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Junior Talking Heads triumph

Wednesday was an intense but exciting day for cast members of our inaugural performance project, Junior Talking Heads.

At 10am, over 80 students and their teachers from Austins Ferry Primary School were the first audience. The visitors were very appreciative of the opportunity to experience live performance and were also treated to a potted workshop session afterwards, where Miss Brownrigg had all the audience up on stage, moving and improvising.

Several students from Austins Ferry had also been at the Year 6 production, SAY IT LOUD last year and were anxious to let our students know they remembered them.

After more fine tuning, and some nourishment, the cast reassembled for the 1.30pm performance with special guests from Glenorchy Gardens and Glen View aged care facilities.

Our visitors were delighted to be here, and very much enjoyed the performance as well as the afternoon tea, prepared and served by Mrs Hawkins’ Food Studies students, assisted by Mrs Baker.

It was terrific to see our guests being made a fuss of by our cast as they discussed the performances and shared information about their own school experiences.

Rather than go home at the end of the school day, the majority of the cast stayed through as they wanted to make sure they were completely ready and prepared for the 7pm performance.

After an early meal, the company went about the ritual of performance preparation with props setting and vocal and physical warm ups.

A full house of 100 assembled for 7pm performance.

Several Senior Drama students were on hand to usher, assist and support their fellow drama students with their first secondary school experience performing in the oratory space.

The audience response was excellent, as student after student presented their characters, with apparent ease and commitment to the moment.

Many commented that afterward even though the evening was a collection of monologues, the production had a strong ensemble feel.

Another audience member summed it up by saying she felt uncomfortable singling anyone in particular out because each performer involved her in their story and situation.

Therefore, a fitting way to conclude would be to mention the entire cast, performers and crew who are to be commended for their work in making such a success of this challenging project.

They are, in order of appearance:

Ella Fitzpatrick, Sarah Fitzpatrick, Angus Jones, Sophie Van-Tienen, Will Parkinson, Matilda McGovern, James Stansbie, Lachlan Rowlands, Jasmin Harrington, Lachlan Bacon, Thomas Readman, Jak Gutteridge, Alyssa Haremza, Natalie Roland, Chelsea Jones, Ashley Cano Calderon, Maddison Cockerill, Maddison Smith, Harrison Harper, Thomas Atkinson and Bradley Direen.

You can see more photos at our website photo gallery:
Mr Mike O’Brien - K-10 Director of Creative Arts