St. Bede’s is gearing up for a term of drama classes and rehearsals, which will culminate in an in-house performance of THE FIRE STONE by Year Six students.
THE FIRE STONE is a Japanese tale by the late Kenji Miyazawa. The show will be directed by Jane Ahlquist, (who is adapting the tale for the stage) and Year Six teacher Germaine Hannaford, with the support of Principal, Trish Ferlitsch.
THE FIRE STONE is about a magical object that comes to the natural world as a reward for sacrifice and how, over the following six days, the stone loses its lustre.
“It is about the reasons for the loss of the stone, which are gritty moral reasons that make the story so compelling as a conversation for children of this age”, Jane said this week. “The story also features wonderful characters such as the Wicked Fox and the Timid Mole and is set firmly within nature as a living vehicle.”
“It’s a difficult time for funding quality events and sadly the list of things being exported to individual responsibility now includes the Arts, which has seen 73 million dollars stripped from the Australia Council alone while vital mid-level theatre companies have lost their funding altogether.
To remedy this situation, donations towards the production THE FIRE STONE are tax deductable, and Jane is seeking funding directly from locals.
“There are some generous people I would like to thank for guaranteeing this project – and for not running away when they saw me approaching in the street!” Jane laughs. “They are: locals Trish McPherson, Fiona Putra-Jaya, Jennie and David Sutherland, Nicola and Greg Gilbert, Gert and Bente Jensen, Robyn Goodwin and Elizabeth Hannaford; and thanks also to my friends Ilsa Grace, Alice Scott and John Lonie, who don’t live here but believe in the value of drama for children.”
THE FIRE STONE is supported by Creative Partnerships Australia through the Australia Cultural Fund. It will be presented during Term Four.
