For the year 11 students it was an interpretation of the popular Henrik Ibsen play ‘A Doll’s House’. The story, a collation of seemingly ordinary domestic voices unravels the societal conventions related to women, relationships and morals.

Their adaption was inspired by physical theatre, Grotowski and the post dramatic. They stripped this classic text bare and dived it down to the decaying heart of Torvald and Nora’s relationship.

They used visual representations, ensemble casting, dance and symbols to articulate her discovery of her individual self with the audience. In this shortened (20 minute) version of the play, the audience was gripped by the turbulent nature of their love. 

The stage was her cage, and the audience the boundary echoing the unfortunate reality of domestic violence still present in society.

The shine carried onto the year 12 students who also showed the high calibre of their individual and ensemble skills. The students shared their two group performances, each demonstrating a keen sense of comic timing and connection with current social issues of climate change and technology addiction.

Students also shared individual projects, beginning with Abbey McDonald, whose performance showed three stages of womanhood and the factors of life.

Jack Challen’s performance explored the deep scars of post-traumatic stress disorder as experienced by conscripted war veterans. Lily Munnings drew on her summer study of Butoh to explore media voyeurism and the sad fate of Marilyn Monroe.

The night concluded with two video dramas, each decidedly different. Chris Snelling’s ‘Cotard’ explored the psychological condition known as cotard syndrome, using film techniques to convey the patient’s disconnection from the world.

Talitha Mann’s ‘History Never Dies’ brought joy to our audience as she explored the well-known historical-versus-modern architecture battle in Braidwood through her localised super hero film.

The drama projects allowed students to independently explore what is important to them through mediums they’re passionate about, and this night was a perfect representation of this fact.