Australian Literature – Drama Extravaganza

What an amazing variety of rich interpretations of the plays we have broached this semester: Coralie Landsdowne Says No (The Rejects)- producers of a feature film which brought a whole new perspective to this play. While the closure needed more anchoring and some sections could have been pruned some more, the overall effect of this film was quite stunning. Thank you Marie, Courtnay, Marc, Timb, Mary, Therese, Jordan and Amelia:

And Balancing this film version at one end of the presentations was the performance of the same play by The Carnivals at the other end. This was a fabulous production and so well cast! Thank you Amy B for providing the perfect image for the slinky, sleezy, self-opinionated Coralie. And thank you Christopher, Anthony and Gemma who were the group of eager hangers-on… with Anthony being the ultimate winner of this elusive prize!

And thank you Samara R and Jaymie H-N for providing the female counterpoint to Coralie’s excesses!

Then what a great swag of images there were of Jim McNeill’s “How Does Your Garden Grow”, bringing the prison experience right into the class room. Ailenette Almazan brought the house down in the Starlight group as the insensitive, opinionated sweeper…. we have never seen such a transformation- well done! (- and with Ailenette: Lauren, Michelle, Megan, Mariam, Evana, Jeffrey and Ellaina)

And thank you Jade Debski and Karly Pandelios for an inspired performance of “How Does Your Garden Grow” in a playground setting. What a great idea! And thanks to the rest of the “Moonstruck” group (awesome moon icon!):

Then “The Seven Luftballoons” produced their zany version of “…Your Garden…”… what a great conclusion pulling that flower out of the stone wall…. and thank you Anna P (one of our two international students from Germany) and Imelda F for that confrontative scene:

It took “Loud and Inappropriate” starring Matthew H’s and Eliss R as shadow puppets to turn a Hard God into a modern sex drama! This production unleashed the underlying tensions in this play and brought it into the 21st Century:

And thank you for the strong supporting cast: Rhani, ConstanTINA, Ruby, Ellisa, Dom and Nat…. all had great fun… we could see!
“Arthouse” had the inspiration to turn “A Hard God” into the occasion for a film set! Great work Roselie and Melissa!

And thanks for the strong cast supporting this: Pinar, Nicole, Martha, Tamara, Sara and Andrew!
“The Drama Queens” true to their name produced an electric version of ” A Hard God” with the raucous Melissa shouting across the audience at an equally raucous Stephanie…. this brought the deep tensions of this play out into the open. Thank you also to Carmel, Siobhan, Stephanie, Ashleigh, Lada (Leda!) and especially Nicole for her spirited perfomance:

Thank you “Bob” for such a vehement and compelling production of the Aboriginal play “The Cake Man” . Taras H-P wielding his gun and Bianca T her cross depicted the savage self-confidence of the marauding missionaries trying to convert what they saw as ignorant savages!

This performance of “The Cake Man” was matched by an equally powerful version by the “Cool Kids”. This version helped to bring into focus what it claimed to do “to communicate the destitute and unfortunate living conditions that the Aboriginal community endured” (and endure!)… thank you Daniel (bon voyage to the US!), Renee (great Pumpkinhead!), Noelle (fabulous Ruby!) and for Rachelle and William for back-up and stage support!!

I think that just about covers the lot… hope I have not missed anyone… be sure to tell me if I have… and thank you all for the great effort. As I said after the performance, I see a whole new side of you all when you come up onto the stage… and it gives many a chance of you to be truly creative (in addition to your brilliance in discussion in class!)… and I see some amazing creative experimentation happening… thank you film-makers!… so overall I think including drama in a literature course is such a good way to extend the boundaries of what we are doing…. namely to stimulate your creative powers… through livejournal writing! through in-class brain-storming! and through on-stage dramatize-urging!… (made that one up…sorry!… have a great break first years… see you in second year!… look out for text books in the Coop…. MG