ACTING PERFORMANCES SYDNEY ACTORS SCHOOL IS PROUD TO PRESENT PAST STUDENT WORK AND ACTING PERFORMANCES. ALL STUDENTS HAVE ATTACKED EACH PERFORMANCE WITH DETERMINATION AND CURIOSITY – RELISHING THE OPPORTUNITIES OFFERED TO THEM AT SYDNEY ACTORS SCHOOL. 2020 SEMESTER 3 ENSEMBLE THEATRE PERFORMANCES The Irresistible Written by Adriane Daff, Zoe Pepper and Tim Watt Directed by Kim Hardwick Performed by Gabrielle Bowen, Esmee De la Rambelje, Michael Giglio, Tammy Hearder, Ariane Moreira de Souza, Emily Smith, Anthony Speed & Robert Wells “The Irresistible is a reckless, intoxicating love letter to the subconscious; an exploration of the invisible and insidious nature of unconscious bias. Told through multiple parallel narratives that intersect through mystery and sci-fi. Locations and time bleed into one another with dream-like fluidity and performers transition from one character to the next, shapeshifting at breakneck-speed. Deep in the gloom a phone rings. She takes the call. The voice on the line slips beneath her skin and curls its fingers around his stomach. You can’t see it, you can’t touch it, you can barely feel it. You can’t hold on tight enough. These people, these sisters and lovers and pilots are joined deep beneath the surface, below knowledge, down where desire and depravity lie. The line goes dead and they catch a glimpse of what’s to come, as it retreats back into the fog.” 2019 SEMESTER 4 SHORT FILM PROJECT WHO BROUGHT THE DEVIL A documentary crew follow a group of Satanists as they attempt to summon the devil on the, long awaited, 6th June, 2006 (6/6/6). This short film was part of the Second Years’ Pitch Project. Each student pitches an idea for a project in front of the class and a panel of tutors. The ideas ranged from short films, to pilot episodes, to a music video. This project was pitched by Emil Alldén, who co-wrote and co-directed this film. Once a project is selected, the students all adopt various production roles. The film is produced, filmed and, of course, acted by the students. This was their fourth and final short film project during their two years, so they were well equipped with the skills and resources to bring Emil’s vision to life. This experience provided even more opportunities to really sink their teeth into the filmmaking process, covering all aspects of pre-production, running a set, and post-production. They also had a chance to learn more about making a mockumentary, and how that differs from some of the more dramatic work they had produced in the past. A stand out piece of work that is a testament to the skillset of both the students and tutors, and the course itself. ENSEMBLE THEATRE PERFORMANCES THE LARAMIE PROJECT The Laramie Project” is set in and around Laramie, Wyoming, in the aftermath of the gay hate murder of 21-year-old Matthew Shepard. Composed from over 200 interviews conducted by Tectonic Theatre Company with members of Laramie this touching verbatim theatre work investigates homophobia in America at the turn of the century. SEMESTER 3 SHORT FILM PROJECTS ONE NIGHT ONLY Four friends head off to a concert for their favourite singer, David Smith. Will they make it backstage to get an autograph? This is the second film made after the screenwriting course. This film was voted in by the students and written by Nathan Niguidula. After a week of shooting in one location for ‘You Can Always Call’, ‘One Night Only’ took the students to four different locations, including the Oxford Art Factory to kick off their shoot. They rented out the venue, sourced extras and a band, wrote songs and had a photoshoot, all to create the image of ‘David Smith’ and his concert. The students were given the space and freedom to be experimental in all areas, from new styles of cinematography, to acting in a stylised comedy. This was one of the most challenging and demanding journeys the students embarked on, and they were very fortunate to have excellent guidance from their tutor, Liam Moses. YOU CAN ALWAYS CALL A young girl tries to come to terms with her sister’s going away for university, and what being left behind will mean for her. This film is the result of a screenwriting course with CJ Johnson, which begins the acting students’ second year. The students are guided through the art of screenwriting, and given the tools to write their own short film. Each student writes a script, and throughout the process they can read their script out to the class and receive feedback. Once all the scripts are finalised and read out to the class, the students vote for the scripts they want to make. This script was written by Aysha Galloway, and was picked to film. Students also submit their choices for which role on set they would like. The tutors pick the film and the crew, and then pre production begins. This film was shot at one location over three days. It was a more intimate, emotional film than the students had shot before, and required a different sort of attention and focus at times. A very enjoyable experience, one of the first times the students were responsible for running their own set and producing their own work. THEATRE PERFORMANCES – GUEST DIRECTORS AUTOBAHN WRITTEN BY NEIL LABUTE DIRECTED BY JANINE WATSON Performed by Sydney Actors School Second Year Acting Students; Emil Allden, Brit Dell, Aysha Galloway, Nathan Niguidula, Catherine Orr and Anthony Sadler. Acknowledgements Ethan Hatton-Warham, Ashley Curry, Rebecca Johnston, Tiahnn Heusmann and SAS Technical Assistants. Janine Watson chose this play as the writing is thrilling and a bit dangerous. LaBute places the lives of disconnected strangers into a series of short plays, each a world of its own but, as a sum of its parts, Autobahn threads these lives together with evocative language and by forcing them to exist in the most intimate of spaces – In different cars on anonymous highways, crossroads, backstreets and unsealed freeways he gives a vivid and provocative glimpse into the lives of humans who would normally remain a mystery to us. LaBute appeals to the innate voyeur in us all, the part of us that wants to look in other peoples windows. We’re dropped without preamble into 4 unique relationships and scenarios that might exist in the cars that flash past our own as we rush to work, or slow down to a light as we’re crossing the road. We might hear the strain of music from the open window of a Toyota as it turns a corner, or hear raised voices from the Hyundai that’s pulled up next to us at a stop sign. Who are they? What are these lives? The millions of transitory interactions that make up the world. Stories you’ll never hear. People you’ll never meet. They all live a microcosmic universe in the privacy of their own vehicles. What if you could overhear just a portion of a strangers experience? Are they then no longer a stranger? MOVING TARGET WRITTEN BY MARIUS VON MAYENBURG DIRECTED BY KIM HARDWICK PERFORMED BY Sydney Actors School Second Year Acting Students; Emil Allden, Brit Dell, Aysha Galloway, Nathan Niguidula, Catherine Orr and Anthony Sadler. Von Mayenburg started initially writing Moving Target, he recalls, “about disappearing children and one child who doesn’t want to come out of his hiding spot. In the end, I thought no, I want to change the perspective of the text. I want to take on the parents’ perspective. So that’s why this story of a society scared of its children emerged. I wanted to have a counterpoint to the game playing. And that’s what I wrote 2006 to 2007.” “What you said about the audience having to work”, says von Mayenburg, “I think that’s one of my ideals. Also for myself as an audience member. I really enjoy having to fill gaps with my own fantasies, my own associations. In this play, the audience asks, Who are these people? Are they the parents of the child? And who’s the child? But that’s something that I like, I find challenging.” “I wrote Moving Target in five days because I had the whole background of the workshops. I could just grab anything that came into my mind and use it for the play. I heard on the news about the child in an adventure park that had been eaten by crocodiles. I just took it because it was there, and also the whole story of a baby in the box that people mistake for a bomb. That was a story from Israel that friends told me. I could use anything that came up and it somehow fitted into the story. I think the production of Moving Target has this sense of improvisation as well. And that’s what I like about it.” “A lot of plays that are written in Germany at the moment are about child abuse, about dangerous parents or the dangerous uncle and the child as a victim. Of course, in a way, the girl in Moving Target eventually becomes a victim as well. But it was very joyful to turn it around and say kids are dangerous and parents are scared. I think a lot of parents are scared of their children. You don’t know what they’re thinking, what they know and what they don’t know.” ENSEMBLE THEATRE PERFORMANCE EVERYMAN A Medieval Morality Play, adapted by Carol Ann Duffy (British Poet Laureate). Commissioned by the National Theatre, London and first produced on 29 April 2015. This SAS production is being presented as an Ensemble Poem. ENSEMBLE: Emil Allden, Aysha Galloway, Michael Giglio, Nathan Niguidula, Catherine Orr, Anthony Sadler, Isabela Sandoli, Riley Stockman, Demi Stockman, Demi Towns, Shen-Li Wong. Director: Kevin Jackson. Choreography: Demi Towns. Musical Director for Songs: Demi Towns. Musical Back Scoring: Catherine Orr. Costume Designer: Catherine Orr. Carol Ann Duffy is a Scottish poet and playwright, appointed Britain’s Poet Laureate in 2009. Among her collections are STANDING FEMALE (1985), SELLING MANHATTAN (1987), MEAN TIME (1993), RAPTURE (2005). 2019 FIRST YEAR ACTING ENSEMBLE TERM 2 ENSEMBLE THEATRE PERFORMANCE ANIMAL FARM A Fairy Story adapted from the George Orwell Novel “Animal Farm“by the 2019 First Year Actors DIRECTED BY THE ENSEMBLE AND SUPERVISED BY KEVIN JACKSON George Orwell was one of the Literary Cold War Warriors and wrote ANIMAL FARM and 1984 as novels to warn, prepare the world for the rise of Authoritarianism as the dominating government tool to control, manage and rule the world. ANIMAL FARM was published in 1945 once World War II was ended and the Allies no longer needed Stalin’s Russia to fight with them to win. ANIMAL FARM, subtitled A Fairy Story, is an allegory using and revealing the 1917 Russian revolution and the setting up of a functioning Soviet – the USSR – with the tragic observation that it is man with all of his ideals carrying at the same time all the human flaws needed to achieve Power, at any expense and expenditure of moral democratic principles. After the revolution of the farm animals against Farmer Jones (The Romanoff family) the Old Major Pig could be a Lenin (Marx) figure. Napoleon a Stalin. Snowball, Trotsky. The other animals the urban and country peasantry, the slaves and the dupes of their ‘trusted’ leaders. It has been frightening in our company’s research and preparation to find the contemporary parallels in our present World Governments; Trump in the USA with his Fake News and Alternative Facts, and Britain in the tangle of the Brexit power struggles. It is even more oppressive to observe our own political factions creating laws to control and punish our journalists and obstruct the people’s right to know the truth. Our ‘ScoMo’ and Christian Porter currently threaten to crackdown on our ability to protest – in the face of a decimated, comatose opposition and a generally bored and apathetic nation. ANIMAL FARM and 1984 are classic novels whose relevancy is as powerful in 2019 as they were in 1945 and 1949. Some say it is the old habit of ‘History’ repeating itself, but we have learnt that it is not history repeating itself but rather Man repeating himself. This play has been adapted by the student artists. They have also taken on the responsibility of shaping and Directing the project themselves (supervised by Kevin Jackson). It has been an exciting and tremendously intense exploration of our performing art form. We have been dealing not only with content but also with the expressive ‘tools’ we need to employ and refine to tell our story. We hope that you receive some usefulness from sharing with us our exploration of Orwell’s great work. We hope we give you the three E’s of performance: ENTERTAINMENT. ENLIGHTENMENT. A state of ECSTASY. WELCOME to our labours. ENSEMBLE MOVEMENT PERFORMANCE ENSEMBLE VOICE PERFORMANCE 2018 FIRST YEAR SHORT FILM PROJECT (ON LOCATION IN BATHURST NSW) LIGHTS DOWN A camping trip in the woods may seem like a fun weekend activity, but someone has a secret, and they start acting strange when night falls. The Sydney Actors School first year students were extremely fortunate to have an opportunity to shoot this film. This was their first short film project as an ensemble; the first chance to really work on a film set and get to know how they are run. As the characters go on a camping trip, so too did the first years travel to Bathurst, to stay on location at Abercrombie House for four days. The location was beautiful, and being able to travel to a location and stay there over the shooting period really added to the filmmaking experience. They each submitted their top three choices for crew roles, and rotated each day to give everyone a go at the roles they wanted. It was an incredible learning experience for the first years, and their first exposure to the ups and downs, and the hard work required to make a short film. They were able to apply their knowledge from their first year of Tech Craft to a real set experience, and this process set them up in good stead to tackle the projects of Second Year. 2017 MORPHEUS DEVISED BY JULIA COTTON & PERFORMED BY SYDNEY ACTORS SCHOOL FIRST YEAR STUDENTS Morpheus – god of dreams and sleep Morpheus is a devised, movement-based performance presented by the Sydney Actors School 1st year actors. The purpose of the devised project is to foster the students’ imagination, to develop their collaborative skills and to empower them as creators as well as performers. As well as coming up with initial ideas they have offered suggestions, found solutions and collectively contributed to the outcome. Devising a new work is both an exhilarating and challenging process. It is a journey that requires a leap of faith into the unknown. During the development of this project we have drawn on everything from fairytales to ‘things that go bump in the night’. We invite you to join us in the dark as we enter the surreal, subconscious world of dreams …. and nightmares. THE FIVE ESSENTIAL FREEDOMS OF THE INDIVIDUAL DIRECTED BY KEVIN JACKSON “Crimp is the antithesis of feel-good, the nabob of angst. Crimp has spent the past 25 years crafting a succession of plays that leave you feeling worse when you leave the theatre than you did when you went in,” writes Charles Spencer. This is Part 2 of In the Republic of Happiness by Martin Crimp. (2012) Performed by Sydney Actors School First Year Acting Students; Rhiannon Bateman, Issei Chimura, Britney Dell, Annie Esterhuysen, Lara Harriman, Mia Mathias, Joshua Shediak and Helen Smith. Directed by Kevin Jackson. Movement by Anca Frankenhaueser. Musical Composition by Helen Smith. Supported by Ashley Curry, Rebecca Johnston and Martin Harper. For Part Two, there are no assigned roles, and the speeches are chosen at random by the participants. It can be done by any number of actors. We use 8 – 6 women and 2 men. We then created characters (identity, backstory and relationships) and decided on the Given Circumstances for each of the Freedoms. Martin Crimp is a British playwright who is notable for the astringency of his dialogue, emotional detachment and a bleak view of human relationships. His plays have, mostly, premiered at the Orange Tree Theatre and Royal Court Theatre in London. He is more performed in Europe than his own country. Some of his plays seen in Sydney: A Variety of Death-Defying Acts (1985), Dealing With Clair (1988), The Treatment (1993), The Country (2008), The City (2008) and the most famous and challenging: Attempts on Her Life (1997). In the Republic of Happiness was presented at the Royal Court Theatre in 2012. He has also translated many European plays: The Misanthrope; The Chairs; The Maids; Rhinocerous; and Big and Small, by Botho Stauss , co-commissioned by the Sydney Theatre Company and the Barbican in 2011. CARDBOARD DAISIES When Jacob receives some confronting news, he and the gang try and see how much they can really fit into a lifetime. Meanwhile friendships are tested when the idea of acceptance comes to hand. BETTER LOVE NEXT TIME Love hits you when you least expect it. Boy adores girl. Girl doesn’t know. In the end, is it all too late? Billy has adored Sophia, his local barista, for as long as he can remember. Unable to string a proper sentence together at the sight of her, Billy finds it hard to muster up courage and take control of the situation. The situation being him wanting to know this ‘vivacious girl’ who can’t escape his mind. Having the social pressures of his best mates to take control, Billy can’t help but disappoint someone. The day comes for Billy to man up. Will it be too late or will Billy get the girl of his dreams?
