theatre before but this time I will be on the other side of the curtain as a performer and that still scares the heck out of me no matter how much I am looking forward to it! So if you are not one of those supremely confident and outgoing people, just be aware that there are others like you in the class. If all of the cast and crew were really outgoing then the performance would not be as stable as it needs to be. Sometimes it is the quiet members in the crowd that provide focus and balance, adding to the cohesiveness of the group. Remember that EVERYONE has something to contribute. Enjoy your time in Children’s Theatre, try to get to know some new people, push yourself outside of your comfort zone, eat and sleep properly and at the end of it all you will look back and realise just why there are so many people who keep coming back for more. I promise!

Cheryl Youens

(Jason's initial concept to allow the 'Mushroom' to appropriately function on stage)

View other 2006 'Notice Board' entries...     Week One - Week Two     Week Three - Week Four

Study Break One - Week Five    Week Six - Week Seven    Study Break Two - Week Eight

Week Nine - Week Ten     Week Eleven - Week Twelve    Week Thirteen     Week Fourteen

...or view other 'Snottygobble' production extras...     Julian's Drawings One     Julian's Drawings Two

Circus Skills Photo Gallery     Mel's Acting CV     Geoff Glencross Theatre History

First Draft     Second Draft     Final Script - Act One     Final Script - Act Two

Samantha's Costume One     Samantha's Costume Two     Paul's Unbanned     Suicide Run     Costume Fitting

Dance Workshop     Darren's Character Profile     First Dress Rehearsal One   First Dress Rehearsal Two

First Dress Rehearsal Three     First Dress Rehearsal Four     Jamie at the Final Dress Rehearsal

Final Dress Rehearsal One     Final Dress Rehearsal Two     Final Dress Rehearsal Three

Final Dress Rehearsal Four     Pre-show     Make-up     Wrap-up

...or view other Notice Board entries... 2005 Children's Theatre Notice Board

Go to Children's Theatre:     My Journal     History      Notice Board     Your Work

Contact Andrew @ thechaseison@optusnet.com.au

This page last updated: 30th June 2006