2013 school book
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History is about to crack wide open angels in america part one millennium approaches
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from the artistic director
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peter pan 4 this heaven 6 cat on a hot tin roof 8 forget me not 10 angels in america – part one 12 angels in america – part two 14 the baulkham hills african ladies troupe 16 miss julie 18 small and tired 20 hamlet 22 the cake man 24 coranderrk 26 schools performances 28 evening performances 29 workshops 30 backstage and technical tours 31 resources for hsc drama 31 sunday forum 32 getting involved with belvoir 33 professional development for teachers 34 booking form 37 getting to belvoir 39 supporters 40
going to the theatre isn’t always easy At first, it seems as if it would be. Sitting there in the dark watching plays isn’t that taxing. It’s just like watching TV, except with a whole bunch of people. More like a movie, right? But as the students who saw Babyteeth or Strange Interlude or Conversation Piece or Death of a Salesman realise, going to the theatre is a hundred light years away from the passive task of watching images on a screen. In an audience, you have to work a bit harder. Everyone there, actors and audience, generates the world in which the play happens. It takes trust, courage – allowing yourself to be (possibly) embarrassed, and (probably) affected emotionally. It’s a little like a first date. As theatre-makers our job is to make theatre as addictive an experience as we can. We hope that this experience will be repeated, that we will end up ‘going out’ for longer than three weeks. Students will hopefully keep seeing us throughout their lives. Some may decide to make this dalliance permanent – after the fizzy feelings of first falling in love, they will plunge into the practicalities of making a career in this industry. This book is the starting point. Like Peter Pan flying in through a bedroom window it is designed to lure you and your students far away to Neverland – or to Mississippi or Liverpool or Baulkham Hills or Cowra or Elsinore. We want our 2013 Season to be as tantalising and engrossing as first love, not to mention as devastating and life-changing. 4
Our actors love schools shows because the audience excitement is palpable. It’s delightfully risky performing in front of an audience that responsive. Falling in love involves risks, and so does making theatre. We have assembled some of the most daring young directors in the country, including Simon Stone (Death of a Salesman), Eamon Flack (As You Like It) and Leticia Cáceres (The Dark Room) to tackle classic plays like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Angels in America, Miss Julie and Hamlet. With Meyne Wyatt as Peter Pan, Jacqui McKenzie as Maggie, Luke Mullins as Prior, Brendan Cowell as Jean, Toby Schmitz as Hamlet, Emily Barclay as Ophelia and Jack Charles there’s a lot to be buzzed about. And that’s just Upstairs. Downstairs we have the best new plays from young playwrights – Kit Brookman’s take on Orestes in Small and Tired, Nakkiah Lui’s This Heaven showing a Western Sydney suburb up in arms and flames. There’s the chance to fall for The Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe, and to discover the sweet promise of The Cake Man. But real love is always about discovering wonder for yourself. By bringing your students to Belvoir that’s what you’re enabling them to do. Generating passion and hopefully sparking a life-long crush on theatre. Ralph Myers ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
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5 JANUARY – 10 FEBRUARY UPSTAIRS
By J.M. Barrie Director Ralph Myers Set Designer Robert Cousins Costume Designer Alice Babidge
Lighting Designer Damien Cooper Composer & Sound Designer Stefan Gregory Assistant Director Isaac Drandic
Dramaturg Tommy Murphy With Charlie Garber Geraldine Hakewill John Leary Meyne Wyatt
peter pan Schools performance 11:30am Wednesday 6 February Suggested for yrs 7–12 HSC English: (Standard): Texts and Society: Into the World peter pan: he’s that fantastical boy who refused to begin the risky business of growing up. But the real J. M. Barrie play that he sprang from offers a creation far wilder and much more theatrical than Disney’s. When Ralph Myers gathered a bunch of people and read the whole thing out, crazy stage directions and all, he couldn’t resist putting it on. Between the ominous ticking of the croc and the fierceness of Captain Hook, there are stroppy fairies, unstuck shadows, thimbles that stand in for kisses and acorns that stop arrows – not to mention strange boys who start bawling in your bedroom. There are exuberant lost boys, proud girls who face death without a scrap of fear, dads in doghouses and mothers that wait and wait for their children to come home and never give up hope.
This is a story about an exceptional boy who flies through a bedroom window and takes three children away on a mad adventure to a place of dreams and danger. It’s about negotiating that tricky territory between not at all and just about grown up. It shows us how utterly foolish the grown-up world is, yet how by believing hard enough it’s possible to take a mighty step over the brink into it. Everyone who has had a fantasy of flying away without looking back, who can remember the heady rush of being fearless and brimful of bravado like Pan, should embark on this hectic ride with some of Australia’s most delightfully ridiculous actors.
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Geraldine Hakewill
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Travis Cardona
7 FEBRUARY – 3 MARCH DOWNSTAIRS
By Nakkiah Lui Director Lee Lewis
With Travis Cardona
this heaven Schools performances 12 noon Thursday 14 February, Wednesday 20 February, Wednesday 27 February Suggested for yrs 10–12 HSC Drama: Contemporary Australian Theatre Practice HSC English: Area of Study: Belonging Sometimes you need to push. Is it ever right to riot? When does putting up with repeated injustice mean you are participating in creating it? At what point does just surviving become no longer enough? Sissy Gordon’s father died in custody at Mount Druitt Police Station. The cops got a fine, Sissy’s family got $9000, and now no-one is allowed to speak about it. Sissy’s studying law but tonight lawyers and the law are far from the point. Tonight the moon is swollen and bright and Sissy and her brother Ducky want to be warriors. On nights like this things happen.
This Heaven is about a family caught at the boiling point of loss, love, fury and oppression. As sirens echo through the streets and parks of Western Sydney the people hold a rough public forum where the crucial issues of what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is bad begin to go up in flames. Throbbing through it all is the question: does doing nothing make you complicit with the perpetrators? Nakkiah Lui grew up in the Mount Druitt Aboriginal community – This Heaven is her first play. It is about negotiating two worlds and belonging fully to neither.
It’s time to find out what their father’s life was really worth. 9
16 FEBRUARY – 7 APRIL UPSTAIRS
By Tennessee Williams Director Simon Stone Set Designer Robert Cousins Costume Designer Alice Babidge
Lighting Designer Damien Cooper Composer & Sound Designer Stefan Gregory With Ewen Leslie Jacqueline McKenzie
cat on a hot tin roof Schools performances 11:30am Wednesday 27 February, Thursday 7 March, Wednesday 13 March Suggested for yrs 10–12 HSC Drama: Individual Project: Performance Brick & Maggie’s marriage is definitely on the rocks. While she implores him to give her a child and curses Brick’s relentless good looks for keeping her besotted with him, his only devotion is to the whiskey that he keeps pouring down his throat. It’s Big Daddy’s birthday but Big Daddy is dying of cancer and everyone has to pretend he’s just fine. They compete to demonstrate their calculated affection for him. Brick has busted his leg jumping hurdles in the middle of the night on the high school athletics field. He can’t adjust to life with the glory gone out of it, and he’s disgusted by Maggie’s desire and her determination to get a chunk 10
of the huge property when Big Daddy passes on. Most of all, he’s disgusted by himself. The truth is the thing he’s trying to drown, the truth about himself. With his customary power, Tennessee Williams gives us two generations butting up against each other. The older doesn’t want to die just yet and the younger is not sure how to live. Simon Stone’s Death of a Salesman was the hit of Belvoir’s 2012 Season. Now he approaches another classic of American drama when he directs Ewen Leslie and Jacqueline McKenzie in this classic exposé of the lies we tell ourselves just to keep on going.
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Jacqui McKenzie
Colin Moody
20 APRIL – 19 MAY UPSTAIRS
By Tom Holloway Director Anthea Williams With Colin Moody
A co-commission with Everyman and Playhouse Theatres
forget me not Schools performances 11:30am Thursday 2 May, Wednesday 8 May Suggested for yrs 10–12 HSC Drama: Contemporary Australian Theatre Practice HSC English: Area of Study: Belonging Imagine knowing nothing at all about where you came from – just dim memories of a blue blanket and a faint sense of a time before this one, a warmer time in a colder place. How on earth does a man nearing his 60th birthday who last saw his mum when he was four, work himself up to meeting her again, after thinking his whole life she was dead? Prompted by his daughter Sally, Gerry is on a journey to find his mother in Liverpool in the UK. She might hold the answers to how he has made such a hash of his whole life and why he doesn’t know where or to whom he belongs. His story is that of the over 3000 forced child migrants sent from
England to Australia between 1945 and 1968, on the lie they were orphans and the promise they were going to a sunny place with a chance for a better life. Instead they ended up in places where they were treated with unrelieved harshness, blatant neglect and abuse. From their real-life testimonies, Tom Holloway has shaped this play and found in the raw silences and the heartbreaking discoveries a pathway through this nearunimaginable experience. In the end the hardest thing for Gerry to remember is ever being loved. But uncovering some hard proof of that might just help him unravel the knots his life has got tied up in. 13 13
28 May – 14 July UPSTAIRS
By Tony Kushner Director Eamon Flack Set Designer Michael Hankin Costume Designer Tess Schofield Lighting Designer Niklas Pajanti Composer Alan John
With Paula Arundell Mitchell Butel Luke Mullins Robyn Nevin Ashley Zukerman
angels in america
part one millennium approaches Schools performances 11:30am Wednesday 5 June, Thursday 20 June, Wednesday 26 June Suggested for yrs 11–12 HSC Drama: Tragedy (prescribed text) It ranks as nothing less than one of the greatest plays of the twentieth century. New York Observer Capturing the chaotic spirit of the last decades of the last century, these immense plays tackle huge questions head on. Is freedom even possible? How do we keep going in the face of almost unbearable suffering? What does a good world even look like? Take students to Millennium Approaches to complement and broaden their HSC studies in Tragedy. part one It is 1985. When Prior is diagnosed with HIV, his Jewish lover Louis can’t bear to see him disintegrate so he deserts him. Meanwhile Harper finds out the hard way about the limits of love
at cross-purposes with desire. More specifically, her Mormon husband Joe’s desire for men. For Joe, a Republican lawyer who voted for Reagan, praying to God to break him up into tiny pieces and let him start again seems an easier proposition than coming to grips with being gay. Fuelled by a stack of pills, a heartbroken Harper visits Antarctica in her hallucinations. Set free, Joe begins spending his nights with men in parks, one of whom turns out to be Louis. Stuck in a hospital room with a black drag queen for a nurse, the desolate Prior receives a special visit. His visitor: a blindingly attractive angel who hails him a prophet and declares the great work begun, the task of disentangling the almighty muddle the Almighty has made of this world.
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Ashley Zukerman
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Robyn Nevin
29 May – 14 July UPSTAIRS
By Tony Kushner Director Eamon Flack Set Designer Michael Hankin Costume Designer Tess Schofield Lighting Designer Niklas Pajanti Composer Alan John
With Paula Arundell Mitchell Butel Luke Mullins Robyn Nevin Ashley Zukerman
angels in america part two perestroika
Schools performance 11:30am Wednesday 12 June Suggested for yrs 11–12 HSC Drama: Tragedy part two assembles all the players in New York for a spiritual showdown. In the terrible last days of the twentieth century, doom seems inevitable. Roy Cohn, a Jewish lawyer dying of ‘liver cancer’ (as he has his AIDS called) pulls some strings to secure his own stash of AZT drugs ahead of the two-year waiting list. Prior ends up with his ex’s new boyfriend’s Mormon motherin-law watching over him as he wrestles with the angel. She follows him to a surreal Heaven as he takes hold of an enlightenment that extends beyond the confines of his own life. One of the puzzles Prior struggles with is how to let go of the past and accept change and loss with grace.
Via theatrical illusions, impossibilities and nostalgia for a romantic view of the American place in world history, the characters make their peace with the contradictions of history. Expand your students’ understanding by seizing this opportunity to experience both parts. Seeing this modern classic performed will allow students to appreciate what Kushner calls ‘the weird interconnectedness of things’, against the backdrop of world history since then. Eamon Flack (Babyteeth, As You Like It) directs a dynamic cast in Tony Kushner’s powerful epic which suggests a pathway through the crucial questions of our time. 17
Yarrie Bangura
15 AUGUST – 8 SEPTEMBER DOWNSTAIRS
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Writer & Director Ros Horin Devisors & Performers Yarrie Bangura Aminatah Conteh Aminata Doumbia Yordanos Haile-Michael Rosemary Kariuki Tariro Mavondo Effie Nkrumah
Dancers Tiana Canterbury Lisa Viola Movement Director Lucia Mastrantone Singer/Songwriter Aminata Doumbia Musical Director Basil Hogios Set Designer Dan Potra
Video Designer Mic Gruchy Cinematographer Justine Kerrigan Producer Michelle Kotevski A co-production with Racing Pulse Productions & Riverside
the baulkham hills african ladies troupe Schools performances 12 noon Wednesday 28 August, Wednesday 4 September Suggested for yrs 11–12 HSC Drama: Group Project, HSC English: Area of Study: Belonging We are here to entertain you, to disarm you, to provoke you and to charm you. From Baulkham Hills to Surry Hills comes a band of African women with strength, substance and spirit. Most of them have made far longer journeys – from Sierra Leone, from Kenya, from Guinea. In their own lives they have travelled through some horrific experiences, surviving war, domestic violence and worse. They have sought refuge here, in a land where you can be who you want to be and stand up and tell your story in your own words. Yarrie Bangura spent her childhood in a camp but this year she is doing her HSC. Aminata Doumbia is an ambassador for
the UNHCR. Big Mama Rosemary Kariuki is a community leader. Yordy Haile-Michael grew up in an army. Now she lives in Lalor Park with her four kids. They are one half of the Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe and they welcome your students to their worlds. In our Downstairs Theatre these marvellous women join with four others to create a joyous theatre event celebrating humanity, courage and human rights – with some bonus advice on hair care. The Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe sing, make music, dance up a storm – proof of the amazing resilience of the human spirit. Your students will be delighted, disarmed and changed by this phenomenal show. 19
24 AUGUST – 6 OCTOBER UPSTAIRS
By Simon Stone after With Brendan Cowell August Strindberg Director Leticia Cáceres
miss julie Schools performances 11:30am Wednesday 4 September, Thursday 12 September, Wednesday 18 September Suggested for yrs 11–12 HSC Drama: Individual Project: Performance miss julie is extremely young, still in her teens. Yet she desires Jean, an employee of her father’s, and shows it freely. He responds to the pressure of her desire and returns it with force, not scrupling to manipulate her for his own purposes. Meanwhile, Jean’s partner Kristen, also an employee, is disgusted by Miss Julie’s lewd behaviour and gives notice, although she herself is quite familiar with Jean’s bed. Strindberg’s study of sexual tension across power and class divides is vitally compelling and will be dealt with in a modern rewrite by Simon Stone (Strange Interlude, The Wild Duck). This production will be fascinating for senior students with the mind to contemplate themes
of privilege and the infuriating double standards that still apply to women and men who use sex as a way to obtain agency. Students who responded to the tender brutality of Leticia Cáceres’ direction and Brendan Cowell’s realistic evocation of frustrated masculinity in The Dark Room will be gripped by this contemporary attack on one of the classic works of dramatic naturalism. It offers drama students a chance to contemplate some of the most compelling characters of the theatre caught in binds of their own making, to see recognisable predicaments heightened to a drastic pitch as Jean revels in bullying Julie and she aims to exploit him.
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Brendan Cowell
Luke Mullins
26 september – 20 october DOWNSTAIRS
Writer & Director Kit Brookman Set & Costume Designer Mel Page
With Tom Conroy Luke Mullins
small and tired Schools performance 12 noon Wednesday 16 October Suggested for yrs 11–12 HSC Drama: Contemporary Australian Theatre Practice HSC Drama: Scriptwriting I feel like there’s something chasing me… and I have to keep moving because if I stand still for long enough it’ll get its fat black claws into me… Orestes doesn’t really get on with his family that much. He’s been away a long time but now he’s back for his dad’s funeral. His mum has a new boyfriend with an unpronounceable name and she’s high maintenance at the best of times. His older sister Electra has started having odd seizures and even when she’s well, her intensity is legendary. If it wasn’t for Pylades, the distractingly cute guy he met in a bar, he would be having a far worse time being back in town. Though he loves them, his family is the strangling past which wears Orestes down. When she was 14, their sister killed herself
and they’ve none of them extracted themselves from the subsequent game of grief and blame. The puzzle he faces is how to go about disentangling himself from their exhausting family history. Kit Brookman has fashioned his beautifully precise play from the Greek myths of Orestes and the House of Atreus but dissolved those details into the here and now. This is a play about seeking your own space without being sucked back into family dramas and trying to love in an imperfect world. Small and Tired is wryly funny and betrays its young playwright’s gentle understanding of what it feels like to come home and then realise you need to leave again. This unique play will resonate strongly with your thoughtful students.
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12 OCTOBER – 1 DECEMBER UPSTAIRS
By William Shakespeare Director Simon Stone Set Designer Ralph Myers Costume Designer Mel Page
Composer & Sound Designer Stefan Gregory With Emily Barclay John Gaden Robyn Nevin Toby Schmitz
hamlet Schools performances 11:30am Wednesday 23 October, Thursday 31 October, Wednesday 6 November, Thursday 14 November Suggested for yrs 9–12 HSC English: (Advanced): Critical Study of Texts (prescribed text) The readiness is all. How on earth do you even begin to take action? When your father has died in weird circumstances and your mother has got hitched again (to your uncle) so fast it makes your head spin. What about when your dead dad appears to you and tells you to do something about this situation? When you can’t trust your friends and the girl you like is spying on you for her father, the very world you move through begins to twist out of recognition. Caught in just this pickle, Hamlet puts on a play to work out what the hell is going on. To fathom 24
what is true in this nightmare and what on earth there is left to hold on to. Simon Stone brings his unique theatrical instincts to this particular play of Shakespeare’s which above all others has kept our minds engrossed for over 400 years, and makes it jump freshly into this time and place. Emily Barclay (Strange Interlude) can be relied on to bring a tough edge to the role of Ophelia. Robyn Nevin promises to be a Gertrude with gravitas and who better than Toby Schmitz to tackle the delaying Dane?
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Toby Schmitz
Irma Woods
14 NOVEMBER – 8 DECEMBER DOWNSTAIRS
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Indigenous theatre at Belvoir supported by The Balnaves Foundation
By Robert J. Merritt Director Kyle J. Morrison With Irma Woods
A co-production with Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company
the cake man Schools performances 12 noon Thursday 21 November, Wednesday 27 November Suggested for yrs 9–12 HSC Drama: Dramatic Traditions in Australian Theatre As Ruby tells it, the story of the Cake Man goes like this: When the Dreamtime was ending, Jesus sent the Cake Man over the seas to find the Kuri children. He had cake in his heart for them, plenty of cake, and each piece showed Jesus’ love. Only some bad men stuck a stick in the Cake Man’s eyes and blinded him before he found a single Kuri kid to give cake to. And now he wanders around the bush, blind, clutching all the cakes but forgetting who they’re for. Written in isolation in Bathurst jail, The Cake Man was the first full-length play performed by the National Black Theatre, in a run-down Redfern terrace in 1974. Brought under police guard from Long Bay for opening night, the playwright Robert J. Merritt received a cake at curtain call.
First there’s a glimpse of preinvasion bliss broken by the colonial intervention of church backed by the military. Then we jump to the not-so-happy land of a Western NSW mission. Our family – Sweet William, Ruby and son Pumpkinhead, are struggling to keep warm and to eat. While William drinks, Ruby has Jesus for consolation and Pumpkinhead dreams of tracking down the Cake Man. This uncomfortable comedy examines the pain induced by being ‘civilised’ against one’s will under conditions of profound inequality. It uncovers the damage done to men like Sweet William who see no way out except reaching the promised land of Redfern and a despair deepened by the dangling hope that things will become sweeter soon. 27
7 DECEMBER – 5 JANUARY 2014 UPSTAIRS Indigenous theatre at Belvoir supported by The Balnaves Foundation
By Andrea James & Giordano Nanni Concept Giordano Nanni Director Isaac Drandic Assistant Director Ralph Myers
With Jack Charles Tom Long Kelton Pell A co-production with Ilbijerri Theatre Company
coranderrk Schools performance 11:30am Wednesday 18 December Suggested for yrs 9–12 HSC Drama: Contemporary Australian Theatre Practice HSC Drama: Verbatim Theatre Coranderrk is about how things might have turned out entirely differently. In 1863, Aboriginal leaders who had petitioned the Victorian government for the return of their lands crossed the Great Dividing Range to select the territory for Coranderrk Aboriginal Reserve. It quickly became a strongly self-sufficient community. Under a sympathetic manager, the people thrived. But the unparalleled success of Coranderrk drew the attention of the Aboriginal Protection Board, who sought to move the people out and repossess the land. Their manager refused to collaborate and was forced out in favour of a more militant style of control. The people responded by bringing an official case, citing unfair treatment and remarkably were heard.
This play recreates the 1881 inquiry, allowing three dozen voices from 132 years ago to speak directly to us. The story which takes shape through these testimonies is one of genuine collaboration between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, based not on hierarchies of colonial power but on genuine friendship and respect. Coranderrk honours the resilience and determination of a people who wanted to continue running their own country. They fought within the terms set by imposed laws, appropriating the power of white discourse and asking for the revolutionary right to decide on their own future. With lessons to be learnt at so many levels – historical, social, language and geographical – this play should be compulsory…in high schools across Australia. Jane Canaway, Australian Stage
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Jack Charles
schools performances
need help bringing your students to belvoir?
• Tickets to school matinee performances are ONLY $20
Priority Schools Program Belvoir offers students and teachers from Priority Schools the opportunity to attend our schools performances free of charge. For an application form contact Jane May, Education Manager, on 02 8396 6222 or email jane@belvoir.com.au
• One teacher free for every 10 students booked • Schools performances held on Wednesdays and Thursdays at Belvoir St Theatre, 25 Belvoir St, Surry Hills • Upstairs Theatre, 11.30am start • Downstairs Theatre, 12 noon start • Question and Answer session with cast lasting 20 minutes after each schools performance • Bookings need to be made via our booking form. See page 37 Running times and production content We want teachers to be as well informed as possible about our productions. Accurate information about productions including running time and specific content is available closer to the performance date. We put together a comprehensive What to Expect document for you, providing details about the length and nature of the production, including any strong language, sexual references, haze or strobe. What to Expect is available on our website once each production has opened. Contact us on 02 8396 6222 with any questions or concerns about production content Bookings – see page 36
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Ticket and Travel Subsidies for Regional Schools We also offer limited ticket and travel subsidies to government schools in regional NSW. For an application form contact Cathy Hunt, Education Resources and Regional Access, on 02 8396 6241 or email cathy@belvoir.com.au Places in these programs are limited – be quick! Info for Teachers Risk guidance information for teachers bringing students to Belvoir is available on the Education pages of our website. Online Resources Belvoir has a range of resources available on the Education pages of our website to extend students’ experience of attending our current productions. belvoir.com.au
I also want to say that it was life changing. Student, Randwick Girls High School
evening performances
How do I bring my students to a performance other than a schools performance? Subscribe. The surest way to book your students into a general public performance of a particular production is to subscribe. • Schools can purchase subscription packages for students to evening or Saturday matinee performances • Subscribing gives schools the chance to book for popular productions now, rather than waiting until tickets go on sale • Subscribing is cheaper than buying tickets for individual evening performances • Schools performances at 11.30am and 12 noon remain our cheapest option for schools • For more information about subscribing to evening performances email boxofficemanagement@ belvoir.com.au or subscribe online at belvoir.com.au
How do I book to bring my students to just one evening performance? Check our website for the specific date that tickets for each individual production go on sale. These dates are staggered throughout the year; it may not be possible to book immediately for the production of your choice. The safest way to secure tickets before they go on general sale is to bring students to a schools performance or take out a subscription package. If in doubt contact our Box Office 02 9699 3444 or email education@belvoir.com.au Once tickets are on general sale, teachers can book by calling our Box Office or by emailing boxofficemanagement @belvoir.com.au For general performance times and tickets see page 41
For the chance to win tickets to Belvoir productions and to learn more about other opportunities for you & your students join our Education email bulletin list. Email education@belvoir.com.au to join.
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workshops
Did you know that we run workshops for students and teachers at Belvoir and at schools? Professional theatre practitioners lead two-hour workshops in their field of expertise including performance, directing, designing and playwriting. When On a date which suits you (subject to the availability of our artists) Where At your school or at our theatre Cost $340 for up to 30 students in Sydney We can come to your school in Sydney & in regional NSW. Email education@belvoir.com.au to find out how. Student workshops include: • Brecht & Political Theatre Shannon Murphy • Costume Design Jo Briscoe, Imogen Ross • Creating Performance Through Improvisation Michael Pigott • Directing for Students Michael Pigott • Group Devising Shannon Murphy, Michael Pigott, Anna Houston • Lighting and Lighting Design Stephen Hawker • Monologue Performance Belinda Bromilow, Nathan Lovejoy, Julia Davis • Playwriting Tommy Murphy, Tahli Corin • Set Design Katja Handt, Imogen Ross 32
Are you planning a trip to OnSTAGE? During the OnSTAGE week in February, we can arrange workshops by request at our theatre and warehouse in Belvoir Street, Surry Hills. To request a workshop or to find out more contact Cathy Hunt, Education Resources and Regional Access, on 02 8396 6241 or email cathy@belvoir.com.au
The workshops were fabulous.The students were raving about how much they enjoyed them. Teacher, Nyngan High School
The students gained a lot from this workshop. Belinda has a great ease, terrific humour and marvellous anecdotes that really connect with the students. Great overall! Teacher, Randwick Girls High School
backstage and technical tours
resources for hsc drama
Did you know schools can take a free backstage tour of the behind the scenes areas of Belvoir St Theatre?
You and your students can access resources from past productions to spark ideas and assist with HSC Drama studies on the education pages of our website.
Students hear about the history of the company, visit dressing rooms, glimpse props and costumes and get an actor’s eye view of the stage. Backstage tours run for 30–60 minutes, are free of charge and available Monday to Friday except when the theatres are in use. We also run technical tours; great for VET Entertainment Industry students focused on production. These comprehensive tours provide an in-depth look at the technical aspects of Belvoir St Theatre. Led by a professional theatre technician, students visit the bio-box, dimmer room, stage door and backstage areas and learn about the process of installing a show from bump in to bump out. Technical tours run for two hours and cost $15 per student, with teachers free of charge. They are available Monday to Friday depending on the availability of the technician. All backstage and technical tours can be booked by contacting education@belvoir.com.au or calling 02 8396 6241.
Students doing their Individual Projects can download set and lighting plans, view photographs of model boxes, look at costume renderings, find examples of marketing collateral, read and watch interviews online and see promotional trailers. Students and teachers can request sample packs of postcards and programs to be posted or collected. Students can arrange to visit the theatre when considering a Director’s Portfolio or Design IP for the Belvoir stage. On site we also have photographs and archival recordings of past productions including Stolen, Run Rabbit Run, The Laramie Project, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Parramatta Girls, Aftershocks and Buried Child. Small groups and individual students can arrange to view these recordings Monday to Friday at our warehouse during business hours, including during the school holidays, subject to availability. Email education@belvoir.com.au to book.
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did you know belvoir holds in-depth forums connected to our productions? We hold a forum for each of our Upstairs performances. Each is different and tackles a specific aspect of the production. It might be a lecture, a discussion or a demonstration. One might take a look at the broader social context of a play. Another might focus on how a show was created. After the forum you have a chance to ask questions of the panellists, meet your fellow audience members and continue the discussion informally with us in the foyer These free Sunday Forums are a great resource for HSC Drama students and teachers. You don’t need to have seen the show to benefit. Check our website or call Box Office to find out who will appear on each panel and what the topic of discussion will be. Although tickets are free, bookings are essential and are open four weeks or more before each forum. Book online at belvoir.com.au/sundayforum or call Box Office on 02 9699 3444. Tweet while you listen (or follow online) using #sundayforum
2013 Sunday Forum Dates Peter Pan 3pm, 3 February Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 3pm, 31 March Forget Me Not 3pm, 12 May Angels in America Parts One and Two 11am, 7 July Miss Julie 3pm, 29 September Hamlet 3pm, 24 November Coranderrk 3pm, 22 December Programs You can buy programs at Belvoir from the Box Office. Some programs come with the full script included (Upstairs new works and adaptations) and our Downstairs programs are free. All programs come with biographies, headshots, rehearsal photographs, writer and director notes and some contain extra articles and other content. Back issues for some productions are also available online on our website. belvoir.com.au/back-issue-programs
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getting involved with belvoir
Work Experience Year 10 students can get a taste of what it’s like to work at Belvoir. Watch actors in rehearsal, help out behind the scenes and get a sense of the myriad of administrative tasks involved in running a professional theatre company. We encourage students from schools across NSW to apply. Applications for our 2013 work experience program open in October 2012. Download the application form from the education pages of our website. Applications should be sent by post to: Belvoir Education 18 Belvoir St, Surry Hills NSW 2010 Apply early to avoid disappointment – places fill very quickly. Work Placement During busy bump-in weeks, students studying the VET Entertainment Industry Course have the opportunity to work with Belvoir’s production team in the theatre. These work placement weeks are very popular and places fill up quickly.
Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/BelvoirSt Follow Belvoir Education news on Twitter, search for #BelvoirED Find us on Facebook search for Belvoir St Theatre Subscribe to our YouTube channel
I’m youth, I’m joy, I’m a little bird that has broken out of the egg. peter pan
For more information email education@belvoir.com.au Student Rush Student Rush tickets may be purchased for Tuesday 6.30pm and 7pm and Saturday 2pm and 2.15pm performances, from 10am on the day subject to availability. Students should come to the Box Office in person to book or call 02 9699 3444.
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professional development for teachers
Teaching Set Design Saturday 16 February 2013
Teaching Monologue Performance Saturday 2 March 2013
Go through the process of designing a set from first reading a script all the way through to opening night.
Try out a variety of techniques in approaching a monologue for performance.
Explore the tools of a set designer including 3D shape and texture. Gain experience in using floor plans, working with scale and actually develop a design concept for a model box.
Belinda Bromilow shares her process as an actor working on a text for individual performance. Gain insights into methods which will directly benefit your students, including approaches to character development, establishing goals, emotional life and intended audience.
Designer Katja Handt answers all your questions. When Saturday 16 February Time 10am – 4pm Where Belvoir Rehearsal Room, 18 Belvoir Street, Surry Hills Cost $130 per person – includes workshop and resource material, lunch & morning tea
When Saturday 2 March 2013 Time 10am-4pm Where Belvoir Rehearsal Room, 18 Belvoir St, Surry Hills Cost $130 per person – includes workshop and resource material, lunch & morning tea
It was insightful, practical and informative – I am going away with so much more direction and knowledge.
Great ideas for how to start a monologue and great activities to use with my class.
Teacher, Birrong Girls High School
Teacher, Keira High School
It was good to talk through the steps a professional takes and to have a go at something practical.
Excellent to gain an actor’s perspective.
Teacher, Narrabeen Sports High School
Teacher, Shearwater Steiner School
The workshop has armed me with a wealth of practical exercises to use in the class. Teacher, Kinross Wolaroi School Orange.
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Join our email bulletin for teachers by emailing education@belvoir.com.au to receive information about other Professional Development workshops for teachers throughout the year.
Teaching Group Devising Saturday 9 March 2013
Teaching Playwriting Friday 22 March 2013
Discover dynamic teaching strategies for plunging students into productive, creative states.
Learn how to kick-start students’ writing with playwright Tommy Murphy.
Learn practical ways to guide your students to develop a strong devising process of their own. Participate in activities which will give you an experiential understanding of the devising process that you can take back to the classroom. Michael Pigott offers specific suggestions to address challenges you are facing with your current students. This practical workshop culminates in the presentation of a short devised piece created using techniques you have explored during the workshop. When Saturday 9 March 2013 Time 10am-4pm Where Belvoir Rehearsal Room, 18 Belvoir St, Surry Hills Cost $130 per person – includes workshop and resource material, lunch & morning tea
It was full of practical activities for the classroom, exactly what we needed. Teacher, SCEGGS Darlinghurst
I learnt to guide my students to start developing and workshopping ideas. Exercises were very effective.
Tackle techniques to create active and surprising characters, tighten dramatic tension through dialogue and build dramatic action. Tommy shares his own process as well as a variety of effective strategies for structuring and redrafting work. Bring your pens or processors! You’ll participate in writing activities that you can take back to your classroom. When Friday 22 March 2013 Time 9am-2pm Where Belvoir Rehearsal Room, 18 Belvoir St, Surry Hills Cost $130 per person – includes workshop and resource material, lunch & morning tea
It was beyond my expectations. It was fantastic – well paced, practical, helpful, learning by doing. Teacher, Fort St High School
It was a wonderful day where I learnt so much. Teacher, Liverpool Boys High School
Teacher, Muirfield High School
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schools performance bookings
Schools Performance Tickets $20 • One supervising teacher goes free for every 10 students booked • Additional teachers $20 Booking Your Tickets • Complete the booking form and then fax or post it to Belvoir Box Office (bookings must be made via the booking form) • Once we receive your booking form we’ll invoice you for a 50% deposit (this deposit is non-refundable) • Full payment is required at least 30 days prior to the performance or the booking may be cancelled. • Cheques should be made payable to Belvoir. Schools performance subscriptions Schools can book a series of plays for their students by choosing a Schools Performance Subscription (minimum 4 plays). Pay as little as $12! 10 Plays $122
$12 per play
9 Plays
$119
$13 per play
8 Plays
$114
$14 per play
7 Plays
$107
$15 per play
6 Plays
$98
$16 per play
5 Plays
$87
$17 per play
4 Plays
$74
$18 per play
PLUS 1 supervising teacher per 10 students goes FREE! *Please note all package prices include a $2 booking fee
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Contacting Belvoir Box Office Phone 02 9699 3444 Fax 02 9698 3688 Post Belvoir Box Office 18 Belvoir Street Surry Hills NSW 2010
Box Office hours
Monday 9.30am – 6pm Tuesday 9.30am – 6.30pm Wednesday to Saturday 9.30am – 8pm Sunday 2.30pm – 5pm* Please note these hours may change during non-performance periods and on public holidays. Phone bookings close one hour prior to performance times. *Sunday hours will vary for the season of Angels In America. Belvoir has two Box Office locations: at Belvoir St Theatre (25 Belvoir St) and at our administration warehouse (18 Belvoir St). The Box Office is open at either one of these locations depending on the time and day – please check via phone or website, and there are also signs at the front door of both buildings. Schools Performance Times Performances in the Upstairs Theatre start at 11.30am and in the Downstairs Theatre at 12 noon, on Wednesdays and Thursdays. We recommend you arrive at the theatre half an hour beforehand to ensure your group is seated prior to the performance. Please note latecomers will not be admitted until a suitable break in the performance.
belvoir st theatre
Accessibility At Belvoir St Theatre there is lift access to the foyer and theatre and a hearing loop in the Upstairs Theatre. If you or your students have specific accessibility or seating requirements, please do not hesitate to contact our Box Office on 02 9699 3444. Further information about all our accessibility services can be found on our website. Getting to Belvoir St Theatre The theatre is located in Surry Hills, a five-minute walk from Central Station. Buses travel along Chalmers and Elizabeth Streets. For public transport information, call the Transport Infoline on 131 500 or visit 131500.com.au. central station
General Performance Times Upstairs Theatre Tuesday 6.30pm Wednesday** to Friday 8pm Saturday 2pm & 8pm Sunday 5pm^ Downstairs Theatre Tuesday 7pm Wednesday to Friday 8.15pm Saturday 2.15pm & 8.15pm Sunday 5.15pm **Also Wednesday 2pm matinees for some plays. Sunday previews play at 6.30pm.
^
Angels in America This show will not play on Tuesdays, and will play at 1pm & 7pm on Sundays.
clisd ell s t
General Performance Tickets belvoir admin
belvoir st theatre
goodlet st
Parking at Belvoir St Theatre Please give your group plenty of time to park. There is NO onsite parking and limited timed parking is available on the streets around the theatre. Coaches can drop groups off outside the theatre and return to pick up at the end of the performance, however you may find it easier for the coach to stop at the bus stop on Elizabeth Street at the bottom of Belvoir Street.
Upstairs Theatre Students $45 Teachers* $55 Student Rush~ $29 Full price $65 Downstairs Theatre Students $35 Teachers* $39 Student Rush~ $25 Full price $45 *Teachers accompanying school groups only. ~Student Rush available Tuesday 6.30pm & 7pm and Saturday 2pm & 2.15pm performances, from 10am on the day subject to availability.
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supporters
Production partners
Indigenous Theatre at Belvoir supported by The Balnaves Foundation
Ilbijerri Theatre Company, Racing Pulse Productions, Riverside, Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company. Racing Pulse Productions
Education Supporters
Besen Family Foundation Coca-Cola Australia Foundation Gandevia Foundation The Greatorex Foundation Teen Spirit Foundation
Government Partners
Design Alphabet Studio Photography Gary Heery Image enhancement Electric Art Styling Mel Page Hair & make-up Naomi McFadden, Kylie O’Toole, Felicia Yong 40
Riverside is supported by Arts NSW and Parramatta City Council. Ilbijerri Theatre Company is supported by the Australia Council for the Arts and Arts Victoria. Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company is supported by the Australia Council for the Arts and the Government of Western Australia Department of Culture and the Arts. Angels in America Parts One and Two are presented by arrangement with Hal Leonard Australia Pty Ltd, on behalf of Josef Weinberger Ltd London. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is presented through special arrangement with The University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee. Small and Tired and This Heaven were written with the support of PlayWriting Australia. The Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe is supported by STARTTS and the Sky Foundation.
Printer & mailing house immij The paper used in this book is derived from forests promoting sustainable management, and the cover stock is 100% recycled.
Corporate partner
theatre 25 Belvoir St, Surry Hills administration 18 Belvoir St, Surry Hills
box office +61(2) 9699 3444 administration +61(2) 9698 3344 fax +61(2) 9319 3165 web belvoir.com.au
Jane May Education Manager 18 Belvoir St, Surry Hills NSW 2010 02 8396 6222 jane@belvoir.com.au
Cathy Hunt Education Resources & Regional Access 18 Belvoir St, Surry Hills NSW 2010 02 8396 6241 cathy@belvoir.com.au
cover Geraldine Hakewill photographer Gary Heery
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