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Contents
Creating A shake & stir ...................................................................................................... 3 Theatre For Schools ........................................................................................................... 6 20-20 Vision For Teachers On Classics................................................................................ 8 Shows For Schools ............................................................................................................ 9 National ............................................................................................................................ 9 New South Wales & A.C.T. .............................................................................................. 11 Queensland .................................................................................................................... 15 South Australia ............................................................................................................... 17 Victoria ........................................................................................................................... 17 Western Australia ............................................................................................................ 21 Costuming, Make Up, Props and Sets .............................................................................. 23 Study Resources: David Williamson & Audition Experiences .............................................. 39 Staging A Musical Or Play ............................................................................................... 50 Sound And Light ............................................................................................................. 63 Training .......................................................................................................................... 81 Welcome to the 2020 Stage Whispers School Performing Arts Resource Kit (SPARK). Teaching and learning experiences have dramatically changed due to the Coronavirus, so we have updated our show listings to delete confirmed cancellations, while including more digital learning opportunities. We look forward to the time, with the return to live performances, when the resources listed in the second half of SPARK will prove useful. From the whole team at Stage Whispers, please stay safe.
Front cover image Sport For Jove’s The Tempest. Photo: Seiya Taguchi.
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The name may be spelt in lower-case but there’s nothing small about the achievements of shake & stir, the Queensland based theatre company which keeps punching above its weight. In advance of their national tour of Animal Farm, Peter Pinne sat down with artistic directors Ross Balbuziente, Nick Skubij and Nelle Lee to discuss how they have become the most successful commercially independent touring theatre company in the country. “The year was 2004. I wanted to be an actor but had just graduated from QUT in Business, Marketing and Advertising,” said Ross Balbuziente. “Nick had studied Law at James Cook Uni, and Nelle had a Bachelor of Dramatic Arts in Acting from USQ. Nick and I were cast in an in-school touring company in 2004 and instantly became best friends who shared big dreams. At the same time Nelle and I were cast in a show for another theatre company and we too became best friends who shared big dreams. All three of us were at a mutual friend’s party and we all got chatting properly and the seeds of our first few school touring productions were planted. “Two years later we resigned from our day-time jobs and have worked full -time for shake & stir ever since.” shake & stir theatre company was founded in 2006, touring schools for the first time and also establishing an after-school drama program. Both these initiatives are still the nuts and bolts of the company. Today at any given moment they can have up to five teams of three actors touring schools. A busy day mid school term would see one team in Cairns (FNQ tour), one team in Brisbane (SEQLD tour), one team in Sydney (NSW tour), one team touring primary schools all over Queensland, and one team in coproduction with Opera Queensland touring primary/secondary schools all over Queensland. The company operates a weekly Drama program, which is now offered at 10 locations across SEQLD - attracting up to 400 students annually. Statespeare was their first mainstage production in 2009. Produced as 3 Stage Whispers SPARK 2020
a co-production with La Boite, it incorporated material from several Shakespeare plays and included contemporary references, directly targeting students and created as a means to get young people through the theatre doors. Not a Shakespearean play, but one about studying his works, it was aimed at high-school students, toured, and was nominated in 2012 for Best Presentation for Children at the Helpmann Awards. “A cleverly written piece, combining hilarious bits of physical theatre with a mixture of contemporary and Shakespearean rhetoric…totally engaging.” (Sue Gough, Courier Mail) Statespeare was also the first time they began to realize their buckets of dreams. As Nelle said, “Our very first tour, taking Statespeare across the country, was exciting and then as the cherry on the top we were nominated for a Helpmann Award. I remember thinking, I am waking up every day doing what I love with people I love. Surely that’s a good measure of success.” “It was terrifying to be touring our first mainstage,” Ross added. “We had a touring party of six and back then thought that was a huge team - our biggest touring party since then has been 60+.” Since then the company has continued to grow, producing adaptations of classic literature (Dracula, Jane Eyre, 1984, A Christmas Carol), and titles that are simultaneously popular and unexpected (Fantastic Mr Fox, Revolting Rhymes & Dirty Beasts, George’s Marvellous Medicine). Ross,
Nelle and Nick are responsible for the largest portion of the creation, adaptation and creative direction of the work produced by the company. The company has performed in 110 different theatre venues in every state and territory in the country, and regularly tour to New Zealand. The current full-time staff is 12, plus all the actors, crew and creatives who work on mainstage productions. In the last 2 years shake & stir has been seen by over 420,000 audience members. To date shake & stir has produced 14 major productions, with an outstanding national reputation for touring excellence, consecutively winning the PAC’s Drover Award for Tour of the Year in 2014 and 2015. This year at the Matilda Awards, they won the Gold Award in recognition of the breadth of their Australian and New Zealand touring. It was the second time the company has been awarded this honour. In addition Fantastic Mr Fox won the 2020 Matilda Award for Best Video Design for Craig Wilkinson (Video) and Jon Weber (Illustration). “The audience is immersed in Dahl’s story like never before. It felt like we were reading a picture book.” (Virag Dombay, Broadway World) The previous year shake & stir’s production of A Christmas Carol was nominated for 8 Matilda Awards and won Best Set Design and Best Video Design. “The use of effects and video have really done well to showcase where the team at shake & stir are taking this timeless classic and recreating it for a contemporary audience.” (Australian Stage).
Tim Dashwood in shake & stir theatre’s Animal Farm. Photo: Dylan Evans.
SPARK 2020
Animal Farm Adaptation by Nick Skubij. Directed by Michael Futcher. At the time of publication, the national tour is scheduled to open on April 28 at Ipswich Civic Centre. Due to the uncertain nature of public gatherings for the foreseeable future and in line with Government directives pertaining to such, shake & stir will update its audience on the status of the Animal Farm national tour and remaining seasons of Fantastic Mr Fox, both in Australia and New Zealand via its website shakeandstir.com.au Touring to schools has also been affected by COVID-19. In the meantime, please visit shakeandstirvirtual.com where all of shake & stir’s inschool performances are available to stream online.
The company joined the big-league in 2018 when they toured the Australian premiere of Green Day’s American Idiot, which played the Sydney Opera House, and six other capital cities. Showcasing a series of ‘frontmen’ from iconic Aussie bands Phil Jamieson (Grinspoon), Chris Cheney (The Living End), Adalita (Magic Dirt) and Sarah McLeod (The Superjesus) - as the character of St Jimmy in various cities, the reviews were glowing, with the company being praised for their effort.
According to Ross, the Sydney season of American Idiot in the Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, was one of his proudest moments. “The whole season had sold out and we were selling standing room only tickets. It was pretty special to be in that beautiful big space watching a rock musical bring everyone to their feet.” A national tour of Animal Farm playing 36 venues throughout Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Northern Territory, ACT, Tasmania and Western Australia was
the plan for 2020, although this will likely be revised in light of the COVID19 outbreak. Originally adapted by Nick in 2011, George Orwell’s allegorical novella Animal Farm was described in earlier productions as “one of the most raw pieces of theatre produced in this country in recent decades”. (Australian Stage) All three artistic directors are responsible for product control and share the duties between them. On a national tour one of them will try and meet up with the touring party to (Continued on page 5) www.stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 4
All three enjoy touring says Ross. “I love doing my exercise runs in other watch and note the production every cities and towns. It’s a great way to few weeks. They also have a few experience the beautiful places around Touring Company Managers who the country.” schedule all their tours and are the “I love touring,” Nelle concurs. “I point of contact for their in-school get to visit some of the most amazing actors. places, with a great group of people, “We are in a lovely position,” says and call it work.” Ross, “where each artistic director acts, “Australia is such an incredible directs and writes, in addition to country and what other job pays you programming and producing the to travel around and experience it all,” shows. We can and do take on Nick agrees. different artistic roles for each And their experiences? For Nick it production. That means that we are was seeing a sunset and sunrise from a often literally in the shows and can hot air balloon over Uluru, for Nelle, ‘check’ them from inside.” sitting in the waters of Coffin Bay eating freshly shucked oysters and (Continued from page 4)
sipping bubbles, and for Ross, performing on the beautiful stage of the Theatre Royal in Hobart. Does it get boring driving long distances? Nelle believes the drives are the best. “Oh, sure the stretch between Esperance and Perth could do with a few more pit stops, but after a good podcast and few rounds of ‘would you rather’ the time flies.” After fifteen years they’re all still best friends. “We wouldn’t be still doing it if we weren’t,” said Ross. And their big dreams have certainly paid off because they’re still kicking goals.
shake & stir Virtual SW: Tell us about Shake & Stir Virtual. What exactly is it? S & S: Shake & Stir Virtual is a unique online portal where teachers and students can access our performances online. Each show has been recorded in a ‘live’ theatre environment across multiple camera angles. This means that although the shows were captured in the one take, viewers can benefit from alternative perspectives - as if they were moving around the audience during the show for a different view. Also available via Virtual, are performance resources, some interactive additional clips and some fun special features. SW: What shows do you have on offer via this online portal? S & S: We have all 7 of our in-school productions, including Shakespeare and non-Shakespeare available online with plans to include some of our multi-award winning main-stage productions down the track. There are also interviews with our actors, creatives and directors, along with interactive and live Q&A sessions. This all means that our audiences, especially our teachers and schools, can continue to engage with the company while socially isolating. It’s pretty cool and more is getting added each day. SW: Why do you think it is important that students watch “live” theatre during this time? S & S: Beyond that fact that Shake & Stir Virtual will ensure teachers can stay on track with their curriculum, it is so important for young people to have an opportunity to escape and be entertained while going through these difficult times. Many of our schools and student audiences have grown up with shake & stir and we hope that having access to our productions on their own devices at home will give a sense of normality and comfort. Plus, the way we created the virtual shows makes them feel very much live and distinct to what young people traditionally engage with online - there is a sense of urgency and in-the-moment that these shows capture. SW: What do you think will happen to companies like shake & stir if alternative methods of delivery are not embraced by consumers during these unusual times? S & S: It is vitally important that companies like shake & stir accept the current reality and act and adapt as best as possible. We should be giving our audiences every possible reason to continue to engage with us until we can once again return to theatres and schools across the country. With no clear idea as to when this will be over, it is difficult but essential to work out how an industry like the live arts can continue with bans on social gatherings. The obvious thing is to somehow temporarily move online. But then it is also vital to capture what makes live theatre unique - by definition, it must happen right there in front of you. Otherwise, it is just a poor substitute to the great passive options viewers have on Netflix. Great live theatre demands a certain degree of participation from the audience and that is the challenge with delivering it virtually. We learn more about this new medium every day. If audiences don’t accept that how they consume live theatre has temporarily changed, and continue to support theatre companies, there will be significantly fewer companies left on the other side. And audiences can support companies through these tough times in many ways. If you’ve brought tickets to a show which has been cancelled, consider donating your refund to the company to support them and their team. Enrol in an online class with an actor you may have seen in a show. Most importantly, when the curtain does rise again, go and see live theatre. In the meantime, please visit shakeandstirvirtual.com.au 5 Stage Whispers SPARK 2020
Theatre For Schools
SPARK 2020 Lamb.
Touring company Critical Stages presents shows at more than 100 venues across Australia. Between 2016 and 2018 it sold 55,000 tickets to 25 productions. The company’s 2020 program includes two plays highly recommended for schools. Lamb Jane Bodie’s Lamb returns for a ten-city tour along Australia’s east coast later this year. Originally staged at the Red Stitch Theatre in Melbourne, Lamb spans 40 years of life on an Australian sheep farm. Bodie’s bittersweet story explores the world of three siblings born onto their parents’ property. Chris Bendall, CEO of Critical Stages Touring said, “It’s a really engaging fusion of drama and music with celebrated composer Mark Seymour (from Hunters and Collectors) having written new songs for the play in a unique collaboration with the playwright. “We’re particularly pleased that the work has been included in the VCE Drama Syllabus for the year and are looking forward to introducing upper secondary students to this brilliant new play.” The show tours across four states throughout September and October (subject to COVID-19 restrictions). I’ve Been Meaning To Ask You Devised by Brisbane-based verbatim theatre makers The Good Room, this production continues their award-winning work taking anonymous submissions from ordinary Australians to create theatrical experiences. The play combines submissions of children aged 9-13 in the regions where the show will tour, with answers from adults in the same towns. Some of the questions include Why do you have to go to work? How come adults drink to have fun? What was life like before the Internet? Chris Bendall, CEO of Critical Stages Touring said, “When I first saw this work premiere at Brisbane Festival in 2018 I was laughing and crying within minutes - at the same time.
This is a show that works with young people to ask questions and share stories that are relevant to them, in their voice, giving agency to the voices that we never hear on our stages.” The production is currently slated to engage communities in Canberra, Bundaberg and Albury Wodonga, with more venues to be announced soon.
criticalstages.com.au I’ve Been Meaning To Ask You. Photo: Stephen Henry.
Online extras!
Watch a preview of I’ve Been Meaning To Ask You. Scan The QR code or visit https://vimeo.com/285781142
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These materials are available for all shows and are appropriate for multiple year levels from Stages 4-6. “Sport for Jove offers teachers a one-stop shop - a full live production, paired with the depth and value of extensive education materials,” says Ryan. The content in each of these kits is curated from the years of experience which Ryan has in education. Along with his professional theatre career, Ryan has worked as a teacher at secondary level, a lecturer at tertiary level, and has been creating work with young artists in schools for over two decades. “Bringing these texts alive for young people and demystifying what can seem so immense and intimidating is just an incredibly inspiring process and I can’t wait to work with another big selection of In lieu of the cancellation of all school excursions, and the NSW students this year,” Ryan says. current circumstances, Sport for Jove are excited to present Another valuable aspect of the their 2020 Productions and Symposiums as a Digital 2020 Education Season is the HSC Education Program via online streaming. This provides the Symposiums series. These 2 and 3 opportunity for students and teachers to still enjoy valuable hour deep-dives into classic works on and extensive educational content in their classrooms or in the HSC syllabus are led by Ryan and their homes. his team of directors and actors. Each sportforjove.com.au symposium combines lecture, scenework and expert commentary to analyse key scenes from a work. The company works to create what it describes as a complete, hands-on experience to open diverse critical readings, unlock language, elaborate on character, and answer students’ questions. This year, Sport for Jove has Sydney-based theatre company Sport for Jove has been delivering expanded its HSC Symposiums series, multi-award winning and innovative productions of classic texts for running events on 10 separate works, over a decade. What’s not so well known is that the company also from Norm and Ahmed to Hamlet. provides comprehensive education packages for teachers. There are also extra-curricular Each year, as part of their these plays first hand in the theatre,” opportunities for students outside of Education Season, Sport for Jove says Sport for Jove’s Artistic Director, the standard production season. The delivers 5 mainstage productions over Damien Ryan. Shakespeare Carnival is a state-wide 4 terms. These productions are This year, Sport for Jove will bring performance competition for selected from the national syllabus to life Shakespeare’s Othello, students; the Shakespeare and curated based on NSW teachers’ Macbeth, The Tempest and Romeo Residency is a week-long, in-school needs. and Juliet, as well as Arthur program; and the Second “Sport for Jove’s productions and Miller’s The Crucible. Age Project is an opportunity for symposiums are passionately Sport for Jove also assists teachers young performers in acting training presented, very rigorously developed in the classroom. Accompanying each outside of school hours. and designed to give students and production is a detailed and free Sport for Jove wants teachers to teachers an extraordinary live Teacher Resource Kit, providing an take a break, sit back, enjoy the show experience and personal relationship analysis of the play, a guide to the and let its theatre practitioners do the with these great plays in performance. production, lesson activities, videos, work. It is imperative that students meet photos and design materials. Sport For Jove’s The Crucible. Photo: Seiya Taguchi.
20-20 Vision For Teachers On Classics
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Bell Shakespeare’s The Miser. Photo: Prudence Upton.
SPARK 2020
Shows For Schools adapt classic stories into powerful metaphors for our lives, as well as highly entertaining and fun comedy shows! As a group, they have been touring for over 16 years and are dedicated to what we do.
BELL SHAKESPEARE bellshakespeare.com.au
ALPHA SHOWS
alphashows.com.au/shows Incursion State: All except WA and NT Relevant to all Subjects Years P-9 Q and A or study resources available Real, quality theatre. That comes to your school. Let your imagination run wild and experience real quality theatre, in any venue you choose. Alpha Shows brings everything with them to create that theatre magic. They bring shows to your local area so everyone has the chance to experience a full theatrical show, no matter the venue. They are a group of dedicated theatre professionals who 9 Stage Whispers SPARK 2020
Just Romeo and Juliet! Incursion bellshakespeare.com.au/whats-on/educations/the-players All states and territories Featuring Shakespeare’s original language within a madcap adventure, follow Andy, Danny and Lisa as they rehearse the greatest love story ever known with hilarious results. English, Drama Years 3-7 bellshakespeare.com.au/learning/resources Such Sweet Sorrow Incursion bellshakespeare.com.au/whats-on/educations/the-players All states and territories Love, hate, laughs, revenge - this interactive show follows Shakespeare’s rebellious teens from youthful innocence to tragic conclusion. Relevant subjects: English, Drama Years 7-9 bellshakespeare.com.au/learning/resources
Macbeth: The Rehearsal Incursion bellshakespeare.com.au/whats-on/educations/the-players All states and territories Students play observer and participant in this immersive and interactive show, as the players play and replay with famous scenes and soliloquies from “The Scottish Play”. English, Drama Years 10-12 bellshakespeare.com.au/learning/resources
Online extras!
Watch an excerpt of the opening scene of Critical Stage’s Lamb. Scan or visit https://vimeo.com/312668652
CRITICAL STAGES criticalstages.com.au
Lamb Written by Jane Bodie Excursion criticalstages.com.au/portfolio/lamb 3 Sept, Frankston Arts Centre, VIC 5 Sept, Portland Arts Centre, VIC 10-12 Sept, Theatre Royal Hobart, TAS 15-19 Sept, Hothouse Theatre , Albury-Wodonga, NSW/VIC - includes a special school’s performance on 17th Sept. 22 Sept, Dubbo Regional Theatre, NSW 24-26 Sept, Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre, NSW 29-30 Sept, QUT Gardens Theatre, Brisbane, QLD 2 Oct, Shirley Burke Theatre, VIC 9-10 Oct, Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre, Penrith, NSW 14 Oct, Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre, NSW Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre and Critical Stages Touring An intergenerational story about family, the land and being the one who stays, featuring original songs by Mark Seymour (Hunters and Collectors) Drama, English, Music, Years 10-12 Q&A and Study Resources are available. Lamb is included on the 2020 VCAA Playlist. I’ve Been Meaning to Ask You Excursion criticalstages.com.au/portfolio/ive-been-meaning-to-ask-you 17-19 July, Street Theatre, Canberra, ACT 26 September, Moncrieff Entertainment Centre, Bundaberg, QLD 7-10 October, HotHouse Theatre, Albury-Wodonga, NSW/ VIC The Good Room and Critical Stages Touring Age collides with experience when young people from your town ask the questions they’ve always wanted answers to, and get them, in this revealing and fun one-hour-tell-all. Primary School - Creative Arts, English. High School: Drama, English, Society and Culture. Years 6 - 12 Q&A or study resources: The show offers interactive and performance opportunities to students aged 9-13. Early outreach to engage these opportunities is recommended as places will be in demand, and the workshop and rehearsal
Critical Stage’s Lamb.
schedule takes place over a matter of weeks before the performance. Additional education resources are available from the producers. Rovers Excursion criticalstages.com.au/portfolio/rovers 9-10 October, Brown’s Mart Theatre, Darwin, NT 13 October, Godinymayin Yijard River Arts & Culture Centre, Katherine, NT 17 October, Moncrieff Entertainment Centre, Bundaberg, QLD 21 October, Cairns Performing Arts Centre, QLD 23 October, Townsville Civic Theatre, QLD 28 October, The Art House, Wyong, NSW 30-31 October, Geelong Arts Centre, VIC 4 November, The Memo, Healesville, VIC 5 November, Frankston Arts Centre, VIC 7 November, Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre, NSW Belloo Creative and Critical Stages Touring Rovers is a d modern comedy-drama celebrating the imagination, heart and spirit of Australia’s trailblazing women. High School: Drama, English, Society and Culture, History Years 9 - 12 Education resources are available from the producers. Post or pre-show Q&As are available by prior arrangement. Acting workshops for students aged 16+ www.stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 10
BARD ON THE BEACH bardonthebeach.net
The Taming Of The Shrew Incursion bardonthebeach.net/taming-of-the-shrew-education-tourNSW, ACT, QLD October 13th - November 13th. Touring to schools and community groups. With a cast of 4 actors, with minimal costumes and props, the production runs for approximately 75 minutes. English and Drama Years 7-12 A 15 min Q & A session can be arranged with the cast after the show.
NEW ZEALAND PLAYHOUSE nzplayhouse.co.nz
GRIFFIN THEATRE COMPANY
Chilled! (A cool story with a warm message) Incursion nzplayhouse.co.nz/chilled VIC and TAS Term 3 Three unlikely characters travel to the South Pole to try and save the world from global warming! Drama and Science Years P-6 Study resources: newzealandplayhouse.co.nz/resources
Wherever She Wanders By Kendall Feaver Excursion SBW Stables Theatre, 10 Nimrod Street, Kings Cross, NSW griffintheatre.com.au/whats-on/wherever-she-wanders Friday 10th July - Saturday 22th August Kendall Feaver’s new play dives into the rape culture oft reported at university colleges and the growing rift between emerging and established feminists.
griffintheatre.com.au
Alpha Shows’ King Arthur.
Online extras!
Watch how Alpha Shows engage with the student audience. Scan or visit https://youtu.be/YZ2ssg287Jc 11 Stage Whispers SPARK 2020
Online extras!
SPARK 2020
Watch a promo for Monkey Baa Theatre Company’s Robot Song. https://vimeo.com/333651208
Monkey Baa Theatre Company’s Robot Song.
Theatre, English, Physical Education, Society and Culture. Years 11 and 12 Scripts available
With Windmill’s trademark design, gentle storytelling, music and puppetry, Beep tells the story of what happens when someone new comes to town.
Superheroes By Mark Rogers Excursion SBW Stables Theatre, 10 Nimrod Street, Kings Cross, NSW griffintheatre.com.au/whats-on/superheroes Friday 4th September - Saturday 10th October Paralleling two different lives, Mark Rogers’ new play asks questions about what it means to take responsibility for your actions, and what it means to change your mind. Theatre, English, Physical Education, Society and Culture. Years 11 and 12 Scripts available
SPORT FOR JOVE
MONKEY BAA THEATRE COMPANY monkeybaa.com.au
Robot Song Arena Theatre Company Excursion monkeybaa.com.au/shows/robot-song-schools Term 3 6-7th August 10:30am & 12:30pm 70 mins (including 10 min Q & A) Years 3-6 Robot Song uses digital technology integrated with live performance and songs. Beep Windmill Theatre Company Excursion monkeybaa.com.au/shows/beep-schools Term 3 24th-25th August 45 mins (including 10 min Q & A) Preschool-Year 2
sportforjove.com.au
The Crucible By Arthur Miller Excursion to the Seymour Centre seymourcentre.com/event/the-crucible-2020-march 11th - 20th November HSC and Stage 4 teachers of English and Drama - don’t miss this opportunity, taken up in huge numbers in 2019 and returning in 2020. English - Stage 4, 5, & 6: Drama; Language, Literature, Literacy; The Arts, Theatre and Cultural Studies Y7 - 12 Teacher Resource Kits available HSC Symposiums after performances on 12th, 17th, 20th. Romeo and Juliet By William Shakespeare Excursion to the Seymour Centre seymourcentre.com/event/romeo-and-juliet-2020 5th - 14th August This new production of Romeo & Juliet takes a simple, ensemble approach to the storytelling, using song and voice to create each striking moment of action in the context of the community surrounding it “In Stage 5, students are expected to have an experience of Shakespearean drama. This should include seeing Shakespearean plays in performance, as well as engaging in workshop activities in the classroom with Shakespearean texts.” Also ideal for Shakespeare Studies in Drama - Years 8, 9,10. Y7 - 12 Teacher Resource Kits available Post-show Q&As after all 1pm performances www.stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 12
Sport For Jove’s Romeo & Juliet.
Online extras!
Watch the trailer for Sport For Jove’s Romeo & Juliet. Scan or visit https://youtu.be/1PB6OufsOqs
BELVOIR
belvoir.com.au/education The Jungle and The Sea Excursion Belvoir St Theatre, Surry Hills belvoir.com.au/schools-performances/the-jungle-and-the-sea Term 3 After Antigone and the Mahābhārata, A mother, in a time of war. She loses members of her family, one after the other - but she never loses hope. English, Drama, Society & Culture, Modern History Years 10-12 Q and A or study resources. Learning Resources, Q&A (selected performances only) Miss Peony Excursion Belvoir St Theatre, Surry Hills belvoir.com.au/schools-performances/miss-peony Term 3 Lily’s ghostly grandmother wants her to enter the Chinese community beauty pageant. A new comedy from the writer of Single Asian Female. English, Drama, Mandarin Years 10-12 Q and A or study resources. Learning Resources, Q&A (selected performances only) My Brilliant Career Excursion Belvoir St Theatre, Surry Hills belvoir.com.au/schools-performances/my-brilliant-career Term 4 13 Stage Whispers SPARK 2020
One of our great tales of emancipation and identity, Sybylla Melvyn is determined to get away and make her own spectacular mark on the world. English, Drama, Australian History Years 10-12 Q and A or study resources. Learning Resources, Q&A (selected performances only) Cursed! Excursion Belvoir St Theatre, Surry Hills belvoir.com.au/schools-performances/cursed Term 4 Bernadette hasn’t been home to Geraldton for a while. Now Nan’s leaving the world, and this mixed-up family must return to the roost. English, Drama, Aboriginal Studies, Society & Culture Years 11-12 Q and A or study resources. Learning Resources, Q&A (selected performances only) Summerfolk Excursion Belvoir St Theatre, Surry Hills belvoir.com.au/schools-performances/summerfolk Term 4 A coastal town, somewhere in Australia. A group of people who can’t get through a holiday without throwing a punch and smashing the mirror. English, Drama. Years 10-12 Q and A or study resources. Learning Resources, Q&A (selected performances only)
SPARK 2020
Griffin Theatre Company’s Superheroes.
Online extras!
Artistic Director Lee Lewis muses on Superheroes. Scan the QR code or visit https://youtu.be/cdZFAarQyRY www.stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 14
20 Lazzis In A Hat homunculustheatre.com.au/primary/20-lazzis-in-a-hat 20 Lazzis In A Hat is pure entertainment! An exciting journey into the heart of Commedia Dell’arte: promising students non-stop fun, comedy and excitement. Audiences will discover the origins of Commedia Dell’Arte and will witness, first hand, the nature of its improvised nature. Life? It’s A Circus homunculustheatre.com.au/primary/life-its-a-circus Through the use of high level physicality, balloons, poetry, balancing chairs, acrobatic antics and clown, these two highly experienced circus theatre performers promise to take you on a thought provoking and thoroughly entertaining journey through the ups and downs of life. That’s All Folks homunculustheatre.com.au/primary/thats-all-folks HOMUNCULUS THEATRE COMPANY That’s All Folks is a five star-spangled vaudeville show of yester year! From the beautiful to the bizarre, this show homunculustheatre.com.au features a powerful and charismatic cast of internationally renowned acts from around the world. Juggling, The Secret Life Of Great Composers homunculustheatre.com.au/primary/the-secret-life-of-great-composers Acrobalance, Bell Routines, Slapstick, Comical Routines, Musical Chairs and more! THE SECRET LIFE OF GREAT COMPOSERS a collaboration between Homunculus Theatre Company & The Southern Absurd 4 Cross Soloists (http://www.southernxsoloists.com) The homunculustheatre.com.au/secondary/absurb4 audience is invited into the life of the extraordinary Sir Theodore Electra Smyth from Oxford University. A specialist Two Actors. Twelve Characters. Four Absurdist Plays. Claude and Tina an internationally acclaimed comedy duo from The in classical music, a superb hand bell soloist and aspiring United Kingdom Theatre For The Absurd Academy, are composer, Theodore is on a mission! Many years… facilitating a lecture on 4 adaptions of 4 Absurdist Plays. Thoughts Have Feelings Too homunculustheatre.com.au/primary/thoughts-have-feelings-too The Spirit Of The Mask homunculustheatre.com.au/secondary/the-spirit-of-the-mask Thoughts Have Feelings Too is a gentle and funny It is an interactive performance and workshop in one, performance that shows students how to think positively designed to demonstrate the essential conventions of about the feelings they experience in their day-to-day lives traditional Commedia as well as comic and mask in a primary school environment. The students meet two clowns: Sweet ‘Clown’ and the absent-minded ‘Professor’. performance. The focus of the show explores the ways these comic traditions continue to engage audiences. When the two clowns meet in the Professor’s laboratory, they discover that thoughts… Homunculus Theatre Company’s Life? It’s A Circus.
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Belvoir’s The Jungle And The Sea. Photo: Daniel Boud.
SPARK 2020
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COMPLETE WORKS THEATRE COMPANY completeworkstheatre.com
SPLASH THEATRE COMPANY facebook.com/splashtheatre
The Book Show 2020 “Curious Creatures, Wild Minds” Incursion Term 3 The performance includes stories and books relating to the theme Curious Creatures, Wild Minds - books, stories, poems and songs. These are woven into an entertaining and stimulating performance designed to encourage primary school students to actively engage with books, the library and reading. Literacy, Reading, Drama. Years R-6 Q&A and study resources available.
Romeo & Juliet Incursion completeworkstheatre.com/romeo-juliet-2020 Term 3, & 4 (2020 & 2021) An abridged, one-hour performance that follows Romeo & Juliet’s passionate romance as it quickly turns into tragedy. Exploring key themes/ideas of love, conflict, and fate. English, Literature, & Drama Years 9-10 Post-show Q&A, comprehensive teachers’ notes. Macbeth Incursion completeworkstheatre.com/macbeth-2020 Term 3, & 4 (2020 & 2021) An abridged, one-hour performance that follows the Macbeth’s rise to power and their ultimate downfall. Exploring key themes/ideas of ambition, the supernatural, and fate. English, Literature, & Drama Years 10-11 Post-show Q&A, comprehensive teachers’ notes. Australian Poetry Incursion completeworkstheatre.com/australian-poetry-2020 Exploring the Australian idiom through poetry in a onehour performance and workshop. Forms include; ballads, narrative poems, and spoken word. English, Literature, Drama Years 7-8 Post show Q&A, comprehensive teachers’ notes. Term 3, & 4 (2020 & 2021)
Splash Theatre Company’s The Book Show.
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Complete Works Theatre Company’s Macbeth.
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Online extras!
Watch clips from rehearsals of Macbeth. Scan the QR code or visit http://vimeo.com/397889804 The Crucible & The Dressmaker Incursion completeworkstheatre.com/the-crucible-year-of-wonders-2 July 13 - August 28 Scenes and extracts are woven into an enriching performance that enables the students to make clear thematic comparisons and contrasts between the two texts. VCE English/EAL (Years 11 & 12) Post show Q&A, comprehensive teachers’ notes.
The 7 Stages of Grieving & The Longest Memory Incursion completeworkstheatre.com/7-stages-of-grieving-the-longest-memory July 27 - August 21 Scenes and extracts are woven into an enriching performance that enables the students to make clear thematic comparisons and contrasts between the two texts. VCE English/EAL (Years 11 & 12) Post show Q&A, comprehensive teachers’ notes.
Photograph 51 & The Penelopiad Incursion completeworkstheatre.com/photograph-51-the-penelopiad-2020 July 27 - August 7 Scenes and extracts are woven into an enriching performance that enables the students to make clear thematic comparisons and contrasts between the two texts. VCE English/EAL (Years 11 & 12) Post show Q&A, comprehensive teachers’ notes.
Workshops Incursion completeworkstheatre.com/workshops-2020 Term 3 Small group workshops tailored to meet the Unit/AOS. Comprising of staged readings of selected scenes and guided textual analysis focussing on the literary techniques and devices. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Speaking in Tongues, Othello & Twelfth Night. English, Literature Years 10-12 www.stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 18
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Melbourne Theatre Company’s Boys & Girls. Photo: Kelly Hofer.
MELBOURNE THEATRE COMPANY mtc.com.au/education
Shakespeare’s As You Like It Excursion Southbank Theatre, The Sumner mtc.com.au/plays-and-tickets/season-2020/as-you-like-it Term 4 (14 September - 24 October) Shakespeare’s warm-hearted romantic comedy follows the irrepressible Rosalind, who is banished from court with her cousin Celia. But before they can escape into exile, Rosalind catches the eye of love-struck Orlando. What ensues is a riotous tangle of matched and mismatched lovers, mistaken identities, melodic songs and laughter. English, Literature, Music, Theatre Studies. Drama Year 6+ Girls & Boys by Dennis Kelly Excursion Southbank Theatre, The Sumner mtc.com.au/plays-and-tickets/season-2020/girls-and-boys Term 4 (30 October - 12 December) This one-woman show begins as a beguiling tale of universal truths, before hitting home with the full force of a tsunami. This is theatre at its most raw. Drama, Psychology, English, Literature Year 12+ with supervision
After-show forums with writer and cast, published script with production notes available for sale at Box Office, teachers' notes, September Holidays Revision & Study Sessions
MELBOURNE FRENCH THEATRE melbournefrenchtheatre.org.au
A unique Australian theatre company presenting plays in French, organising events and serving as an agency for French actors for all multimedia applications Le Petit Prince Incursion or Excursion melbournefrenchtheatre.org.au/lepetitprince-performanceincursion-or-excursion Performance only - rehearsed reading Le Petit Nicolas Incursion [performance or workshop] or Excursion melbournefrenchtheatre.org.au/lepetitnicolas Courtes Lignes de Courteline Incursion or Excursion melbournefrenchtheatre.org.au/courteline Incursion to Melbourne French Theatre’s Le Petit Nicolas.
Sunshine Super Girl by Andrea James Excursion Southbank Theatre, The Sumner mtc.com.au/plays-and-tickets/season-2020/sunshine-super-girl Term 4 (20 November - 19 December) Australian hero Evonne Goolagong Cawley was a girl from the bush who rose to become the no. 1 tennis player in the world. With its distinctively Australian sensibility and humour, Sunshine Super Girl asks us to consider our nation’s future and the part we play for the next ‘Goolagong’ waiting in the wings Humanities, English, Literature, Sport and Recreation, Drama Year 6+
LA MAMA lamama.com.au
Three Sisters Excursion La Mama Courthouse Theatre, 349 Drummond St Carlton July 29 - August 9 Wed & Thurs 6.30pm; Fri and Sat 7.30p.m; Sun 4pm; Matinees on: Weds & Thurs at 1p.m & Fris at 11am A new translation of Chekov's play. The Prozorov sisters yearn for the excitement of Moscow, bemoaning their lives while others around them get on with theirs. Subjects it is relevant to: Theatre Studies, Drama, English, English Literature, Social Studies, Russian history Years 10 -12 www.stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 20
Online extras!
Watch a trailer for Minneapolis. Scan the QR code or visit https://vimeo.com/395339889 Performing Lines’ Minneapolis.
The Lucky Country Incursion Western Australia and NSW All year Eight different people from eight different countries and eight different eras tell of coming to Australia. Australian History, Multiculturalism. Years 7-11 Study resources: Teacher's Notes included.
PERFORMING LINES pertharts.com
PERTH ARTS COMPANY pertharts.com
Suitcase Stories Incursion All year Eight different people from eight different countries and eight different eras tell of coming to Australia. Australian History, Multiculturalism. Years 2-6 Study resources: Teacher's Notes included. 21 Stage Whispers SPARK 2020
Minneapolis By Will O'Mahony performinglines.org.au/projects/minneapolis 15 - 18 July Subiaco Arts Centre, WA What happens when words are denied their context? Can you ever escape from something you've said? Produced and presented by Performing Lines WA, Minneapolis is a searing new play by Will O'Mahony. Its origin dates back from 2016 when a series of public events led to Will questioning callout culture, public shaming and online courts of public opinion. Minneapolis takes an unflinching look at how these aspects of contemporary culture collide - our broken masculinity, systemic rape culture and the normalisation of hate speech with the grey space between the public and the private. We live in an age where people subscribe to the idea that a life not recorded is a life not lived. Perfect for High-school aged students and drama/theatre students.
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Costuming, Make Up, Props & Sets
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Building 19 Century Paris In Brisbane th
NJW Designs joined with Griffith University to design and build the set for their recent acclaimed production of Les Misérables. The project encompassed design, drafting, fabrication, automation, installation and technical management. Company Director and designer Nathan Weyers joined with Melbourne-based theatre director Alister Smith earlier this year to design and build the set for Footlight Productions’ Les Misérables in Geelong. From Alister’s vision, the NJW team began with research; exploring the text, themes, time period and
NJW Designs is a multi-faceted design and fabrication hub tackling projects for professional theatre houses to local musical productions. For more info visit njwdesigns.com.au 25 Stage Whispers SPARK 2020
visual imagery related to the production. Harnessing the enormity of the ports and large ships of 1800s France was a focal design element, as was using levels to differentiate class. The set design included catwalks, staircases, ropes, dock cleats and huge steel beams, all of which were sourced and fabricated. Once the concept was sketched, the design team spent a week drafting construction drawings. The NJW technical department then added set-electrics and special effects. Approval was sought by the Director and Production team before the construction drawings made their way to the workshop for the fabrication stage. Over 70 sheets of MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard) then arrived in the workshop, destined to become aged and weathered timber floorboards. The first week was dedicated to undercoat, basecoat, graining effect, ageing and sealer, all requiring at least 24 hours drying time between coats. Other parts of the build included guns, a barricade (fit to fight from) and hand painting final details onto custom printed hanging scenery, depicting the sketches and writings of Victor Hugo. The whole build took one month but was bumped into the
Photo: Nick Morrissey.
Geelong Performing Arts Centre in one day. After a successful season the set was returned to the NJW workshop in Ballarat for modifications. To suit the much larger performance space of the Conservatorium Theatre in Brisbane, set pieces including catwalks, stairs and backdrops were enlarged and adapted.
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Online extras!
Director Alister Smith discusses staging Les Misérables. Scan or visit https://youtu.be/gKTF9uqPSUs Assisted by a CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machine, a skilled set of builders and scenic painters cut new staircases, welded handrails, and painted timber floors over two-weeks. Meanwhile, rehearsals commenced for the triple cast of 80 musical theatre students from the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University. To help bring the vision to life for the new creatives and cast, NJW Designs
built a scale model to travel to Brisbane. Using 3D print technology, all elements were reproduced at a 1:25 scale, allowing set positioning, scene change logistics and actor blocking to be realised. Taking the project from the initial design phase many months ago right through to its second installation, the team from NJW Designs visited
Brisbane in July to bump the set into the theatre. Working over two days, and ably assisted by the mech team at the Conservatorium Theatre, the entire set was constructed, flown scenery hung, and props checked and sorted, ensuring that Alister’s vision became a reality once more. Because at the end of the day, turning vision into reality is NJW Designs’ ultimate goal.
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Making Your Own Costume Shine
Tanya Szulc from Shine Trimmings & Fabrics says making your own costumes should not seem like a daunting task. Taking an initial design through to a successful costume might feel like a difficult journey, however if you follow these guidelines, you will increase your chances of success immensely.
excellent design templates you can download from our website. Create a concept sketch of your costume. Include as many notations as you can into your concept sketch to help guide you through the construction process. These notations Initial design will ensure your overarching costume Research your theme and costume concept is not lost in creation. The requirements thoroughly. Make sure colours, fabrics, trimmings and your design will also match the music embellishments you intend to select if required. Pinterest has some for your costume should also be fabulous ideas, as does the Shine noted in your design. Instagram account. Discover what are the important design elements that Measurements your costume will need to portray the An extensive list of measurements look, feel and/or era that you are should be obtained from the intended looking to capture. recipient of the costume. Accurate A costume may need to have a measurements provide you with the high shine/sparkle element, ensuring information you need to calculate the it looks effective under stage lights, or lengths of fabric you require and also perhaps it needs to portray movement with draping/flowing fabric or trims, or capture the feel of an era gone by. Determining these factors and incorporating them into your design is a crucial step in developing your fabulous costume. Shine have
Shine sales staff possess extensive knowledge in costume making with many of them being costume makers in their own right, and are always happy to provide advice and assistance. Call 1300 SHINE 1 or visit shinetrimmingsfabrics.com.au 27 Stage Whispers SPARK 2020
allow you determine the cost of your creation. Ensuring a costume fits its recipient well is crucial. Again the Shine template you downloaded from our site is perfect for this step and provides you with a document that you can continually refer back to throughout the entire construction process. Choosing your fabrics and trimmings Take the time to thoroughly search for quality fabrics, trimmings and embellishments that will best achieve the design you have worked hard to develop. Obtaining samples will ensure that the fabrics and trimmings you have chosen for your costume are true to colour, have the necessary look/texture/feel/stretch required for
your creation and are complementary to one another. Once you have confirmed your choices it’s time to order/purchase your selected fabrics, trimmings and embellishments. Shine Trimmings & Fabrics stock over 12,000 products which can be viewed on our website or in our Port Melbourne retail store. We ship direct to your doorstep worldwide. Construction A dressmaker’s mannequin is an ideal tool at this stage, however if you do not have access to one, the next best option is a dressmakers bodyboard. A bodyboard is a flat, stiff template which you can stretch your costume on, ensuring your costume will look great and will also fit the natural curves and shapes of a body. These are perfect when you commence beading & decorating the costume. Plan how you are going to construct your costume before beginning construction. Ensuring you know which step you need to do before another will save you time and mistakes. If you’re ever unsure how to proceed, simply seek advice from an experienced costume maker/designer or Shine Trimmings & Fabrics. The team at Shine are highly qualified in costume making, fashion design or dance. They are always happy to help and are looking forward to making your creation shine!
Smoke And Fireworks
Geelong Fireworks is well known for indoor pyrotechnics and the “world’s largest range” of flash and fire products, but the company also stocks a range of other items to enhance productions.
The Actor Electronic Cigarette is used in many movie productions as it enables the actor to inhale and blow smoke. It has a “burning” tip while inhaling. The product is available with a tan or white filter and charges via a USB port. A budget Puff Cigarette, which contains corn-starch that is blown out of the cigarette, is also available. A new range of products for ghost/horror productions includes rotating candelabras, haunted vases that fall on command, books that open and can shoot flames, books that fall - all by the press of a remote control. A showstopper is a skull that can shoot fire from its eyes. Just as spooky is a collection of books falling off a bookshelf. Spirits About is the product which makes it happen.
Visit the Geelong Fireworks website to see what is available or to order a custom-made special effect. www.geelongfireworks.com.au
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Caring For Costumes
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Tracey Nuthall from Costumes Without Drama makes a priority of caring for costumes after a performance. “We are fanatical about sorting. After scanning costumes back in, they are thrown straight into tubs. There will be a tub for hand washing, one for whites, blacks, reds, blues, greens, etc. “Please be kind to our planet. Choose environmentally friendly detergents and avoid tumble drying. “We hang wet costumes directly onto coat hangers, trying to straighten and shake out creases then leave them to air dry on racks. “But, if you wish to save yourself all this work, you can always hire costumes from Costumes Without Drama. “Our costumes are all barcode labeled. The costumes are picked out and chosen specifically for your students, with respect and sensitivity to your student’s specific sizes. Where possible, you receive costumes approximately two weeks before the concert, and, best of all, we do all the laundering on return.”
Contact Tracey by phone on (03) 8838 2616 or email info@costumeswithoutdrama.com.au
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Taking It To The Next Stage Stage School Australia’s The Staging Dept in Melbourne is a treasure trove of theatrical sets and props, many produced specially for the company, with others purchased from other productions. Popular items include sets and props from the Australian premiere of The Addams Family, full sets and props for Wicked, Les Misérables and Spring Awakening, Professor Marvel’s caravan and Emerald City Gates from The Wizard of Oz, the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car, props and handprops from The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Secret Garden, Alice in Wonderland, Honk, and many more. Similarly, The Costume Dept is a veritable Aladdin’s cave of costumes from a range of shows and eras.
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Responsible for costuming all of the performances and production seasons of Stage School Australia, the Costume Dept has sets of costumes for casts as young as four years, all the way up to adult sized costume sets for shows such as Wicked, Les Misérables, Hairspray, Grease, Mary Poppins, Shrek, Babe, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Madagascar Jr, Joseph and lots more. “We’ve been making our costumes available for school and production hire for about ten years,”
To get help bringing your production to life, visit: costumedept.com.au stagingdept.com.au said Artistic Director Robert Coates. “In that time we’ve gone from costuming about 10 external shows per year, to over one hundred this year. Most days a team of five or more costume staff are working on production, maintenance and assisting hirers with their requirements. Plus, each semester we’re adding hundreds of new costumes to the collection - so even if you’ve come and had a look before, it’s always worth another visit.”
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Curtains For Shakespeare In Love
Love. MTC’s Shakespeare In Photo: Jeff Busby.
When the Melbourne Theatre Company needed lavish looking drapery for its blockbuster production of Shakespeare In Love in 2019, a local specialist company was on hand to assist with the design and creation. Theatre Star Pty Ltd has a specially fitted out factory in Melbourne, with a large squeaky clean floor-space, huge cutting tables and a motorised bar for test hanging drapes. Owner Rod Paton says whilst Gabriela Tylesova designed the lavish look for the MTC play, it was up to his company to work out how to create some of the more challenging aspects. He says the components of the drapery in Shakespeare In Love included “big stylised pleats on the OP side, three enormous swagging velvet curtains above, a whole range of cut canvas cloths with scenic artworks to create depth, a huge scenic painted cloth at the rear, and various other gauzes and panels.” Rod says drapes play an important role in many shows and often add to the illusions used in theatre. “Layer after layer of various speciality cloths are often used for various purposes such as filtering, reflecting or blocking light, adding depth, concealing and revealing scene changes, not to mention painted backdrops, projection surfaces and fancy front drapes.” Rod says his team of professionals have many years of experience. “We manufacture for theatre productions, events, films, television studios, schools, universities, churches
and festivals and have worked on countless productions all around Australia.” For those without the budget of the Melbourne Theatre Company, he has other solutions. To assist with school and amateur productions, Theatre Star has recently introduced a new drape support product known as the Instaframe.
The Instaframes are a lightweight and portable drape or backdrop support which fold out for use and pack away for storage. The frames can support digitally printed backdrops as well as black masking curtains. Rod says “not only are they portable, lightweight, safe and budget friendly, but they are re-usable for years after.” Bumping-in at MTC’s Shakespeare In Love.
For details about Theatre Star’s “Drama Deal” packages, which include Instaframes, digitally printed backdrops and black masking curtains, visit theatrestar.com.au/dramadeals or call (03) 8761 6927.
LET’S PUT ON A SHOW! ALL THE RESOURCES YOU NEED TO STAGE YOUR NEXT PRODUCTION stagewhispers.com.au/StageResources 33 Stage Whispers SPARK 2020
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It’s the most common question CVP Events, Film and Television is asked by school and amateur theatre companies. Can you do Projection Mapping? The answer is yes and it’s quite simple.
it and repeat until you are happy. A slow, frustrating process but cheap. Other packages let you move and scale the object live, thus speeding up Projection mapping is the art of will make it easy (M-Box, Catalyst, the programming dramatically. placing images onto a surface and ArKaos, Pandoras Box, Green Hippo Another highly useful tool when being able to position and scale the etc). Qlab is an ideal tool as you can projection mapping is to put masks image to align/complement the rent it for the duration of your show, over your content. You can use the surface/piece of set you are projecting but you can even do this in mask when you make your content, onto. In other words, take the PowerPoint. put them in the projector (to mask beautiful moon picture you have If you want a more complex high- out a permanent piece of set), or your downloaded and have it appear to end solution, then Watchout or playback software may let you do it as the right size to sit exactly above the Disguise servers come into play (you part of its programming. house you have built. can chat to CVP about rental The important bit is to make the It gets more challenging when arrangements). mask line up with your set. The trick projecting on complex 3d surfaces like All you need is a software package is: buildings, with multiple projectors, that allows you to move and scale 1. Open Photoshop (or any but those complexities are solved by your images/videos. If you were using drawing program). Make a having the right software tools. PowerPoint then you would put the white rectangle that fills the The right software dictates how image on the slide, display it and if it screen. simple or challenging the process is. doesn’t look quite right, go back to 2. Set it up so the white rectangle Any lighting/DMX-driven media server edit mode, adjust the content, display is outputting to your projector and is in full screen mode. 3. Then simply trace around the piece of set you want to create a mask for. You will now be able to create a mask that is exactly the right size and proportion for your projector. Alternatively, you can take a photo of your set, taken from where the projector lens is. Projection mapping is one of the things that is often wrapped in mystery but is quite simple and turns projection into a useful tool for any theatrical production.
For information on how CVP can help with you next project, call (03) 9558 8000 or visit www.cvp.com.au www.stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 34
Buttons To Dye For Tracey Nuthall from Costumes Without Drama pins down the secret to gorgeous fasteners. Buttons can make or break a costume. Did you know how easy it is to dye buttons? The process is simple: in fact, it is easier than dying fabric. Start with plain white buttons or translucent buttons. Dying synthetics involves a different process to dying natural products. Sublimation dying incorporates the dye right into the structure of the fibres/plastic, meaning that the colours last longer, and remain stable - we all know that a cotton garment will fade when laundered - synthetics and their colours last much longer. Sublimation dying generally requires heat, pressure and duration to set the colour, so when printing a synthetic t-shirt, the dye is printed onto transfer paper in reverse, and pressed onto the t-shirt with heat and pressure, for a set period of time. Dying fabric usually involves putting the garment into a container or pot and heating over a stove, in a microwave or on a hot washing machine setting. The washing machine on a very long hot cycle gives a great result, usually with an even finish.
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If you need custom made costumes, or anything from Costumes Without Drama’s collection of more than 12,000 inventoried items for hire, visit costumeswithoutdrama.com.au Buttons use very little dye and can be dyed in a coffee cup. Simply mix equal quantities of liquid dye, vinegar and water in a cup (10 -15 ml of each would suffice) add the buttons, place in a microwave for thirty seconds then wait 30 seconds. Lift one button out with a fork or spoon and check for the intensity of colour.
If it isn’t dark enough, heat and wait another couple of times (I find about 3 X 30 seconds gives a good rich colour). If it still isn’t dark enough add some more dye to the cup and repeat the heating and standing until the colour is attained. Once the correct colour has been reached, lift the button/s out of the liquid and rinse under water. Dry with a towel. If it is too dark, you cannot go back, so it is strongly recommended that you start with a weaker solution and gradually add more dye. In theory, from start to finish it can take less than 5 minutes. The dye bath in a cup may be used for multiple buttons in one go remembering to stir well between heating, or batches one after another. The dye colour will gradually become weaker, so add more dye concentrate if necessary. Don’t forget, different proportions of dye, vinegar and water may change the colour slightly so batch colours will vary (quite a bit of the water evaporates as part of the microwave process).
Forgotten Fabrics Get Chance To Shine languishing in friends’ and family’s Tracey Nuthall from Costumes without Drama shares her philosophy, after running sewing rooms, waiting for that ‘ah ha’ moment when its time her company for almost 19 years. Costumes without Drama was started primarily as a reaction to the waste produced by making costumes for a single use (sometimes even out of paper, and other materials which are not able to be laundered) and ending up either taking up storage room, never to be used again, or sent to landfill. There are only so many items a school can use on multiple occasions, and there are only so many costume pieces which are likely to be used in the ‘dress up’ box at home. Right from the start we chose not to buy cheap imported garments, or garments made by cheap labour overseas. Most costumes are made on site or locally. We always used reusable bags, mostly cloth bags made from fabrics saved from landfill, dumped due to being unfashionable designs etc. Many fabrics used have originated from sources other than fabric wholesalers. Garments have been lovingly created from fabric unearthed
came to shine. I personally know each of the 13,000 inventoried items, and could probably tell you the source of the fabric. Providing costumes for school productions is a privilege Costumes without Drama honours by providing a full inventory of items supplied, with everything packaged and labeled. It was not trendy or even ‘cool’ to send costumes out to schools in recycled bags when we started. I have noticed progressively over the years that there is finally an understanding that we do not have to re-invent the wheel for every production. We do not have to spend a lot of money, and it is OK to use something which has been used by someone else before. Finally, as I approach 20 years in business, I am in fashion!
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Let’s Put On A Show Suppliers offer tips on some of their most popular products.
Portable Seating And Stages
For nearly a decade, Transtage has been selling portable seating and stages for schools, churches and theatres. The Sydney company, which delivers Australiawide, says purchasing the stages is more cost effective than renting, if you have a few repeat uses. The company says the modular stages can be put together in about an hour and easily deconstructed into flat packs for ease of storage. The stages have a load capacity of 750 kilograms per square metre, and can be set outdoors or on uneven terrain. Different uses for the stages include choir risers, seat risers, catwalks and regular platforms for speeches, music and dance. transtage.com.au
Stage Make-up And Accessories
Centrestage Costumes supplies schools around Australia with stage make-up, costumes and accessories for productions, drama classes and Year 12 monologues. Owner Mary Gurry says the family owned business is one of few companies left in Melbourne which specialises in stage make-up. “Our most popular products for parties and professionals are fantasy make-up and special effects kits,” she said. The company is proud to have costumed the Melbourne Marching Girls for their annual appearance in Sydney Mardi Gras. Mary Gurry says the theme this year is white steampunk.
centrestagecostumes.com
Protecting Sets
Creative Film and Theatre Solutions says FoamCoat is an under-rated product which theatres and schools should put on their shopping list. It’s a non-toxic, water-based coating for styrofoam and polystyrene foam, as well as other surfaces. The company says FoamCoat provides a hard, durable finish that resists chipping and cracking, yet can be sanded smooth or carved to add detailing. The flame retardant and water-resistant product is also used on primed wood, concrete block, primed fiberglass, papier mâché, muslin and many other materials. Creative Film and Theatre Solutions’ new business development manager Natasha Srbinovski is available to advise schools, theatres and universities on their upcoming projects. Photo: Jann Whaley.
For more info on FoamCoat, visit au.rosco.com/en 37 Stage Whispers SPARK 2020
Scenic Studios
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Scenic Studios is a Melbourne based company and has been trading for over 40 years, specialising in theatrical painting of scenic backdrops and theatre scenery. It offers a high level of craftsmanship in all fields of scenic art and also manufactures scenic paints and hires scenic backdrops and drapes. The company’s scenic hire range includes over 200 backdrops which are professionally painted and give depth to the scene to allow for lighting tricks and ambience. The standard size, 12m wide x 6m drop, fits most theatres and school auditoriums. Scenic Studios says a good backdrop will set the scene or create the atmosphere you desire for your performance. Many different themes are available, from traditional productions such as Oliver!, The Lion King, Seussical and Beauty and the Beast, to ballrooms, circuses, forests and gardens. All can be found on the company’s website scenicstudios.com.au - under backdrop hire. The company has also has sequin drapes, slash curtains, lame curtains and crush velvet drapes. The scenic paints it supplies are designed to paint theatre backdrops and scenery. There are 28 colours to choose from, with special paints such as texture, canvas / surface primers and stage black. The company ships paint and hires backdrops Australia wide.
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Study Resources
Sport For Jove’s Macbeth.
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Online extras!
David Williamson discusses Family Values and the beginnings of his career. https://youtu.be/MD7795eDmGg 41 Stage Whispers SPARK 2020
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The Complete Works Of David Williamson David Williamson - Australia’s most prolific and successful playwright - is calling an end to his remarkable career of 50 years. Martin Portus reviews his legacy. Williamson wants to go out with a bang and - if he is actually going - the fireworks are certainly aligning. First up, he’s just blown out 78 candles. His play, Family Values, with its impassioned call to his generation to become activists against our shameful treatment of refugees, was a big hit this year at Sydney’s Griffin Theatre and even with those pesky critics who’ve been attacking him for decades. What he calls his last play, his 57th, Crunch Time, is running at Sydney’s Ensemble, about a businessman seeking reconciliation with his sons and their help to end his own life. And Williamson’s classic harpooning of Sydney greed and ambition in Emerald City has been revived by director Sam Strong in a current QT/MTC co-production. Its costumes and music are straight out of the 1980’s and, says Williamson, there’s nothing dated in the appalling human behaviour. Williamson - despite carping from leftist or feminist ideologues - is a great believer in the accumulated, essentially unchangeable qualities of what makes us human. A satirist, he says, can’t afford to let wishful ideological fashions get in the way of telling it like it is. The playwright is deeply informed by the post-graduate psychology he studied as he escaped his first short career in mechanical engineering. “We are far from the perfect creatures that socialist ideology would like to make us into,” he says. “I (Continued on page 43) www.stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 42
Jason Klarwein and Marg Downey in Queensland Theatre’s Emerald City (2020). Photo: David Kelly.
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Check out a preview of Queensland Theatre’s Emerald City. Scan or visit https://youtu.be/W52wjO7bRhI
So Williamson’s problem is only that he’s quite happy - living on delight in satirising my own side, that Sunshine Beach near Noosa, an of the pious left - of which I’m still a enduring marriage, blessed in a member - who can often look blended family of 5 kids and 14 ridiculous. When I’m asked why I grandchildren. We know well his long don’t attack the other side, I say personal journey into the sunshine they’re beyond satire.” from his plays, for which over 50 Now 52 years on from writing a years he’s shamelessly drawn on his first play at Monash University - and own experience of work, first some very crude engineering revues - marriages, adultery, fighting parents he likes to think he’s gotten even and generations, cultural clashes, better at being a dramatist. But he shifting friendships, bitching sounds uncertain; critics have made colleagues, competitive grandhim defensive about his later work. parenting, and finally euthanasia...to Mostly only his earlier plays have been say nothing of the big social issues revived - like Emerald City, The Club, he’s plucked from the headlines of our times. Travelling North, Sanctuary and The Perfectionist. So what now? He’ll walk Sunshine “Maybe,” he muses, “I’ve lost the Beach, keep up learning French (a raw energy of The Removalists; maybe counter, he says, to dementia), and I’ve lost the desire to show the pound his exercise bike while following podcasts. darkest aspects of human nature; Of course he’s retired before, back maybe increasingly I’ve wanted to show the more humane, empathetic, in 2005, amid even bigger, different fireworks. He was furious at being positive sides of human nature but snubbed by the new directors of the without leaving all the darkness behind.” Sydney Theatre Company, Andrew Upton and Cate Blanchett. His play As the last line of his ‘last play’ suggests, even after the assisted Influence, centred on the repellent if death, “All is more or less well with sincerely held beliefs of a shock jock modelled on the late Stan Zemanek, the world.” had been box office gold for the STC, (Continued from page 42)
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but Williamson was told they were no longer interested in his work. And the times, he thinks, were demoting the importance of writer. “Back then I was ditched with this new STC policy of having great actors in great roles,” he says. “And ‘director theatre’ was taking off, with smart kids playing with classics like Chekhov, Ibsen and other masterpieces which surely already had a perfected and proven structure. It was the cult of the director, the cult of Dazzle, and Barrie Kosky, and The Wars of the Roses with constantly falling golden flakes and misplayed guitars.” A Melbourne journalist back in the 1970s warned Williamson that his first success would be short. ‘The arts is more about fashion than the fashion industry,’ he said, ‘you’ll go out of fashion,’ remembers the Tall Poppy playwright. ‘The only way you’re going to survive is to keep working and keep having people come to your plays because the critical industry will rapidly turn on you.’ “And how true that turned out to be. I didn’t realise it would happen so fast!” So Williamson stayed on his toes, changing subjects, being the Living
Newspaper of our times. And ever reinventing, he’s always on the quest to find the latest best producer or director, or different state theatre company or alternative to premiere his next work. It’s hard to believe he can retire from this compulsive deal making, or that he can quell that emotional fire about a subject that drives him to the keyboard. Writer’s block was never his problem. “I wrote Sanctuary (1994) in just ten days, in the white heat of passion and disgust at American foreign policy in Iraq - sometimes the momentum just takes over.” Back in 2005, a heart arrhythmia condition also called for him to retire. But wounded, he was soon back, writing smaller, more cabaret-like shows and then a host of new plays for Sandra Bates’ Ensemble. Arguably, Williamson was now serving an aging middle-class audience long comfortable with his comedy and sharing his own older concerns; but he denies that the demographic there on Sydney’s North Shore was any different from his old homes with the state theatre companies. And true, there was nothing too elderly about his capacity to collar new subjects: ethical challenges to Western medicine, crossdressing footballers, Generation X professionals, Asperger’s, real estate horrors and nightmare grandchildren. As he’s done before, he can also switch from dark dramas or frothy (Continued on page 45)
Andrew McFarlane and Belinda Giblin in Griffin Theatre Company’s Family Values (2020). Photo: Brett Boardman.
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Online extras!
Meet the team behind Griffin Theatre Company’s Family Values. Scan or visit https://youtu.be/s2nBsdl_Ib4
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al Court The Removalists at Roy 1970. Theatre, London circa
David and Kristen Williamson.
David at the Kennedy Centre, Washington for The Club (Players in the US).
Rupert, in which the global media tycoon tells his epic story direct to the satires and pull out a philosophical audience. Williamson was unaware, big canvas rabbit, like his recent unlike the men across the desk, that a success, Nearer the Gods. Premiered fictionalised version, Succession, and in Brisbane in 2018, it’s due next year two other related films around Fox in Sydney. Turning from executive Roger Ailes were in the neighbourhood to the stars, Nearer works. the Gods is about the discovery of “Anyway, Ailes was an American universal gravitation by that eccentric and they still don’t see Murdoch as genius, the hero of the Age of that, and Ailes had sexual Reason, Isaac Newton, and his misdemeanours which made him much more interesting than an nurturing colleague, Edmund Halley (he of Halley’s Comet). Adelaide boy starting off with barely “It was one of the biggest leaps by nothing.” humanity in understanding the Celebrated in the 1980s for his cosmos and Newton - difficult, early films like The Year of Living cantankerous, Asperger’s and brilliant Dangerously, Gallipoli (with director - driven out of madness by Halley to Peter Weir) and Phar Lap, and with see through the fog of his time.” film adaptations of ten plays under his Williamson is obviously excited belt, Williamson had a reputation that the story’s internationality has overseas as a social issue writer of been recognised and director Bruce conscience. As well as significant Beresford is currently in London theatre hits that decade, he had casting for the film. Of course, another nice earner writing scripts for Williamson also wrote the screenplay. Hollywood - but for films never made. And getting up the Newton film “LA was my least favourite city. I redeems all those dud spruiks he did used to break out into a nervous rash in Los Angeles. His last was for a film on the plane, knowing I had to of another big canvas play of his, appear every time before a panel of (Continued from page 44)
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the director, various producers and studio executives and convince them I was a writer. In Hollywood you always have to act like a writer.” Once he got close with a Korean war film he wrote for Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise, but the head honcho with the final decision thought no one remembers Korea. The precious “green light” wasn’t given. Ultimately, A Few Good Men was the result, but Williamson was long gone. “Bang. I was suddenly history. No more white limousine. I had to find my own way to the airport.” Colin, the Sydney screenwriter in Emerald City (premiered in 1987 and a film just a year later) also shares Williamson’s own dream for global opportunities and the quest for that Harbour view. “But Colin is also passionate about the need to have our own stories in Australia, told in our own accents, otherwise we will always think that real life happens elsewhere and spoken in accents other than our own.” The Williamsons moved from Melbourne in 1978, attracted, he
says, by Sydney’s opportunities, its hedonism and free, less ideological thinking, and the greater professionalism of its theatre and film making. When Emerald City premiered, they moved again, this time to a water frontage… “My only defence when criticised for that was the Woody Allen defence that any satirist is prey to the impulses he satirises.” But beyond the Harbour view, telling our own stories in our theatres and films is the driver of David Williamson’s long career. He still gets angry at the memories in Melbourne of how our universities and arts companies were locking out Australian stories and dominated by an English superiority. “It’s hard for this younger generation to understand the impetus and anger that was burning in our breasts in those days.” It’s what drove young Williamson to Betty Burstall’s new La Mama and later the Pram Factory in Carlton. He remembers a blokey, fiercely egalitarian and ideological world, more interested in fashionable actor-
David Williamson spoke to Martin Portus for a State Library of NSW oral history project on leaders in the performing arts; the full interview now available on the Library’s website.
devised works than writers. They asked him to write the last scene of something so they could improvise the rest; they liked what he wrote, asked him for an earlier scene, and then another. “It was the only play I wrote backwards. It was 1970, The Coming of Stork, about blokes in a share household.” The explosive success of The Removalists and Don’s Party quickly followed in both Melbourne and Sydney. Then Williamson’s next plays, Jugglers Three and What if you Died Tomorrow, were premiered, respectively, by the MTC and the Old Tote at the new Sydney Opera House. He’d arrived, and quickly. For the next 25 years Williamson was the darling - and cash cow - of any state theatre company lucky enough to get first dibs on his plays. It was his artistic and commercial choice and, for Australian playwriting, his greatest legacy. “I did transform the local scene and made it acceptable for Australian plays to occupy centre stage in our mainstream theatres, something that hadn’t happened up to this stage. It
was always presumed to be British plays or perhaps American or European ones.” So fierce in 1990 was the competition to premiere his play, Siren, that both Melbourne and Sydney producers grabbed the play, unseen. The Melbourne production opened 15 minutes earlier than Sydney’s, thus claiming the ‘premiere’. Offstage, notably in Sydney in the 1980s, Williamson was a committed cultural advocate, including 12 years as President of the Writers’ Guild. And yet … he was dumbfounded when once in a pub, full of writers, one came up to him and said, ‘Williamson, you don’t know how hated you are!’. The remark is ancient now, but obviously cut Williamson to the core, just like the impact he still shows from old feuds with colleagues and carping with critics. The giant storyteller to his tribe forged a place for Australian stories on our stages, but then dominated those stages for half a century. Now he’s making room and moving off perhaps. Diane Craig, Matt Minto and John Wood in Ensemble Theatre’s Crunch Time. Photo: Prudence Upton.
Online extras!
David Williamson broaches sibling rivalry in his final play, Crunch Time. https://youtu.be/a0qo4Iq-EvM www.stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 46
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Coral Drouyn looks at the dreaded audition process which all performers face at some time in their careers. “God I hope I get it. I hope I get it. How many people does he need?” Those are the ensemble’s opening lines of the opening number in Michael Bennett’s iconic musical A Chorus Line (the A was added by Bennett to jump alphabetically ahead of Fosse’s Chicago in theatre listings). It’s a show all about the audition process. If there is anyone out there who hasn’t ever auditioned, then chances are you’ve chosen to live a normal life. For those of us in show biz, mostly we hate them, sometimes love them (if we get the part) and frequently love to hate them. In the late 1950s and 1960s there was one young woman who queued in the ‘cattle call’ for every JC Williamson’s and Garnet Carroll show. For ten years or more she got knockbacks: the dreaded “don’t call us”. Then at one audition she was told, “Thank you, we start rehearsals on Monday week. Who’s your agent?” Looking confused she said, “I don’t understand,” and the director said to her “You’re in. We want you for the show.” Flustered, she shook her head and replied, “Oh I don’t do shows, I only do auditions!”
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There’s no definitive history of when auditions started, but we do know that Shakespeare auditioned players for specific roles, especially if they were playing female roles. In Victorian times, ‘Ladies of the Chorus’ first had to pass inspection of their legs (up to the knee) before there was any interest in dance skills, and a pretty smile, and a “well turned” ankle, were the main requirements. These days most performers are triple threats - dancers, singers, and actors - and they all have agents who can negotiate an audition time instead of queueing in line for hours on end. Well, almost all. Ben Mingay is currently green with success as Shrek in Shrek The Musical, but his very first audition, for Rent in Sydney, almost put him off show business before he got started. “I was an 18-year-old bogan from Newcastle with no experience and no training, wearing a flanno,” he tells me. “I travelled down to Sydney and stood in a cattle call queue for seven hours at Kinsellas. Finally someone came out and said, ‘We’re running out of time, so keep walking through the door, keep walking and sing the highest notes in your song (unaccompanied) then walk off, don’t
talk to the panel, and out the back door on the other side.’ Well, being a bogan from Newcastle, I’d chosen ‘Mustang Sally’. So I walked in without stopping and sang ‘You’ve been running all over town’ and out the door on the other side.” It took Ben nine hours to sing six words without getting any feedback. But look at him now. Legendary star Nancye Hayes recalls her first audition(s) for Betty Pounder. “I got call-back after call-back for Bye Bye Birdie. In the end I didn’t get it because I didn’t look like a teenage groupie.” She reminiscences, “I cried so hard my mother told me I had to toughen up or just be a secretary if I couldn’t take rejection. But just a couple of months later Pounder herself called me and said, ‘There’s a place for you in My Fair Lady’. So, if you do a good audition, but you’re not right for the show, they will remember you for something else.” Nancye became our Leading Lady in so many musicals that even she was surprised when she was asked to audition for Showboat, thirty years later. “They wanted to hear me sing,” she tells me. “I’d been touring in a play, Mourning, for a year and my voice was very rusty. But I thought,
well hopefully they all know me. When I arrived at the theatre, there wasn’t just a couple of people sitting in the stalls. There were long trestle tables with about a dozen people, including the creatives from America, sitting in judgement like a jury. It was like the Spanish Inquisition and I thought, “Is this what young performers have to go through now? How terrifying.” Some American creatives have a hard time accepting just how excellent our Australian performers are, as Todd McKenney told me. “I was in Singapore doing a Power Rangers show when John Frost called me and said that he wanted me for Crazy For You, but I had to audition for the American Director - so could I get myself to New York the following day. Talk about pressure!” Todd explains. Todd threw his singlets and sarongs (it’s steamy in Singapore) into a bag, and hopped on the first flight to New York, where it was freezing cold, and, because his room wasn’t
ready, he wandered the streets in his tropical gear, shivering. “I was told not to prepare anything as they would provide the music, etc,” he continued. “When I turned up to the audition the Musical Director asked me what I was going to sing. I flippantly said, “what have you got?” since I’d been told not to
got to play the role, after the imported American lead was injured. Poirot star David Suchet auditioned for the West End producer John Gale with dire consequences early in his career. He mumbled his name, which Gale clearly didn’t hear, and then announced he would do Mark Antony’s famous speech from
bring anything. The Musical Director cut me to pieces in front of all the creatives by saying, ‘I don’t know how it’s done in your country, but in this town we come to an audition prepared!’” Todd didn’t pass the audition and it wasn’t until six months later that he
Julius Caesar, whilst outlining an imaginary body on the stage. “I was extremely nervous and overexplained the imaginary body,” Suchet says. “I got through the speech and there was silence. Then Gale’s voice boomed out - ‘How do (Continued on page 49)
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(Continued from page 48)
you spell your surname?’ I responded S.U.C.H.E.T. I waited for what seemed like eternity before he said, ‘Yes, well, thank you Mr Suc(K)hit - perhaps another time.’” Being present at someone else’s embarrassing audition is nearly as bad as being the auditionee. Jason Langley, acclaimed director, was once an actor and fell victim to his own talent in an audition “I had prepared a fabulous song for a musical audition, a song I could nail without fail. However, during the audition nerves took away my ability to make “oo” sounds - not great when you’re singing ‘Blue Moon’! I learned never to sing songs with a proliferation of ‘oo’ sounds from then on.” But his worst audition moments came as a director. “I had a young actor who decided to present the Juliet/Nurse scene - by herself. She sat on the stage unintelligibly mumbling barely above a whisper, then stopping at the end of each line, saying quite loudly ‘huh?’ and demonstrating listening to the nurse in silence,” Jason tells me with a laugh. “(Another time) I gave an auditioning actor some notes on his monologue that he’d presented in a static standing position. I asked if he’d hop on the stage and try it again. He obliged, lifting one leg and hopping on the spot whilst doing the monologue. Well, you can imagine, I was on the floor in hysterics. Not the finest moment for either of us.” Performer turned director Paul Watson has a similar story. “I auditioned a kid joining an already established cast. He said, ‘I’m so and so and I’m here to audition for the role of Johnny.’ I told him that role had been cast and we were only auditioning for ensemble men, to which he replied, ‘You’re about to recast the role of Johnny!’ Let’s just say that after his audition we couldn’t even find a place for him in the ensemble!” Self-belief is essential in a performer, but delusion is best 49 Stage Whispers SPARK 2020
Tim Draxl and Angelique Cassimatis during rehearsals for Darlinghurst Theatre Company’s A Chorus Line. Photo: Robert Catto.
avoided, as are lies and ‘padding’ your CV. Performer, musician and coach Will Conyers was caught off-guard when he was taking auditions as MD for the Topol production of Fiddler on The Roof. “I looked at the auditionee’s CV and she said that her singing teacher was….ME! I’d never seen her in my life, but I couldn’t resist asking her what ‘I’ was like as teacher. She then gave a detailed story of her lessons with me and how I was okay, but a bit of a perfectionist and very demanding. The casting director was in hysterics and quite literally wet herself.” The ultimate audition story concerns the great, and seemingly immortal, Angela Lansbury. In a career lull in 1966, after the failure of Sondheim’s Anyone Can Whistle, she desperately wanted to be considered for Mame on Broadway. Jerry Herman, the composer, was one of the few people who had seen her in Anyone Can Whistle on one of its 12 performances, and wanted to audition her, even though director Gene Saks was pushing for his wife, Bea Arthur, who eventually played Mame’s ‘bosom buddy’ Vera Charles.
Lansbury’s agent kept pushing, and when Lansbury finally had an audition time, Jerry Herman helped give her the extra edge by rehearsing two of the show’s best numbers with her (I believe they were “It’s Today” and “Open a New Window”). As if that wasn’t enough, he even accompanied her himself on piano. Because this is showbiz, you’d likely expect this story to end right there. You’d think someone would holler from the back the house, “You’re hired!” But that’s not what happened at all. Rather, months went by. Still no offer was made. The producers’ search lingered on. Lansbury remained on the short list but was not the favourite. Still, Angela Lansbury wouldn’t back down. She knew this role was a make or break moment in her career. Four months after her original audition, she laid down the law. “I am going back to California and unless you tell me - let’s face it, I have prostrated myself - now, yes or no, that’s the end of it.” And the rest is history Of course we’re not all Angela Lansbury, but when your heart knows you’ve done a great audition, make sure your head believes it.
Staging A Musical Or Play
Mad Musicals’ Supernova The Musical!
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Afternoon With Miss Patrice
Hello everyone and welcome to my new adventure! A column in this wonderful little publication. I am beyond excited. My name is Esmerelda Patrice and I am a teacher in WA. Last year, I was asked to teach a drama class and so I took on the idea of doing the school production as well. I talked about my triumph in a podcast. Now teachers from all over the world have been writing to me and asking for my advice. After only one production! Clearly, I didn’t realise I was that clever. So please, ask me questions regarding anything theatrical! My first letter for today comes from Sydney (I won’t put in names - that wouldn’t be very professional would it). This writer wants to know how he can help his school speed up the audition process and make sure the right people get the right roles. Well George, when I did my show last year, we had a lot of people turn up and my audition was smooth and efficient. I videoed every auditionee in order to see them later, and if they knew the words to their song, had seen the movie of the musical and could provide their own costume, then I decided they were the right person for the role. Easy really. I don’t see what is terribly hard about it. But remember to press the record button. If you want to speed up the process, maybe you could just skip the singing and just ask them have they seen the show, and do they have the costume. That would make things a bit easier wouldn’t it! My next letter comes from someone in Melbourne who would like to do a production of Les Misérables at their school, but they are concerned that it is an old show. Well my dear, I know exactly how you feel. That is why I suggested to my principal that we do Les Mis (as I like to call it) but that we modernise it quite a lot and set it in Australia. That way, the set is so much easier and the costumes are easier and I could do what I wanted to do and add some Australian songs into the show. My principal thought it was a little ambitious for my first show, so he said no, but clearly he was taken with the idea. I knew he would be. Go ahead my dear, do the Australian Les Misérables, set it here and make it a wonderful modern hit. I am sure you can do it. I am a firm believer in having the youth of today being involved in the process, so maybe you could ask them what are their favourite songs and see where you can involve them in the show. Easy! Now, if you would like to ask me a question, and I am sure that there are many, many of you out there who might be stuck on how to make your show relevant or just need a little bit of sparkle added, feel free to write to me at misspatrice@iinet.net.au and I will do my best to answer you. I look forward to hearing from you all. Until next time my dears,
Miss Patrice Online extras!
Afternoon Tea With Miss Patrice is available on PodBean. Scan or visit https://misspatrice.podbean.com 51 Stage Whispers SPARK 2020
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Let’s Put On A School Musical Ten top tips from Maverick Musicals and Plays for your next school musical.
Send the schedule home to parents as soon as you can, with a note asking for their co-operation. Design the rehearsal schedule so that only those required attend Rope others in! specific rehearsals. Rule One - do not try to do it It is a good strategy to call the alone. Beg, plead, cajole or blackmail chorus first and work on the music. others to be involved. Always make rehearsals fun for chorus Your ideal production team should and give them plenty to do. consist of a producer to pull your team together, director, musical Costume director, set designers, sound/lights Supply forms (with the rehearsal tech team, set builder, costume schedules) that require the character/s person and advertising/media whiz. measurements asap and pass on to your costume department as soon as Apply for the rights early rehearsals begin. Aim to have approval from the Parents are more inclined to help representatives of the musical six make the costumes if you send months prior to your first rehearsal. material home that is cut out ready Carefully note the legal obligations in for sewing. the contract. All contracts will have rules about respecting the author’s intentions (sticking to the script), how you can promote the work both online and in print, videography and use of production materials.
Selecting the right school musical Don’t pick a musical solely because you like it. Make sure it can be done well by your students. Commonly five or six girls for each boy will be the audition ratio, so choose material that will give girls something worthwhile to do. Auditioning Select relevant scenes that will give an indication of the student’s ability. Avoid choosing students who have other commitments that will prevent them from attending rehearsals - no matter how good they are.
Encourage cast blogs. Flood the area with posters and try for coverage on local radio. Constantly remind the school of the forthcoming production via your social media pages, websites and newsletters. Offer a prize to the student who sells the most tickets. Performance Always have a ‘preview’ afternoon which is, in fact, another valuable dress rehearsal; this time with an audience. Primary schools are usually happy to see your High School production.
Post performance No matter how amiable you are feeling towards the cast, never attend a cast party if held at the home of a Sets and props student! What you may see there, you Make sure that the cast know the may later be required to explain. positioning of each set and give them Have a thank-you meeting for the an improvised stage set so they are cast and everyone involved, including used to moving around it. front-of-house and back-stage Get actors used to using any hand- workers. This can be a special lunch. props in the show. Improvise if they Have a short break, then start not yet constructed. looking for a suitable show for next year. Advertising Putting on the school musical is a Create an ‘event’ on social media bit like child-birth, and when you get and encourage the cast and crew to it right, you forget the pain and recall like and share - upload fun rehearsal only the joy - and find yourself doing shots, but not too many! it all over again.
Rehearsals Give cast your rehearsal/ performance schedule before starting rehearsals.
Origin Theatrical recommends the highly entertaining podcast Afternoon Tea With Miss Patrice. misspatrice.podbean.com Read the MTI Guide to Licensing a Musical in our new Let’s Put On A Show Guide, published in October. www.stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 54
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Choosing A School Play Or Musical ORiGiN Theatrical origintheatrical.com.au / oztheatrical.com As She Likes It An anthology of short plays from Shakespeare’s canon. These plays offer great roles for women, opportunities for thoughtful scene study, educational exploration and a larger conversation about how these women’s stories resonate in our current era. Full length play. Cast size: 4 to 18w, 1 to 2 either gender.
The Hatmaker’s Wife by Lauren Yee A young woman moves in with her boyfriend expecting domestic bliss. Soon the walls of her new home are talking. They reveal the magical tale of an old hatmaker and his long-suffering wife, who runs away with his favourite hat. This sweet and surreal story bends time and space to redefine family, home, and true love itself. Full length play. Cast: 3F 3M. Jasper In Deadland by Hunter Foster and Ryan Scott Oliver Jasper is lost in the living world. When you’re failing classes, kicked off the swim team, and your family is on the skids, life can feel like it’s going to hell. “A Magnificent Musical! … moved me in such a way that it brought tears to my eyes!” - New York Theatre Guide. Cast: 5M, 4F.
Be More Chill by Joe Iconis and Joe Tracz Jeremy Heere is just an average teenager. That is, until, he finds out about “The Squip” - a tiny supercomputer Hamlet and Zombies! By Will Averill that promises to bring him everything he desires most: a Shakepeare’s original rich verse and intricate detail, date with Christine, an invite to the raddest party of the along with a few contemporary updates, this fun, tongue- year and a chance to survive life in his high school. Cast: in-cheek version of Hamlet is sure to move your heart and 6M, 4F + ensemble. eat your brains. One act play. Cast: 5M, 2F, 13 to 33 either gender.
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Maverick Musicals And Plays maverickmusicals.com.au The Black Hole by Mark Bourgeois and Craig Chambers The new musical by the writers of Creepytown, one of Maverick’s top selling school musicals. When an intergalactic portal is opened between the galaxy Andromeda and the Milky Way, a lowly team of satellite repairmen must battle black holes, aliens and asteroid fields to overcome a menacing threat to planet Earth. When the dreaded Cyborgs enter the portal to claim the Milky Way for themselves, the fate of planet Earth is placed in the hands of the most unlikely of heroes, an engineer named Sparkie - a day-dreamer who loves to gaze longingly into space. Compass Rose by Timothy Tuck. Feisty but self-centred Constance-Rose McAlister escapes from her father’s ship to Easter Island to fulfil her dream of becoming a famous explorer. But the fun of exploration turns sour when she and her new best friend, the island Chief’s son, are captured by the pirates. Fantastic character roles for all of your students. Both now available, with free perusal materials at the new Maverick Musicals website. Music Theatre International, Australasia mtishows.com.au West Side Story - Schools Edition Young lovers are caught between prejudice and warring street gangs in a high school adaptation of one of the most important and powerful musicals of all time. With additional resources for students and directors, West Side Story School Edition makes the iconic musical more accessible and meaningful for high school performers. Read the Director’s Guide libretto for free and sample choreography videos! mtishows.com.au/west-side-story-school-edition
Hans Christian Andersen Stories from The Ugly Duckling to The Little Mermaid have sparked young imaginations for centuries. With music by legendary composer Frank Loesser, Hans Christian Andersen is a musical storybook that brings the timeless tales (and the struggling cobler in Denmark who created them) to life onstage. Based on the 1952 film starring Danny Kaye and features classic songs “I’m Hans Christian Andersen”, “Thumbelina”, “Inchworm”, “The Ugly Duckling” and more! mtishows.com.au/hans-christian-andersen-0 Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Rock Experience A rockin’ show about being comfortable in your own skin - or suit, based on the hit children’s book by Mo Willems. Wilbur and all his fellow naked mole rats in the Tunnel have always been, well...naked. Wondering what other possibilities are out there, Wilbur discovers a love for clothing and style. mtishows.com.au/naked-mole-rat-gets-dressed-therock-experience David Spicer Productions davidspicer.com.au Beach Blanket Tempest by Dennis Watkins and Chris Harriott. “The summer sun is cookin. The guys and chicks good lookin. And school is over for another year…” A surf rock musical inspired by Shakespeare. In the early 1980’s writer Dennis Watkins made the link. “I tried to imagine what would be the most ludicrous update of Shakespeare you can think of and I arrived at the Beach Party movie genre.” Includes a genie and a quiz show finale. davidspicer.com.au/shows/beach-blanket-tempest Cruisin’ The Musical by Rod Christian and Peter Waterman. Set in the late 1950’s. Vinnie Russo is a 17-year-old kid torn between his love for music and his family traditions. His father thinks that Vinnie is wasting his time with rock and roll music instead of concentrating on his Italian heritage and a solid career in the family small goods business. Filled with comedy, pathos and musical numbers that culminate in the Battle of the Bands. davidspicer.com.au/shows/cruisin-musical Both of these quirky school musicals come with CD backing tracks. www.stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 56
Read scripts, listen to music and order free catalogue at: www.davidspicer.com.au david@davidspicer.com (02) 9371 8458
Our Most Popular Musicals
NEW
Cruisin’ The Musical
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New Releases ORiGiN Theatrical and Nick Hern Books origintheatrical.com.au Nick Hern Books Origin Theatrical is the new Australian theatrical agent for British play publisher Nick Hern Books, taking over from Dominie Drama which closed down earlier this year. Nick Hern Books publishes over 1,000 plays and theatre books including works by many of the UK’s leading playwrights and emerging writers. The company represents many classic plays (including Dracula and Great Expectations) and plays in translation, together with a wide range of authoritative theatre books, many of them written by well-known theatre practitioners. Popular Nick Hern Books titles which have been widely staged in Australia in recent times include Tom Wright’s adaptation of Picnic at Hanging Rock, Kindertransport by Diane Samuels and Cock by Mike Bartlett.
SPARK 2020 Music Theatre International Australasia mtishows.com.au Dramatists Play Service, Inc. Music Theatre International, Australasia is now representing more titles from the catalogue Dramatists Play Service, Inc. The catalogue includes performance rights to classics including The Crucible, All My Sons, Death of A Salesman and A View From A Bridge by Arthur Miller; The Laramie Project by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project, and many comedies by the writing trio Jones, Hope & Wooten to name a few. More professional productions, previously administered by overseas agents, will now be licensed from Australia under a new arrangement. mtishows.com.au/dramatists-play-service-mtia
Metro Street Music Theatre International, Australasia has secured the licensing rights for Australasia to the Helpmann Award nominated Metro David Spicer Productions Street by Matthew Lee Robinson. The musical, first davidspicer.com staged in 2009 by the State Theatre of South Australia, was described by Australian Stage as “powerful gutsy Motor-Mouth Loves Suck-Face: An Apocalyptic Musical raw emotion with brilliant music and lyrics”. This youth musical with a Set against the backdrop of modern-day Melbourne, pop rock score by Anthony soon to be university graduate Chris undergoes a lifeCrowley, recently published altering year. The four women in his life - his mother by Currency Press, was Sue, grandmother Jo, girlfriend Amy, and girl next door described by Stage Whispers Kerry - enable him to find his way to what he needs the as “freakishly funny”. most: home. Blasko Tupper, teenage mtishows.com.au/metro-street master of the dark arts, has just kidnapped her entire Disney’s Moana Jr school including MotorThe latest release mouth and Suck-face. These from Broadway Junior two geeks in lust and love is Moana JR. have until midnight to lose This 60-minute their virginity, escape adaptation of the through a cosmic wormhole and save the planet - in the Disney movie is a heartother dimension! Everything goes according to plan until warming coming-ofBlasko’s parents escape their cage and start transforming age story that follows the strong-willed Moana as she hysterical teenagers into mindless zombies. sets sail across the Pacific to save her village and discover davidspicer.com.au/shows/motor-mouth-loves-suckthe truth about her heritage. face-apocalyptic-musical mtishows.com.au/disneys-moana-jr www.stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 58
New Releases Origin Theatrical origintheatrical.com.au Grumpy Old Men Book by Dan Remmes. Music by Neil Berg. Lyrics by Nick Meglin. Full Length Musical, Comedy. Cast: 5M, 4F. Based on the 1993 film, which starred Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau and Ann-Margret, this stage adaptation captures the lovably crotchety characters through twinkling humour, great songs, and the affectionate depiction of a small town that feels like home to everyone. origintheatrical.com.au/work/10971
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David Spicer Productions davidspicer.com.au Uked! The first play-along ukulele musical. By Jane Cafarella. Cast: 2 to 14 roles, plus minimum 2 in band. Karla is dumped on her 50th birthday by her violinplaying boyfriend, Brian. Desperate to belong and prove her musical worth, she buys a ukulele and joins a dating site, learning that love and the ukulele have a lot in common. Audience members can just sit back and enjoy the show, or they can bring their ukulele and sing and play along with Karla. A screen displays all the chords and lyrics for the sing-along songs. davidspicer.com.au/node/17034
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Music Theatre International, Australasia mtishows.com.au
Maverick Musicals and Plays maverickmusicals.com
The Scottsboro Boys Original Broadway Version Cast: 13 roles. The final collaboration by musical theatre greats John Kander and Fred Ebb (Chicago and Cabaret), with a book by David Thompson, The Scottsboro Boys confronts an infamous event in the history of the American criminal justice system. In 1931, nine black men were ripped from a train in Alabama and accused of rape by two white women. Hauled to jail without a shred of actual evidence against them, The Scottsboro Boys were rushed through trial procedures, found guilty and sentenced to death. What occurred in the years following the trials was a harrowing tale of bravery and strength in the face of great adversity. mtishows.com.au/the-scottsboro-boys
Only Children By Marlene F Magee Cast: 5 to 20 roles. Tells the true story of the drowning of three children at a beach picnic in the 1950’s. As one of the leaders, now an elderly lady, relives the event, a story of heroism, tragedy and regret is told. This dramatic ensemble piece is designed for a small or large cast and may be performed by teenagers or adults. It is non-naturalistic in style, utilising monologues and physical theatre. Includes screen images from newspaper articles, witness statements and the memoir of one of the leaders on the picnic. maverickmusicals.com/play/only-children
Performance Accompaniment Recording (PAR) now available For organisations that don’t have a live pit orchestra, MTI’s Performance Accompaniment Recordings provide instrumental tracks for rehearsals and performances that match your show’s score note-for-note. Also available are cast and crew rehearsal tracks for organisations that have an orchestra. Shows range from Annie to West Side Story. See the full list at: mtishows.com.au www.stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 60
For more information, visit 365tix.com.au manager@365tix.com.au or call 0400 161 125 (07) 3266 9885
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Ticketing 365 Days A Year With 365tix With decades of first-hand experience in the circus, dance and other performing arts, 365tix has a family friendly approach to ticketing. True to the company’s name, 365tix is staffed 12 hours a day, 365 days a year - including Christmas Day. The company prides itself on speedy service to make sure every experience is fun and memorable for the audience. Company directors John and Angela Le Mare have enjoyed long standing ties to the worldwide circus community. The Manager, Eloise O’Toole, enjoys taking a hands-on approach, routinely visiting 365tix shows to record a popular series of YouTube videos that showcase the people
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behind the spectacle. From contortionists to aerialists, dancers to tumblers, 365tix knows it’s the people that make each performance special audience included. The company has grown organically over the last 14 years in response to the needs of the industry. Manager Eloise O’Toole says 365tix is operated by people who love the arts. “We bring technology and arts together. We are continuously giving back to the arts and supporting the growth of smaller companies through our marketing reach and easy-to-use selling platform.”
She adds that whilst many other names in ticketing are just ticketing software operated by the user, 365tix has real people working every day. “Show producers can be reassured that there will always be someone here to assist with any technical or ticketing issue. We take care of those problems quickly.” Like many of the newer, agile ecommerce companies, 365tix uses technology to save money on operating costs. Working on the internet allows for far longer hours and more flexible work conditions than the old-fashioned high street offices with a 9-5 workforce. Ticket buying peak times are evenings and weekends and so 365tix responds to that with real time customer support. “365tix is excited to be operating at a time of commercial disruption. This is the perfect time to be using a new customer-friendly business model. The big companies may go off -shore and have restricted trading hours but 365tix is one Australian company which is setting the bar higher than that.” Fast, friendly and professional, 365tix truly understands the needs of both artist and audience.
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Sound & Light
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Multi-award-winning Nick Schlieper talks to Martin Portus about the rigour and magic of lighting our landmark operas, plays and dance works for four decades.
STC’s Saint Joan (2018). Photo: Brett Boardman.
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Nineteen-year-old Nick Schlieper first plugged into his craft alone backstage at Doris Fitton’s old Independent Theatre in North Sydney in 1977. It was a time in Australian theatre when the lighting guy was usually one of the mechs. Nick was the Independent’s resident stage manager; restless, he began experimenting every night during the show by shifting around the lights. Actors learnt to just work around it. Schlieper has been playing with light ever since, earning - and demanding - a respect for the precision, invention and storytelling role of his craft, and his very distinctive signature in lights. It’s no surprise that painters are his first inspiration - think Turner and Edward Hopper and Nick’s own late brother. Michael Schlieper, Nick’s senior by 11 years, would work on his canvases through the night at the family home in Chatswood. Every morning, getting ready for school, Nick would observe the added layers, the depths appearing from new light and colours. “I think I learnt most about lighting design and light from that exposure, watching him painting and then, growing up, talking to him about it, and watching his style change radically over a few decades,” says Nick. “He started out as a wildly abstract painter, went through a very figurative, so-called Teutonic, social commentary period and then ended up painting landscapes but with a great facility for technique, which I learnt from him.” Nick’s start in stage management also added a practical insight into the logistics of theatre - and the required diplomacy. He was soon responsible for casts and crews far older than he, calling shows, later operas, with the big companies in Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide. Finally as a production manager, young Schlieper always had work …until, that is, he put out his shingle as a freelance lighting designer. The jobs were few but, somehow, he scored the lighting gig on the STC’s Summer of the Seventh Doll and
Away, both of which went to New York in 1988. He remembers Roger Kemp’s three model houses signifying the three families intersecting in Away. “It was played in tight areas and was the first time I had to create a naturalistic pool of light in an abstracted stylised space yet evoking a sense of place. And I approached it from an incredibly simple point of view - of standing under a light bulb, but expanded.” German director Harald Clemen commissioned Nick to light a show at the prestigious Schillertheater/ Berlin just before the Wall came down,
angles, very cold light, all things very unfashionable then.” Home he may be, but Nick was also staggered at the absence in Germany of expressive techniques in lighting design. Images of German theatre may look stunning, but the lighting was fixed. The idea of leading the audience’s eye, lighting the actor and expanding on the emotion was becoming essential to Nick’s story-telling toolkit back in Australia but, then at least, it was foreign in Germany. “Germans called it dramaturgical lighting, and actors even said to me that they resented me doing their job
Bangarra’s Bennelong (2017). Photo: Daniel Boud.
which was, he says, like “dancing on a volcano “ with the arts integral to everyone’s fervent conversation, and part of the arsenal between East and West. “And at the theatres I suddenly understood where my aesthetic had come from - it was like coming home,” says Nick, whose family immigrated from Germany. “In Australia I was jokingly criticised for my work being very Teutonic, very stark, without much colour. I spent a lot of time making people look right, not nice - which is not the same thing. I do use very steep
for them. It was best to do it under fluoros and with the house lights on! It was a Brechtian hangover.” Times have changed. Nick went on to work regularly across Germany, and notably at the Salzburg Festival: he’s just returned from there, lighting a brilliantly urbane contemporary version of Médée. For more than a decade he’s taught lighting design in Munich and he went on to see WAAPA in Perth establish Australia’s one major lighting course. But ‘dramaturgical’ remains his best descriptor. He rejects all jobs (Continued on page 67) www.stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 66
“We always made sure that after fabulous visuals we came back to a permeable box with no scenery in it, just lots of light and that light in those interludes, even more than usual, with a focus all about the singers.” With a set that filled 38 shipping containers (an average opera may fill three) and a lighting rig with a thousand lamps, this was the biggest theatre show ever staged in the country. Oddly for the celebrated designers, the job offers then dried up. “You’re so easily pigeon-holed by this industry. I think we were branded as, they only do huge now!” Nick however did join another trusted collaborator, director Simon Phillips, in 2006 to create the stage Still, five years out, he joined the version of the film hit, Priscilla, Queen (Continued from page 66) creative team, all of them leaving of the Desert. unless he’s included from the start in behind their phones and locking “I’m not drawn to musicals but I that first collaborative planning with themselves away in a Blue Mountains was keen to get over my prejudice the director and other designers. He retreat. that they’re all flash and giggle and reads the script or score over and over “But at the end of that week at not much craft.” again and, he says, he eschews tricks “Camp Wagner”, we’d only got as far With a colour palette beginning and focuses his lights only on as the first five minutes of the first with hot pink, he was also repainting advancing the meaning of the work. opera, and most of that was the his reputation as a master of stark “We start with that simple prelude! white light. Nick’s starting point with question - why are we doing this “Still, all that time we were Priscilla was that every scene have the work? It’s all the more vital a question addressing the whole framework with sparkle, the heightened colours, as when it’s a classic. I’ve done five the same question - why are we doing though viewed through the lens of a productions of Macbeth; if you don’t this work yet again and why in drag show - just like back then at the ask why you’re doing it here at this Adelaide?” famed Imperial Hotel in Newtown, time and place, then they’d all look This landmark Ring had massive, Sydney. He admits that the lighting the same. And once you answer that strikingly lit set pieces, but here again took a leap elsewhere, especially with question, you find the environment in for the lighting designer the priority the introduction of Brian Thomson’s which you’ll do it.” was story-telling, of not losing sight of magically inventive bus and a huge All this was well tested when Nick the human stories over time. and his frequent collaborators, director Elke Neidhardt, and set and Médée (2019). costume designers Michael Scott Photo: Thomas Aurin. Mitchell and Stephen Curtis, started planning what was Australia’s first full production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle. It was premiered by the modest sized State Opera Company of SA in 2004, but years earlier Nick was getting his head around a score lasting 16 and a half hours. And it was all the harder, given his block about Wagner, one he suggests is common in many Germans. “It just makes me very uncomfortable, to the base of my spine, since it’s so laden with his vile thoughts…. so learning what I find fairly repugnant music was a challenge.” Nick Schlieper at the lighting desk for Love Never Dies (2012). Photo: Jeff Busby.
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tech budget. And Nick finished up with a lighting plot of 2,500 cues. The arc of Nick Schlieper’s career has seen an ever-growing respect from audiences, critics and industry colleagues - for the craft of a lighting designer, and an astonishing shift in the technology at their fingertips. “I’ve seen manually operated desks replaced by computer boards; football -sized globes replaced by ones golfball -sized; and colour temperature and heat emissions have changed so much we can have an expanded palette of colour gels. And importantly we can now have a whiter, less yellow light. “At first with computers doing a lighting fade we missed the skill of a good operator, but now these have a control which is incredibly sensitive. You can virtually move a host of lights throughout a show without the audience being aware of what you’re doing.” A negative for Nick is LED technology. He argues it reduces the colour ring spectrum to just 70%; with the missing 30% so critical because that’s the light most sympathetic to
MTC’s North By Northwest (2016). Photo: Jeff Busby.
skin tones, to lighting the actors and telling the story. It didn’t stop him, however, employing a huge back wall of white light in the STC’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. The lighting bank initially simmered and then blasted direct into the audience, suggesting the fireworks - and raw emotions - that climaxed at the end of the play.
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Nick has the perfect collaborator in STC artistic director Kip Williams, whose own stage signature often strips everything to an empty space, often with a revolve, defined with little set or clutter, and so often dramatised by cross lighting. Their recent credits also include (Continued on page 69)
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(Continued from page 68)
Chinamerica, with its complex storytelling across countries and decades; the epic dramatisation of Ruth Park’s Harp in the South; Brecht’s Arturo Uri with Hugo Weaving; White’s ghoulishly vaudevillian A Cheery Soul; and Shaw’s St Joan. He just finished lighting Simon Phillips’ STC production of Stoppard’s The Real Thing. He remains a big fan of white light and cross-lighting, and his reasoning, of course, comes back to what’s true to the performers. “It solves the age-old problem of people standing next to each other talking as we do in real life, by lighting along the axis they’re speaking to each other. “And it gives such a sculptural impact to dancers. It makes bodies look fantastic and faces so much more interesting and more present.” Nick has lit six notable shows by Bangarra. With Patyegarang and the most recent, Bennelong, he’s lit Stephen Page’s significant shift to a dance theatre storytelling involving
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Ring (2004).
Nick Schlieper spoke to Martin Portus for a State Library of NSW oral history project on leaders in the performing arts; the full interview is now available on amplify.gov.au points of view both indigenous and colonial. “In terms of the practical, it’s about being very careful about colour and choosing the optimum angle for dancers … but with the episodic story of Bennelong I also had to be wary about leaving the audience with a clear dramatic structure.”
He’s getting over being what he describes as “the whitest thing possible in that context, yes Aryan even! “It’s a very useful reminder - as if it’s needed - of how strongly you can feel being the ‘other’, and useful to have the boot on the other foot.”
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triangle-tape technique, to secure and surround a lavalier capsule. SPARK 2020 Stashing The Pack For each mini microphone, a wireless transmitter (bodypack) will be required. It’s easy to imagine simply popping it under some clothing, but steps need to be taken to ensure both the integrity of the wireless signal, and also the longevity of the wireless transmitter. Sweat from an actor’s skin is the number one enemy of sensitive electronics, so care must be taken to avoid direct skin contact. A protective neoprene pouch is often used to safely strap a pack to the waist area. Sometimes an extra layer of protection via a latex sheath is used if the actor is “a sweater”. Moisture seeping into the Artie Jones from Factory Sound shares his tips electronics of a bodypack will decrease for schools and amateur theatre companies on the functional lifetime and affect the discreet and crackle free use of microphones. wireless integrity. Antennas must be clear of any An incredible amount of research, sound will be great, unless some metals to avoid ‘detuning’ the wireless design and engineering goes into careful steps are followed signal and ensure they are allowed to producing every microphone you can Securing a miniature lavalier sit in their ‘straight’ position, without see (and those you can’t see) in use on microphone right at the hairline, at the an unnatural bend. the stage and in studios around the top of the actor’s forehead, is a great world. place to hide the microphone. It also Before Moving To Miniatures This won’t guarantee perfect picks up a very natural sound from the Both the “Primary” and performance every time. There are singer, without overloading the capsule “Secondary” microphones listed above steps you can take to improve via a ‘proximity effect’ (the more are not without their charm and performance - or at the very least, pronounced bottom end sound which benefits. While a handheld microphone prevent audible interference or physical you may get from a handheld mic has the obvious drawback of taking a problems that arise from misuse. when it is closest to the source). performer’s arm away, it does offer the Other places include elsewhere most flexibility for a powerful singer. Shrinking Graduation around the hairline, such as above the We can all visualise the action of a In Primary School performances, ear. Underneath clothing is an option singer being able to control how far lead roles often pass a handheld for some actors and costumes, but the away from their mouth the wireless microphone to each other horrible sound of clothing rustle on a microphone capsule sits, depending on when there is a line to deliver or a song microphone capsule (which can sound how hard they’re belting out a note. to sing, while many Secondary School like wireless microphone interference) The headset solution turns fixed productions will feature headset may then arise. distance into a feature, by ensuring the microphones. microphone capsule is in exactly the More sophisticated productions will Tale Of The Tape same place for the entire performance. ‘feature’ microphones totally hidden Essential in the theatre audio toolkit In effect, the microphone moves with a from the audience, but what is the best is tape, and lots of it. Gaffer Tape (the performer’s mouth, so every time they way to do this? 510-matte variety), Hypoallergenic turn their head for a stage direction or surgical tape, Lav tape, and specially choreography, the microphone capsule Invisible, Not Impossible prepared Undercovers and Stickies are is right there ready to capture the Moving to miniature microphones, all useful in making sure the capsule sound without missing a beat. often called lavalier microphones, is a stays put, and the actor is comfortable. As always, if wireless microphones step in the invisibility direction, but this Should a microphone need placing are causing more headaches than you usually comes at a cost. A highunder clothing, the UNDERCOVER can handle, get in touch with an RF performance microphone capsule range of adhesives makes sure that the specialist to make sure you get looked smaller than your pinky fingernail is not apparel does not rub against the after. only often priced higher than the other capsule. In an emergency, try the options, but there is no guarantee the factorysound.com
Keeping Mics Hidden
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Taking Charge Artie Jones from Factory Sound estimates that more than a quarter of a million disposable batteries could end up in landfill after being used in productions each year in Australia. He says there is a better alternative. Batteries, maths and landfill When it comes to the best way to power your wireless systems - alkaline battery or rechargeable - there are many factors to consider. The saying “Less is More” is the key. A wireless microphone system that’s used for three performances, then put back in the cupboard until next year, equates to fewer performances, but a greater risk of battery leakage inside the wireless transmitter. The risk of battery leakage from a nickel metal hydride (NiMH) rechargeable battery, however, is negligible, even if left inside a device for a prolonged period. How much landfill is acceptable? Let’s imagine a typical user of wireless microphones - the annual school production. A small-tomedium sized production, with a handful of shows and a couple of tech rehearsals, could consume 140 batteries for a production. There are around 8000 schools in Australia. If just 15% of these attempt an annual production, 168,000 batteries would be used. Add to that a few end-of-year concerts, and it would be a very conservative estimate of 250,000 batteries heading to landfill annually. This figure doesn’t include amateur theatre, professional
productions, theatre restaurants, nor the thousands of bands that use the same wireless systems and in-earmonitoring systems. Brand-specific rechargeable batteries If you are the person responsible for wireless microphones, the very first thing you’ll notice is how quickly alkaline (single use) AA batteries disappear. It might be because the AA batteries have been ‘borrowed’ by students and co-workers, as they fit a variety of other devices. Generic rechargeable AA batteries offer the ‘double-whammy’ of not only being desirable to the borrower, they also may not deliver the (approximately) 1.2V per cell consistently throughout the charged state. Once your battery level drops, although the wireless will remain on, the actual RF performance - the quality of the wireless transmission will suffer greatly, leading to dropouts and possible interference. The safety net and convenience factor With single-use alkaline batteries giving us a landfill concern, and generic rechargeable batteries possibly not performing ‘up to scratch’ , there are great reasons to choose a wireless-specific rechargeable (such as BA2015 for Sennheiser, or SB900A for Shure).
For all your wireless microphone system needs (including spare batteries) get in touch with the friendly staff at Factory Sound at factorysound.com or on 1800 816 244.
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If you load your BA2015 into the Sennheiser bodypack, then drop it into the L2015 charger after the gig, it simply will not over-charge. Similarly, if you put the bodypack into the charger without the correct BA2015 battery in place, it won’t charge. The safety nets are in place to ensure there is no danger of damage. With a lifecycle of around 1000 discharge / charge cycles, using the correct NiMH rechargeable battery pack in the wireless transmitter, the battery is highly likely to last for the same number of performances as the wireless itself. Because they’re a unique shape, they are unlikely to be borrowed as well. Smart RF (wireless) technicians keep a spare rechargeable battery for each wireless device, and they will also find a way to document the life of each battery. Get ready to buy another one after around 800 charges. If all theatres and performance venues around the world approach battery usage the same way, imagine how much less landfill we would contribute each and every year.
Microphones In The Pit
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Royal Opera House Covent Gardens Photo: Sim Canetty-Clarke.
Artie Jones from Factory Sound dives into the orchestra pit to help ensure your magnificent musicians can be heard with clarity.
The ‘spot’ microphones that work best are usually a small diaphragm ‘pencil’ condenser mic. Use one of It’s not just about the audience the mixing engineer to blend the these for each of the sections that From a full 2,000 seat theatre, music with the cast’s wireless may need a little extra tickle of right back to a small school microphones. Once this is blended volume to be heard when the whips production held in the multipurpose nicely, it’s all sent out of the speakers are really cracking - like the smaller hall, it’s not ‘just’ the audience who for the audience, which has the effect hand percussion, or flutes. needs to hear the right balance of of the sound ‘making sense’ all music and singing. In fact, the coming out of the same place (even if Limitations of the mixing console performers on stage are the first ones the audience doesn’t realise it’s Unless you’re involved with a big who need to get a clear feed of the happening). Broadway show, with 180+ channels music, to ensure pitch and timing of worth of microphones and a their singing is perfect. Getting the right balance sophisticated mixing system, there will When the music is provided by Having a great conductor is the be a point where you’ve reached the (gasp) a CD or laptop, it’s even more best way to ensure a nice balance maximum number of microphone important to have a speaker on the between all the instruments. channels available on the mixing side of stage, pointing at the However, if you’re doing West Side console. performers. This ‘foldback’ speaker Story, it’s hard for the percussionists For smaller shows, it may be 5 or 6 makes it much easier for the singers playing finger cymbals, small maracas wireless packs, 2 or 3 hanging to have the best chance of singing in and claves to keep up with the microphones for the stage, a couple time, and in pitch. Waiting for the volume generated from seven brass of ‘floor’ microphones for the stage sound to travel from the Front of and the ‘orchestra pair’ plus 3 spot players. Equally, the flute may House (audience) speakers, back to struggle to heard over the 12 string microphones for your musicians. Very the stage can be problematic. players. quickly, that has already added up to 16 channels (which is the size of a This is where ‘spot’ microphones Microphones for the band in combination with ‘orchestra’ small digital mixing console). Having actual musicians perform microphones become important. the score is easier than playback in Setting up a pair of microphones We’ll take a closer look at different many ways, but it’s not without its (large-diaphragm condenser mics microphones for specific instruments, own set of concerns. work very well for this application) to along with hanging and floor Depending on where the record the overall sound of the microphones for stage in the next musicians are positioned, there may orchestra are essential. This will allow edition of Tech Tips. be no need for the abovementioned As always, get in touch with a ‘feed’ to the foldback monitor on ‘foldback speaker’, as playback is now stage (if needed), and also a feed to microphone specialists if you need generated acoustically, with no CD or the backstage/green room area. more immediate information. laptop involved. Factory Sound have the skills and expertise to help guide your At the very least though, a couple next microphone purchase. Call 1800 816 244 or visit of microphones picking up the ‘overall’ sound of the orchestra allows factorysound.com www.stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 74
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Performing Arts In Education Sound and light specialists Lifelike Atmospheres asked teachers and students for their reasons why putting on a show is such a valuable experience for schools. The only thing that is constant in our modern world is change. Developing the capacity in students to engage with and thrive in this environment is the challenge for modern education. One of the key skills required for success is creativity. The Arts in schools is more than just producing a show, performance or backdrop. The final production is not the only real benefit for the school, teachers or students. More important is the journey - the process of bringing students, teachers and the general community to create, develop and explore together. It’s about the complete experience, from the setup, to producing the show, the sensations the audience receive and most importantly the learning the student gains from being a part of the show. Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) works to engage, inspire and enrich student learning through stimulating the imagination and encouraging every student to explore their creative mind. It is through the
SPARK 2020 Shayna and Sunny, former students at Rose Bay Secondary College, offer their own insights. “For most of you...this musical is nothing more than a production put on by a couple of school kids and their teachers. But for us, (this) musical meant that we could all get together and make friends we’d never normally make, sing things we’d never normally sing, and wear things we’d never normally wear. This musical has bought together a bunch of incredibly talented, supportive and fun people into a close family, where we’ve built incredible friendships and unforgettable memories. To our teachers, you guys gave us the opportunity to make school so much more than just homework and assignments, and for that, we’re all eternally grateful.”
study of Visual Arts, Photography, Music and Drama that students can learn to express themselves in this ever-changing world. Not only do The Arts foster creativity and imagination, they also develop key skills in critical thinking, ethics, Information and Communication Technology, intercultural understanding, and literacy. Being a part of a show or production, no matter the type of role you play or tasks you do, engages the whole being and provides experiences working collaboratively with others. Thanks to Alysha McCann and Megan Lasting relationships and strong Marshall, teachers at Francis bonds with others are created that Greenway High School, for their may never have blossomed prior to contribution to this article. this journey. Students explore their own unique art of self-expression and emotions, setting a firm foundation for life as they move into adulthood. Keeping this passion alive beyond school is just as important to one’s continuous growth in self-expression as it is now as students. Star Struck.
LifeLike Atmospheres is an industry leader for sound, lighting and audio visual solutions. lifelike.com.au www.stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 76
Going Wireless Using a hard wired intercom system was proving one big headache for students and production staff at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts at ECU.
WAAPA is recognised nationally and internationally for the quality of its graduates. It provides the most comprehensive range of performing arts training in Australia. WAAPA’s world-class staff, working in state-ofthe-art performance and teaching facilities, provide rigorous and specialised training of the highest order. Over the course of its academic year, WAAPA stages around 25 key productions of musicals, plays, dance, jazz and classical concerts. With such a rigorous production schedule, having a reliable communications infrastructure is paramount in the successful delivery of each show.
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Speaking with Tim Landauer, Venue Services Coordinator of WAAPA, he explained a few of the challenges that WAAPA faced before he found a new wireless system, installed by Riedel Communications. “The best approach in teaching is with clear concise communication. However, after using the old hardwired system for production communication between technical crew such as lighting, sound, stage managers and mechanists, we saw around 50 hours of downtime annually.” Maintenance delays and fault finding hampered WAAPA’s ability to
put on modern productions and the downtime was amplified in all the key departments, leading to hundreds of ineffective student hours as staff triaged the breakdowns in communication. “It was obvious our systems were at the end of their useful life in terms of supporting multiple productions. This left us with the choice of investing in reliable, state of the art technology or ultimately a reduction
in production capability, which was simply not an option,” said Tim. In May 2018 WAAPA commenced installation of a Riedel Bolero Wireless System into their venues. The modular system has been used both on and off campus for a major musical production, highlighting several benefits of the portable wireless system, including: Using a modular and integrated design allows for fast setup times and cost efficiency No extra hardware is required, only minimal configuration changes No risk of cable entanglement with machinery - such as fly lines and large moving trucks Safe and reliable communication for stopping elements and calling out hazards. “Riedel Systems are Industry standard in the broadcast and theatre production/event workspace meaning that our production students receive training on technology they will use in the real world. Riedel can also provide additional equipment when required on a rental basis which keeps our total cost of ownership down,” Tim added. Publication and recording management is integrated with digital
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rights management and IP control allowing a neatly edited face to the world backed by well managed campus-wide infrastructure. Prior to the upgrades WAAPA hired two discreet systems annually, at a substantial cost for the equipment, whilst having to pay the associated support costs on top. With Riedel, WAAPA receives convenient support in a local time zone after setup, training and install. “It is not impossible to foresee the end of analogue technology’s general use for this purpose within the industry,” explained Tim. “We also found that Riedel’s experience in major performing arts venues, theatres and universities across Australia was invaluable in helping us optimise the system design.”
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Scenic Studios Melbourne-based company Scenic Studios has been trading for over 40 years, specialising in theatrical painting of scenic backdrops and theatre scenery, offering the highest level of craftsmanship. The company also manufactures scenic paints and hires scenic backdrops and drapes. Scenic Studios is currently painting backdrops and scenery for the Australian Ballet’s production of Happy Prince. The company enjoyed undertaking scenic painting earlier this year on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and last year for School Of Rock. Their scenic hire range includes over 200 professionally painted backdrops which give depth to the scene and allow for lighting tricks and ambience. The standardised size (12m x 6m) fits most theatres and school auditoriums. Many different themes are available, from traditional productions such as Oliver!, The Lion King, Seussical and Beauty And The Beast to ballrooms, circuses, forests and gardens. The company also has sequin drapes, slash curtains, lame curtains and crush velvet drapes to give your theatre production that something extra. To help create your own backdrop, the company has 28 colours to choose from. These include special durable paints such as texture, canvas / surface primers and stage black. The company ships paints and backdrops Australia wide.
www.scenicstudios.com.au
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Masks & Puppets Plus
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Scroll through the menu on the company’s website to view its large range. Prices are available on application. Tessa Wallis is an experienced designer and mask maker. She has been supplying performance masks to theatre companies and schools for drama in education for many years. Her comfortable, flexible masks are individually hand crafted and hand painted, using quality materials. They are made to order and/or custom built to suit particular performances.
www.masksandpuppets.com.au
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Training
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TAFE Queensland: A Community Of Practice
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TAFE Queensland has proudly partnered with the University of Canberra to add a new drama and production major to its Bachelor of Acting and Performance (304JA.2) degree. With the addition of the new major, TAFE Queensland now offers acting and performance students two comprehensive streams of study, both on stage and behind stage, over a three year performing arts program. While the existing advanced acting major trains actors and performers of the future, the new drama and production stream will prepare the next generation of theatre practitioners, all under the guide of TAFE Queensland’s team of unique and expert staff. They also offer a Diploma of Screen and Media - Performance (CUA51015), and a Certificate III in Community Dance, Theatre and Events - Acting (CUA30213), offered as part of TAFE in Schools.
This initiative will deepen the connection between TAFE Queensland’s training, drama teachers and students in the community, helping high school students to understand and engage with acting and the 21st century theatre experience. Taught by award-winning industry professionals, TAFE Queensland’s performing arts program elevates artists’ creative practice through fundamental skills training and specialist knowledge. Graduates of TAFE Queensland’s performing arts program have gone on to work as actors, performers, theatre makers and arts facilitators, within the creative industries. Central to the success of TAFE Queensland Acting is the
Photo: Aidan Rowlingson.
relationship the program maintains with graduates. Staff and alumni come together to collaborate, utilise rehearsal space, access staff mentorship and use the campus theatre to develop and perform selfdevised work. The combination of broad and focused training and education, in conjunction with their ongoing graduate student support, creates a deep and passionate community of practice that is unique to TAFE Queensland Acting. Students are not simply enrolling into an arts program, they’re enrolling into an extended support network to help them get to where they want to go well into the future.
Photo: Warrick Fraser.
To kick-start your career in acting and performance, visit tafeqld.edu.au or call 1300 308 233. www.stagewhispers.com.au Stage Whispers 82
Empowering Creativity At APGS
Current Performing Arts electives offered by APGS include:
APGS is an innovative school for students with a passion for the creative and performing arts. The school is open to students of artistic ability, and dedicated to nurturing talent and encouraging the highest quality in performance and academic excellence. The school (in the Sydney suburb of Glebe) caters for young people who, in addition to their academic studies, want to focus on Music, Drama, Dance and/or Visual Arts. Students complete the NSW curriculum and work towards their HSC while participating in a unique Performing Arts program lead by industry experts for part of the week. In 2019, student Lola Rose Bond received Dux of the Year and won a $30,000 scholarship to study a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Acting) at the Queensland University of Technology. The scholarship capped off a busy HSC year. She completed Four Unit English, acting and performance roles, and her work was selected in ARTEXPRESS, the annual HSC Visual Arts exhibition.
Her Year 12 study included a creative agenda of dance, drama and art alongside advanced English. ‘’A lot of people thought I was crazy for doing four major works, but I absolutely loved it,’’ Ms Bond told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Music: digital music composition and arranging, solo/duo vocal skills and performance, percussion company, vocal ensemble performance, ear training and arranging, music ensemble, senior music company. Dance: jazz, hip-hop, musical theatre, self-devised choreography, contemporary ballet, acro, contemporary. Drama: junior drama company, improvisation, speech, scripts and scene work, senior drama company, musical theatre. Visual Arts: wire art jewellery, film making, digital comics, body of
For more details, to book a tour, or for enrolment info visit apgs.nsw.edu.au
Lola Rose Bond’s artwork Chimeras, selected for the 2020 ARTEXPRESS exhibition, highlights the conflict between self identity and public image. In addition to representations of her models’ personalities, her own image also forms part of this work (3rd and 4th from left). artgallery.nsw.gov.au/insideartexpress/2020/lola+rose_bond
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Online extras!
Hear from students how studying at APGS empowers their creativity https://youtu.be/GSNQUWcFlws
LET’S PUT ON A SHOW! ALL THE RESOURCES YOU NEED TO STAGE YOUR NEXT PRODUCTION stagewhispers.com.au/StageResources
2020 COURSE GUIDE READ OUR COMPREHENSIVE ONLINE TRAINING GUIDE stagewhispers.com.au/training
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Sophia launched her EP with a live show at the Royal Oak SPARK 2020 Balmain with many APGS students in attendance. “Replay” instantly shot to number 1 on the country music charts and reached number 3 across all genres on iTunes. “Replay” climbed the charts and was featured on the KIX country radio Hottest 20 chart at number 16; it reached number 10 on the Australian Independent Record Labels Association 100% Independent Singles Chart. Sophia released a music video for “Replay” and performed at Tamworth Country Music Festival and the Sydney Royal Easter Show. All of this coincided with the start of Sophia’s final year of high school, as she was entering Year Sophia Chesworth released a song that went to the top of the 12 and focusing on achieving country music charts whilst still at High School. She attends the academically in her HSC. Australian Performing Arts Grammar School (APGS), which allows When asked about balancing students to study and chase a creative career. academics and her dream of making it big as a musician, Sophia said, “The Sophia moved to the inner-city APGS has several showcases support I’ve been given has enabled Performing Arts school in Sydney for throughout the year in venues me to pursue opportunities for my her senior studies because she wanted ranging from the school’s own hall to own music and the school has helped to be supported to pursue her the Seymour Centre. In Sophia’s first me maintain the same academic passions. Showcase after she joined APGS she grades that I’ve been getting, which is “I have to say my favorite thing sang an incredible country pop song really important to me.” about APGS is how supportive it is,” that she had written and blew APGS is a unique school where just say Sophia. everyone away with her incredible over a hundred students with At APGS Sophia is surrounded by voice and catchy lyrics. passions in the arts come to extend peers with similar creative goals and a Later that year Sophia worked themselves and be around people teaching staff that understands hard outside of school developing her who have the same drive. At APGS creative learners. At APGS the EP. The song she performed at that Sophia is surrounded by students who academic curriculum is fitted into the showcase, “Replay”, was the title share the same passion that she does, first four days of the week and track of her EP as well as the first but for others at the school their students enjoy a full day of single she released. passion might lie in musical theatre, Performing Arts on Fridays. On the day the song was released acting, film making, drumming or In these specialist classes students on iTunes and Spotify there was a lot dancing instead of singing. The are led by industry professionals. of excitement at APGS. Sophia arrived students at APGS come together to Sophia is working towards her HSC to her classmates singing her song in celebrate their creativity. in subjects she loves; she is also the halls and the school celebrated 2020 enrolments are now extending her skills and talents with the launch with an assembly where open. For information call people in music industry and making Sophia performed the song with (02) 9518 5123 or visit valuable contacts in this close-knit everyone singing along with her. community. www.apgs.nsw.edu.au
High School Student’s Hit Song
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