Talking Heads 2017 quality drama
Last week 16 talented Year 9 and 10 Drama students took to the stage to present the College’s 2017 Talking Heads – an ensemble of wonderful monologues. They were supported by Year 8 Drama student Tom Atkinson with his expert management of the sound for the two-night show.
It takes, courage and conviction for any student to step into the spotlight and extend themselves with a monologue. Students are to be congratulated on the very believable characters they created and their expert management of the actor-audience relationship.
We were entertained, amused and were disturbed by the characters who made us laugh, remember our own past and cried for the experience of loss. Student commitment to their Drama studies and dedication to exploring performance technique on the theatrical stage was truly evident.
Talking Heads is a long term performance project that began in the Little Theatre in 2012. The project aims to give students practical experience developing an individual performance, a form of which they will be expected to be masters in their future drama studies.
The line between current students and former students is rather blurred when it comes to performance at Dominic! Attending performances this week were several Dominic old scholars who have previously participated in the project. Breanna Knott, Josh Russell, Sarah Stansbie (2015), Molly McGovern, (2014), Oscar Parkinson and Meg Parkinson (2014 and 2016) were there to support our hard-working cast and family members. They all expressed admiration for the cast and their work and admitted to feeling a little bit nostalgic at being ‘back home’.
This year 16 students presented monologues with a broad range of content and dramatic style. Alex Simpson tackled a prologue by Patrick White, while Eric Glover, Matilda McGovern and Isaac Fassina delivered pieces drawn from Jane Austen. The Theatre of Cruelty was the form explored by Chelsea Jones and Nicki Stanton, Julia Narracott and Promise Mudzingwa performed material from America monologue guru, Jane Martin.
The subject matter was eclectic ranging from Annabelle Docherty’s heartfelt plea for compassion for refuges, to Cally Spangler’s verbatim piece about the 9/11 Memorial and Ella Mollineaux’s exploration of the nature of mother and daughter relationships. Jacob Percy and James Stansbie’s characters gave insight into family and school pressures and Natalie Roland’s piece made us view the word, ‘spin’, in a whole new light.
Will Parkinson’s character had advice for young marrieds, and Lukas Bird explored the plight of people who march to a different drum. All the cast made their mark with their pieces and it was gratifying to see their work develop and strengthen with each performance. The entire cast is to be commended for their commitment to the project.
You can see mor photos on our gallery: Talking Heads 2017.
Mr Mike O’Brien - Director of Creative Arts K-10
A Catholic School in the Salesian Tradition
