2015 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies
Playlist
The following plays have been selected for study in 2015. This list should be used in conjunction
with requirements set out in the VCE Drama Study Design 2014−2018 and VCE Theatre Studies
Study Design 2014−2018.
Schools should use the information in this notice to select plays as required by Drama Unit 3 and
Theatre Studies Units 3‒4 and make bookings in a prompt and timely manner.
Schools should be aware that plays may be withdrawn from the list. All financial arrangements
regarding attendance at Playlist performances are a matter for schools and theatre
companies/venues.
Drama Unit 3 Playlist
The following plays have been selected for study in 2015. This list should be considered in
conjunction with the requirements set out in Unit 3 Outcome 3 in the VCE Drama Study Design
2014–2018. Students will undertake an assessment task based on the performance of a play on
the Playlist. Question/s will also be set on the performances of the plays in the end-of-year Drama
written examination.
While the VCAA considers all plays on this list suitable for study, teachers should be aware that in
some instances sensitivity might be needed where particular issues or themes that are explored
may be challenging for students. Teachers are advised to familiarise themselves with the treatment
of these issues and themes within the context and world of the play prior to students viewing the
play and/or studying the playscript. This might involve reading the playscript, talking with the
theatre company, researching the playscript, the work of the playwright, director and/or company,
attending a preview performance and/or discussing the matter with the school administration.
Information provided in this notice about themes and/or language used in specific plays is a guide
only.
Schools should note the advice provided in regard to Black Diggers, I Call My Brothers, Team of
Life, Beautiful One Day and Cut Snake.
1. Reception: The Musical by Bethany Simons with Peter de Jager
Theatre company/producer: Bethany Simons
Season: 25 February–1 May
Venues: (updated February 2015)
25 February, 8.00 pm − Lecture Hall, Port Fairy
26 February, 8.00 pm − Lighthouse Studio Theatre, Warrnambool
27 February, 8.00 pm − Soldiers Memorial Hall, Mortlake
28 February, 8.00 pm − Theatre Royal, Camperdown
© VCAA
2015 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
7 March, 7.30 pm − Community Centre, Mount Beauty
9 March, 7.30 pm − Red Rock Regional Theatre & Gallery, Cororooke
10 March, 6.00 pm − Ballarat Clarendon College, Ballarat
11 March, 6.00 pm − Butterfly Club, Melbourne
12 March, 7.00 pm − Butterfly Club, Melbourne
13 March, 7.00 pm − Butterfly Club, Melbourne
21 April, 8.00 pm − Butterfly Club, Melbourne
22 April, 8.00 pm − Butterfly Club, Melbourne
23 April, 3.00 pm & 9.00 pm − Butterfly Club, Melbourne
24 April, 3.00 pm & 9.00 pm − Butterfly Club, Melbourne
25 April, 9.00 pm − Butterfly Club, Melbourne
26 April, 8.00 pm − Butterfly Club, Melbourne
1 May − Portland Arts Centre
7 May, 7.00 pm − Butterfly Club, Melbourne
8 May, 7.00 pm − Butterfly Club, Melbourne
9 May, 7.00 pm − Butterfly Club, Melbourne
10 May, 6.00 pm − Butterfly Club, Melbourne
Duration: 60 minutes
Ticket prices: determined by venues
Bookings: via venues
Reception: The Musical is a devised cabaret comedy that uses the conventions of non-naturalism
to tell the story of a receptionist who finds joy in the manic world of customer service, stationery
orders and thinking on her swivel chair.
Inspired by true stories from behind the front desk, this new Australian work features characterbased storytelling and a score of 12 original songs developed through a series of creative
development workshops and progress performances.
The show is largely a first-person monologue with a structure that is typical of the Story Theatre
genre – a series of character-driven vignettes or yarns woven together with transitions. The
musical element of the show enhances character development, story and mood. Lighting design is
minimal, consisting of a general wash and spotlight. All sound effects are created by the piano: a
phone ring, warning bells, general office sounds and fantasy sequences. The hallmarks of nonnaturalism can also be seen through character transformation (Bethany plays over 15 characters in
the play) and endowment of set and prop elements. The simple set, consisting of a small reception
desk, swivel chair and piano, allows the space to be manipulated to depict different places and
times. The worlds of the play include private moments, the office, fantasy episodes, montage, and
breaking the fourth wall for direct audience address/asides.
2. Black Diggers by Tom Wright
Theatre Company: Queensland Theatre Company
Season: 22 April - 2 May
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2015 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
Venues and times: (updated 2015)
21‒26 April, evenings & matinees, Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne
29 April–2 May, evenings & matinee, Ulumbarra Theatre, Bendigo
Duration: 100 minutes (no interval)
Ticket prices: determined by venues
Bookings: via venues
Black Diggers is a contemporary and engaging new work. One hundred years ago, about a
thousand Indigenous Australians took up arms to fight in World War I. For them, battle on a
Gallipoli beach was an escape from the shackles of racism at home.
Black Diggers provides a unique insight into the experiences and challenges faced by the
thousand or so Indigenous Australian soldiers who fought for the British Commonwealth in World
War I before, during and after the war. Tom Wright uses the language and mood of the time to
create a startling picture of their experience. The nature of the work is not a singular narrative, but
a culmination of stories and events, all woven together through a unique use of stagecraft and
performance. Each member of the ensemble plays a range of characters. The play begins within a
stark black set, comprised of empty walls. Each of the characters interacts with the walls and
paints the set as the play progresses. By the end of the play, the set is marked with bold white
names and places, dates and times, leaving the audience with a dominating image of the impact of
the war on these characters.
Black Diggers is written as a collection of group scenes, duologues and monologues. Each of
those moments are woven together to create a story arc that challenges the audience to place
themselves in the moment and uses performance and expressive skills in order to communicate
and maintain a relationship with the audience.
Advice for schools and teachers: Black Diggers contains some swearing and language that
some might find offensive. Schools are advised to contact the theatre company to discuss any
concerns they may have regarding this production.
3. Team of Life conceived by Kate Denborough and David Denborough, written by
David Denborough and directed by Kate Denborough
Theatre Company: KAGE
Season: 9‒20 February with a possible extension to 27 February
Venues and times: in school performances through Regional Arts Victoria incursion
program
Duration: 70 minutes
Ticket prices: students $7, minimum 130 students per show
Bookings: Regional Arts Victoria through Education & Families, Meredith Dellar,
mdellar@rav.net.au, toll free 1800 819 803 or (03) 9644 1808 or online:
www.rav.net.au/whats-on/education-and-families/team-of-life-kage
If you thought of your life as a team, who would be your coach? Who is protecting your goals? Who
is cheering you on? What is your team defending? Team of Life harnesses the power of two great
dramatic traditions ‒ sports and theatre, and spans several generations, languages and codes.
Sport, theatre, dance and music meet head-on in this new work. Performed by professional
dancers, actors and rising sports stars, Team of Life honours both the great Australian game and
the world game: Aussie Rules and football.
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2015 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
Team of Life was devised from a methodology that uses sporting metaphors to help young people
overcome hardship. Informed by workshops with young refugees and Aboriginal youth, Team of
Life tells of their search for different kinds of freedom, dissolving the boundaries between sport,
theatre and identity.
Advice for schools and teachers: Team of Life is inspired by the real life story of David Nyuol
Vincent, a former child soldier. Schools are advised to contact the theatre company to discuss any
concerns they may have regarding this production.
February update:
Schools are advised that seats are available at the following schools Scotch College, Hawthorn,
2.30 pm Monday 23 February. To confirm places for this performance, please email
michael.waugh@scotch.vic.edu.au. These tickets are available at a cost of $10 per student, no
charge to teachers
 Tuesday 24 February 1.15 pm at Ringwood Secondary College. To confirm places and ticket
price for this performance, please email ktanner@ringwoodsc.vic.edu.au
 Saturday 28 February, Southern Peninsula Arts Centre, 1.00 pm. Book for this performance via
www.southernpeninsulaartscentre.com/whats-on.html. Tickets for this performance are $12 with
free tickets for any parent accompanying TWO children.
4. Cut Snake by Dan Giovannoni, Amelia Evans and Paige Rattray
Theatre Company: Arthur in association with Theatre Works
Season: 23‒27 February
Venue: Theatre Works, Acland Street, St Kilda
Duration: 60 minutes
Ticket prices: students $26, one teacher free for every 10 students plus $1 booking fee,
full price $30, concession and under 30s $26 plus booking fees
Bookings: Paula Philip, admin@theatreworks.org.au, phone (03) 9534 3388
Cut Snake is a contemporary Australian work with a language that is recognisable and colloquial
as well as heightened and lyrical. The play deals with potentially difficult subjects using a light
touch, finding the madness and magic in the stories of three extraordinary characters.
Can anyone – especially a teenager – ever get over the death of a loved one? How do you live an
extraordinary life in an ordinary world? How do you maintain a connection with your friends? How
can you look to the future with hope when the adult world seems so depressing? Cut Snake
explores these questions in a truthful and complex way. The story begins with Jumper narrating his
own death in a bus accident in Asia, and then goes forward and back in time as we learn more
about him, his friends and what effect his death has had on them. Three actors present multiple
characters in a performance that includes physical theatre, dance, direct address, character
transformation and cross-gender casting.
Advice for schools and teachers: Cut Snake contains some challenging themes and limited
swearing and language that some might find offensive. Schools are advised to contact the theatre
company to discuss any concerns they may have regarding this production.
5. I Call My Brothers by Jonas Hassen Khemiri, translated by Rachel Wilson-Broyles
Theatre Company: Melbourne Theatre Company
Season
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2015 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
16 April–1 May, Monday-Friday, 1.30 pm and 7.00 pm, Southbank Theatre, The Lawler,
Southbank Boulevard, Southbank
4–15 May, in-schools tour through Regional Arts Victoria, approx. 12 performances
18 May, The Drama Theatre, Geelong Performing Arts Centre, 1.00 pm and 7.00 pm
Duration: 75 minutes
Ticket prices:
Melbourne Theatre Company: students $25, one accompanying teacher free per 10
students; RAV tour minimum fee: base rate of $1050 plus GST for up to 130 students with
additional students at $8 each less eligible subsidy
GPAC: students $15, one accompanying teacher free per 15 students
Bookings:
 Melbourne Theatre Company, Mellita Illich, schools@mtc.com.au
 Regional Arts Victoria, Suzi Cordell, education@rav.net.au or toll free 1800 819 803
 GPAC: Kelly Clifford, Youth and Education Program Co-ordinator, (03) 5225 1207 or
kelly@gpac.org.au
I Call My Brothers is a depiction of how paranoia destroys both the person seen and the seer. For
24 intense hours we find ourselves in Amor’s head, the mind of our destabilised hero, where the
lines between criminal and victim, love and chemistry, and paranoia and reality become
increasingly fuzzy. Using a subtle blend of humour and tension, the writer invites us into a young
Arab man’s world following a terrorist attack in his city and challenges us to question our own
judgment of the relationship between identity and society.
I Call My Brothers is a highly non-naturalistic text, encompassing such conventions as
transformation of time and place, Greek chorus, transformation of character, direct audience
address, fragmentation, narration, repetition and enjambment. The performance style will be based
on Poor Theatre’s focus on heightened physicality and movement. A minimalistic set and props will
further enhance the non-naturalistic qualities of the performance.
Advice for schools and teachers: I Call My Brothers is a challenging work for senior students
and not recommended for younger students. Despite the presence of terrorism in the story, there
are no depictions of actual violence. I Call My Brothers contains limited swearing and language
that some might find offensive. Schools are advised to contact the theatre company to discuss any
concerns they may have regarding this production.
6. Beautiful One Day co-devised by Rachael Maza, Magdalena Blackley (Cultural
Custodian), Jane Phegan, Harry Reuben, Kylie Doomadgee, Sean Bacon, David
Williams and Paul Dwyer
Theatre companies: Ilbijerri Theatre Company and Belvoir
Season: 15 April–4 May
Dates and venues:
15 April: The Forge Theatre Bairnsdale
18 April: Her Majesty’s Ballarat
22 April: Drum Theatre, Dandenong
24 April: Footscray Community Arts Centre, Footscray
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2015 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
29 April: Frankston Arts Centre
1-2 May: The Whitehorse Centre
Contact venues for performance times, ticketing and booking details
Beautiful One Day is a theatrical documentary about the irrepressible life and times of Palm Island.
The work interweaves reportage, court transcripts and documentary footage to create a
contemporary theatre experience. Play-making techniques used in the production include firstperson storytelling, documentary footage, and historical re-enactment and court transcripts to
create a moving piece of theatre.
The set and costume design utilise a minimalistic approach. Four screens are used to present
documentary footage, panoramic footage of Palm Island and live video streaming. This is delicately
interwoven with the live action on stage.
Beautiful One Day is centred on the death of Mulrunji Doomadgee while in police custody in 2004,
and the ensuing legal, media and political battle that has continued to this day. The work interprets
the events of 2004 against the full sweep of Palm Island’s history. It grasps the ordinariness of
brutality, charting the course of repression, resistance and racism, but also the astonishing
resilience of the people who call Palm Island home.
This production examines personal experiences, family experiences and the island’s history as a
way of beginning a conversation about justice and the accumulated experience of collective
injustice, as well as the strength that comes from seeking a meaningful response to the events of
the past.
Advice for schools and teachers: The content of this production is deliberately challenging.
There are depictions of ongoing injustice. The work compares and contrasts the lives of Aboriginal
people living under the Aboriginals Protection and Restrictions of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 to
those today and cites examples of recent racism. Beautiful One Day contains limited swearing and
language that some might find offensive. Schools are advised to contact the theatre company to
discuss any concerns they may have regarding this production.
Theatre Studies Unit 3 Playlist
The following plays have been selected for study in 2015. This list should be considered in
conjunction with the requirements set out in Unit 3 Outcome 3 in the VCE Theatre Studies Study
Design 2014–2018. Students will undertake an assessment task based on the performance of a
play on the Playlist. Question/s will also be set on the performances of the plays in the end-of-year
Theatre Studies written examination.
For this unit, students must study the playscript identified in this notice in addition to viewing a
performance of the selected play. Playscripts are available through commercial sources or will be
made available by the theatre companies for all plays on the Unit 3 Theatre Studies Playlist.
While the VCAA considers all plays on this list suitable for study, teachers should be aware that in
some instances sensitivity might be needed where particular issues or themes that are explored
may be challenging for students. Teachers are advised to familiarise themselves with the treatment
of these issues and themes within the context and world of the play prior to students viewing the
play and/or studying the playscript. This might involve reading the playscript, talking with the
company, researching the playscript, the work of the playwright or company, attending a preview
performance and/or discussing the matter with the school administration. Information provided in
this notice about themes and/or language used in specific plays is a guide only.
© VCAA
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2015 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
Schools should note the advice provided regarding Kelly.
1. Endgame by Samuel Beckett
Theatre Company: Melbourne Theatre Company
Previews: 21–25 March at 8.00 pm
Season: 27 March–25 April, possible extension 26 April–2 May
Monday & Tuesday 6.30 pm, Wednesday 1.00 pm & 8.00 pm, Thursday & Friday 8.00 pm,
Saturday 4.00 pm & 8.30 pm
Venue: Southbank Theatre, The Sumner
Duration: 120 minutes
Ticket prices: metro students $26, one accompanying teacher free per 10 students; nonmetro students $23, one accompanying teacher free per 10 students
Bookings: Melbourne Theatre Company, schools@mtc.com.au
Script: Endgame by Samuel Beckett, Faber and Faber
Endgame is a dystopian, tragi-comic work played in the style of Theatre of the Absurd. Themes of
light and dark, space and confinement, life and death are played out in a spiral of minute repetition.
Endgame is a classic text, open to myriad contemporary interpretations and posing questions
about age, relationships and existence.
Originally written in French and later translated into English, Endgame exemplifies Beckett’s
trademark minimalist style. The set for this production will be designed by a visual artist who
specialises in large architectural-style artworks. Together with skilled lighting design and
composition, the stagecraft will serve to enhance the director’s interpretation of the playscript.
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2015 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
2. Kaspar by Peter Handke
Theatre Company: La Mama Theatre with Laurence Strangio
Season: 15 April–3 May, Wednesday and Sunday 6.30 pm, Thursday–Saturday 7.30 pm,
Wednesday 1.00 pm and Thursday 11.00 am, other matinees at request to suit schools
Venue: La Mama Theatre, Carlton
Duration: 120 minutes
Ticket prices: students $20, teachers at student price
Bookings: La Mama Education Officer, Maureen Hartley, maureen@lamama.com.au
Script: Kaspar by Peter Handke, Metheun Contemporary Dramatists Series Peter Handke
Plays: 1
In Kaspar we observe (and participate in) how a human being is moulded into society’s image and
forced into conformity through the power of language and ‘communication’.
This production explores how our contemporary world expedites this even more readily and
reflects our own desires to conform and stay ‘connected’. In reinterpreting the written text this
production will not change the language of the original play text, but will utilise the linguistic and
behavioural elements of the text to consider the nature of performance itself within the specific
context of the La Mama Theatre space. The text is juxtaposed with the specific spatial and culturalhistorical context of La Mama Theatre, and the production will explore and utilise every aspect of
the theatre (including the ‘unseen’ upstairs spaces, the courtyard and surrounding environs) to
make both the manner and matter of the text more accessible.
Through its use of the theatrical space and its non-naturalistic performance, elements of the
production will question all the usual certainties of ‘attending the theatre’ including those involving
the relationship between ‘audience’ and ‘performers’ as well as the expectations of ‘plot’ and
‘characterisation’. The relationship between the space and ‘performance’ will also be explored
through the use of sound and multimedia to ‘access all areas’, allowing the audience to experience
simultaneous ‘performances’ in various parts of the theatre. Advancing Handke’s own utilisation of
sound and image disjunction, field recordings and live recordings (both audio and visual) will
punctuate and enhance the live performance giving it further ‘significance’ and context, while at the
same time questioning that very same ‘significance’ and ‘reality’. Manipulation of these
performance elements will both heighten the impact of Handke’s meta-theatrical argument and
explore its contemporary relevance.
Performance elements that will be utilised and investigated in the production include: nonnaturalism, meta-theatricality and interactivity, heightened physicality, puppetry, masks, mime,
monologue, improvisation, site-specific performance, soundscape and audio-visual elements.
3. Kelly by Matthew Ryan
Theatre company: Queensland Theatre Company
Season: 10 March–21 July
Venues:
8 April, evening, Portland Civic Hall
10 April, evening, Lighthouse Theatre Warrnambool
13 April, evening, Her Majesty’s Ballarat
15–18 April, evenings and Saturday matinee, Geelong Performing Arts Centre
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2015 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
21 & 22 April, evenings, Whitehorse Centre Nunawading
24 April, evening, The Capital Bendigo
9 May, evening, Hawthorne Arts Centre
11 & 12 May, evenings & Matinee Gasworks Arts Park
14 May, matinee & evening, The Drum Theatre Dandenong
16 May, evening, Frankston Arts Centre
20 May, evening, Karralyka Centre Ringwood
21 May, evening, The Memo Healesville
23 May, evening, Esso BHP Billiton Wellington Entertainment Centre Sale
26 May, evening, West Gippsland Arts Centre
29 May, evening, Westside Performing Arts Centre, Shepparton
2−6 June, evenings, Hothouse Theatre Wodonga
Duration: 120 minutes
Ticket prices: tbc, determined by venues
Bookings: via venues
Script: Kelly by Matthew Ryan, Currency Press (in print)
Kelly offers a contemporary take on the well-documented and known story of the Kelly gang while
in parallel exploring the unravelling of the bond between Ned and Dan Kelly. Kelly is structured
around a duologue interspersed with movement and flashback. The form and style of the play
transport the audience into the confusion of Ned Kelly’s current state of mind. The majority of Kelly
is written in a naturalistic style, however the text breaks the fourth wall convention and incorporates
non-naturalistic elements, including magic realism and movement, to tell the back story of the
events as Ned and his brother Dan explore their different interpretations of the evens that lead to
Ned’s arrest at Glenrowan.
The play poses questions that engage the audience on different levels. Why did Dan Kelly choose
to come back and visit Ned? Why does he want his blessing? Does our opinion change – is Ned
Kelly a hero or a victim of his own circumstance? Some answers are clearly stated, others are left
open for personal response. The performance styles incorporate theatrical playfulness, physical
theatre, integration of place and sequences and heightened reality. The use of colloquial, emotive
and imaginative language creates the distinctive voices of Ned and Dan Kelly.
Advice to schools and teachers: Kelly contains swearing and coarse language that some might
find offensive. The play also includes adult themes and sexual references. Schools are advised to
contact the theatre company to discuss any concerns they may have regarding this production.
4. The One Day of the Year by Alan Seymour
Theatre company: Hit Productions
Season: 25 February – 22 April
Venues:
25 February, 2.00 pm and 8.00 pm, Clocktower Centre, Moonee Ponds
26 February, 8.00 pm, Wyndham Cultural Centre, Werribee
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2015 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
27 & 28 February, 8.00 pm, 2.00 pm & 8.00 pm, Whitehorse Centre, Nunawading
3 March, 8.00 pm, Wonthaggi Union Community Arts Centre
5 March, 8.00 pm, Portland Arts Centre
6 & 7 March, 8.00 pm, 2.00 pm & 8.00 pm, The Potato Shed, Drysdale
10 March, 8.00 pm, Frankston Arts Centre
11 March, 7.30 pm, Forge Theatre & Arts Hub, Bairnsdale
12 March, 8.00 pm, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Ballarat
13 & 14 March, 8.00 pm, The Capital − Bendigo’s Performing Arts Centre
17 March, 7.30 pm, Harrison Theatre, Swan Hill
19 March, 8.00 pm, Ararat Performing Arts Centre
20 March, 8.00 pm, Hamilton Performing Arts Centre
21 March, 8.00 pm, Colac Otway Performing Arts & Cultural Centre
7 April, 8.00 pm, LaTrobe Performing Arts Centre, Traralgon
Tickets and bookings: via venue
Duration: 150 minutes
Script: The One Day of the Year by Alan Seymour, Harper Collins
The One Day of the Year was written and produced before Australia’s Vietnam commitment, in a
time before Anzac Day held its current status. Memories of World War II, which only concluded
some 15 years before the play was written, were still raw in the minds of all adult Australians, and
survivors of both world wars were still plentiful. In this social context it took a lot of courage on
Seymour’s part to write a work that questioned the validity of the day and the celebrations typical of
those times. The play allows us to witness in dramatic form feelings about Anzac Day from the
perspective of a specific time and place in the past and thereby casts a thoughtful light on our
present attitude.
Within the hothouse atmosphere of a working class family of the time, these questions and
divisions are dramatically played out between father and son, husband and wife, young and old,
one generation and the next.
Now considered ‘a classic Australian play’, The One Day of the Year is a snapshot of a time in
recent history when new attitudes were awakened.
5. As You Like It by William Shakespeare
Theatre company: Australian Shakespeare Company
Season and venues:
Southern Cross Lawn, Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne: Tuesday 30 December 2014–
Saturday 14 March 2015, Tuesday–Sunday 8.00 pm during December & January,
Tuesday–Saturday during February & March
Botanic Gardens, Guthridge Parade, Sale: 20−21 March 2015, 8.00 pm
Tickets: students $25, one teacher free per 10 students, adults Friday, Saturday & New
Year’s Eve $45, Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday $35, see the ASC website for
concession, children and group booking prices
© VCAA
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2015 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
Bookings: (03) 8676 7511 or online at shakespeareaustralia.com.au
Duration: 120 minutes
Script: As You Like It by William Shakespeare, ASC adaptation will be available for
download
All the world’s a stage – but there is none better than the Royal Botanic Gardens (the perfect
Forest of Arden). This new production of As You Like It celebrates the triumph of love over hate.
The play explores themes including gender, family, loyalty, the court versus country life, exile,
philosophy and love. The larger than life characters in the non-naturalistic As You Like It each
serve a unique function and are known for their conversational brilliance. Rosalind leads the
journey as four couples untangle themselves from love disguised, unrequited, lustful and impulsive
to love that celebrates the beauty of the human spirit and the joy of their new found world. Those
who enter the Forest are remarkably different when they leave ‒ whether physically, emotionally or
spiritually. Stylistically, this production is a Salvador Dali‒inspired circus complete with a ring
master, a strong man and, of course, women disguised as men, and even a man disguised as a
woman. This production will be a modern, contemporary dynamic production featuring original
music. The production includes an original music score and lively songs with the outdoor theatre
setting celebrating the dynamic actor-audience relationship similar to the groundlings at the Globe
Theatre.
© VCAA
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2015 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
Theatre Studies Unit 4 Playlist
The following plays have been selected for study in 2015. This list should be considered in
conjunction with the requirements set out in Unit 4 Outcome 3 in the VCE Theatre Studies Study
Design 2014–2108. Students will undertake an assessment task based on the performance of a
play on the Playlist. Question/s will also be set on the performances of the plays in the end-of-year
Theatre Studies written examination.
While the VCAA considers all plays on this list suitable for study, teachers should be aware that in
some instances sensitivity might be needed where particular issues or themes that are explored
may be challenging for students. Teachers are advised to familiarise themselves with the treatment
of these issues and themes within the context and world of the play prior to students viewing the
play and/or studying the playscript. This might involve reading the playscript, talking with the
theatre company, researching the playscript, the work of the playwright or theatre company,
attending a preview performance and/or discussing the matter with the school administration.
Information provided in this notice about themes and/or language used in specific plays is a guide
only.
Schools should note advice provided regarding Mother, Antigone and Adventures in the Skin
Trade.
1. Mother by Daniel Keene
Theatre company: If Theatre with Regional Arts Victoria
Season: 4 June–8 August
Venues and times:
Thursday 4 & Friday 5 June, time tbc, Gasworks Arts Park, Albert Park
Tuesday 8 June, 8.00 pm, Wyndham Cultural Centre, Werribee
Thursday 11 June, time tbc, Kingston Arts Centre, Moorabbin
Friday 12 June, 8.00 pm, The Clocktower Centre, Moonee Ponds
Wednesday 24 June, 8.00 pm, The Memo, Healesville
Friday 26 June, 8.00 pm, Burrinja Cultural Centre, Upwey
Saturday 27 June, 8.00 pm, The Forge Theatre, Bairnsdale
Wednesday 1 July, 8.00 pm, Mildura Arts Centre
Friday 3 July, 8.00 pm, Swan Hill Performing Arts Centre
Tuesday 7 July, 8.00 pm, Riverlinks Cultural Centre, Shepparton
Wednesday, 8 July, 8.00 pm, Benalla Arts & Cultural Centre
Friday 10 July, 8.00 pm, Wangaratta Performing Arts Centre
Tuesday 21 July, 8.00 pm, West Gippsland Arts Centre, Warragul
Wednesday 22 July, 8.00 pm, LaTrobe Performing Arts Centre, Traralgon
Friday 24 July, 8.00 pm, Esso BHP Wellington Entertainment Centre, Sale
Monday 27 July, 8.00 pm, Hamilton Performing Arts Centre
Tuesday 28 July, 7.30 pm, Portland Arts Centre
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2015 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
Thursday 30 July–Saturday 1 August, 8.00 pm, Her Majesty’s Ballarat
Wednesday 5 August–Saturday 8 August, 8.00 pm (four evening performances) & 1.00 pm
(one matinee), Geelong Performing Arts Centre
Duration: 90 minutes
Ticket prices: set by venues, tbc
Bookings: All venues’ booking details will be able to be accessed via the production’s event
listing: www.rav.net.au/whats-on/performing-arts-touring
Mother is a one-woman performance written specifically for Noni Hazlehurst and Matt Scholten
(director). The play is a non-naturalistic examination of a series of moments through the life of
Christy, a 60-year-old woman who lives on the street, in parks, back lanes and boarding houses.
The play was inspired by a conversation about the life of playwright Dorothy Hewett, women in
Greek drama, and a desire to dramatically engage with the themes of loss, isolation and memory.
Dramaturgically, the piece will respond to the lyrical text and poetic language of Daniel Keene. The
play shifts through nine scenes in a manner akin to the gestation, over nine months, of a new
human life and its events occur in nine separate locations, all created through the use of light,
sound and costume as well as a simple set of props and set pieces. The performance will
incorporate direct address, Brechtian-style theatrics and a championing of the power of a simple
narrative told through heightened language and storytelling techniques. The audience will be
brought into the confidence and mysterious world of this solo character.
Christy is the portrayal of an unconventional ‘mother’ in society. She is unwillingly absent, defiant
and proud, but she is not unique. Her story may be that of many women in our society; however it
is a story that is not often told. Christy is not a tragic figure; she remains a proud and dignified
woman who presents to the audience the story of her life and struggles. Mother tells the story of
Christy’s love for her husband and son, her struggle with alcohol, and the damage her unwavering
pride does to these relationships. Mother will be built specifically for regional touring.
Advice for schools and teachers: Mother explores issues of social inclusion, exclusion and
dispossession, as well as alcoholism and the perception of what a mother is supposed to be.
Schools are advised to contact the theatre company to discuss any concerns they may have
regarding this production.
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2. Sweeney Todd by Stephen Sondheim (music) and Hugh Wheeler (book)
Theatre Company: Victorian Opera
Season: 18−26 July, no performances on Sunday 19 July or Monday 20 July
Venue: The Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne, St Kilda Road, Southbank
Times: 7.30 pm Tuesday-Saturday, 1.00 pm on Wednesday 22 and Saturday 26 July
Tickets: students $25, one accompanying teacher free per 10 students
Bookings: Arts Centre Melbourne
Duration: 150 minutes
Sweeney Todd is a dark and twisted musical about a murderous barber slicing a path of bloody
revenge in 19th-century London. Benjamin Barker, alias Sweeney Todd, returns to London after 15
years’ transportation on trumped-up charges, to take revenge on the judge who banished him. His
partner in crime is the adoring Mrs Lovett; a pie-shop owner. Stephen Sondheim makes this story
of a 19th-century serial killer into a devilishly dark and musically thrilling experience.
3. Antigone by Sophocles, adapted and translated by Jane Montgomery Griffiths
Theatre Company: Malthouse Theatre
Season: 21 August–13 September
Venue: Merlyn Theatre, The Coopers’ Malthouse
Previews: 21−22 August at 7.30 pm, 24 August at 6.30 pm
Season:
25−29 August at 7.30 pm, 27 August matinee at 12.00 pm, 29 August matinee at 3.00 pm
1−5 September at 7.30 pm, 2 September matinee at 12.00 pm, 5 September matinee at
3.00 pm
8−12 September at 7.30 pm, 9 September matinee at 12.00 pm, 12 September matinee at
3.00 pm
13 September at 5.00 pm
Note: There is a TTT performance on 1 September
Tickets: metro students $23, regional students $21, accompanying teachers free,
maximum of two per school
Booking: Complete a Schools Booking Form at www.malthousetheatre.com.au or email
education@malthousetheatre.com.au
Duration: 70 minutes
This production of Antigone will feature a new adaptation of Sophocles’ play by Jane Montgomery
Griffiths and be directed by Adena Jacobs. The production will explore the notion of ritual (and the
consequences of its denial) within contemporary society. At a time when very few rituals remain
within Western contemporary society, the need to honour the dead is still vital to us. Jane
Montgomery Griffiths’ translation will be deeply rooted in both the muscular language of Sophocles
as well as an understanding of the political connotations of the play for contemporary society. In a
world in which extremism thrives and in which political necessity supersedes personal morality,
Antigone forces its audience to confront the eternal dilemma of when personal conviction should
overtake social expediency. Stylistically, the work will feature rich, heightened language. The
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theatrical world of the play will be enhanced through the set and costume design of The Sisters
Hayes as well as Jethro Woodward’s sound design. The play’s themes of private conviction over
political expediency are relevant and urgent for our society, and the play prompts the audience to
address their own belief systems as citizens and individuals.
Advice for schools and teachers: Antigone will feature occasional strong language appropriate
to the context of the scene and the play. Schools are advised to contact the theatre company to
discuss any concerns they may have regarding this production.
4. Hamlet by William Shakespeare,
Theatre Company: Bell Shakespeare
Season: 14 July–6 October
Venues and times:
14−25 July, Fairfax Studio, The Arts Centre, Melbourne, Tuesday & Wednesday evenings at 7.30
pm on 14 July & 15 July and 6.30 pm on 21 July & 22 July, Thursday to Saturday evenings at 7.30
pm, Sunday at 4.00 pm, school matinee at 11.00 am on 22 July, other matinees at 2.00 pm on 18
July & 25 July
27−28 July, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Ballarat, Monday 27 July at 7.30 pm, Tuesday 28 July at 11.00
am
29−30 July, Whitehorse Performing Arts Centre, Nunawading, evenings at 8.00 pm, matinee at
10.30 am on 30 July
1 August, Mildura Arts Centre, 8.00 pm
29 September, West Gippsland Arts Centre, Warragul. 8.00 pm
1 October, The Capital, Bendigo, 8.00 pm
3 October, Warrnambool Entertainment Centre, 7.30 pm
6 October Frankston Arts Centre, 8.00 pm
Tickets and bookings: The Arts Centre, Melbourne: School matinee & Tuesday to Thursday
evening performances, students $30, one complimentary teacher ticket per 20 students; for Friday
evening and weekend performances standard ticket prices apply; contact Bell Shakespeare for
details. There are limited tickets available at the schools price for Tuesday to Thursday evening
performances. If this allocation is exhausted, schools will need to pay the standard ticket price
(concession tickets available). Schools will be notified once allocation is exhausted. Regional
venues should contact the venue box office for details.
Duration: 150 minutes
A family torn apart by murder, a son burdened with the truth and the task of avenging his father,
and a country on the brink of war. Anguish, passion and desperation collide in this tragic telling of
Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark who is tormented by the impossibility of his dilemma, and who
remains one of theatre’s most fascinating characters.
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2015 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
5. The Weir by Conor McPherson
Theatre Company: Melbourne Theatre Company
Previews: 14–19 August, 8.00 pm
Season: 21 August–26 September
Monday & Tuesday 6.30 pm, Wednesday 1.00 pm & 8.00 pm, Thursday & Friday 8.00 pm,
Saturday 4.00 pm & 8.30 pm
Venue: Arts Centre Melbourne, Fairfax Studio
Duration: 120 minutes
Ticket prices: At Melbourne Theatre Company metro students $26, one accompanying
teacher free per 10 students; non-metro students $23, one accompanying teacher free per
10 students. Ticket availability for this production is limited; early bookings are
recommended.
Bookings: Melbourne Theatre Company, schools@mtc.com.au
Conor McPherson’s haunting, elegiac The Weir is ultimately a moving play about love and loss.
The Weir is profound, eloquent and occasionally hilarious, and still grips us, 16 years after its
premiere, with its ability to find drama in the minute particular and reveal the poetry in what might
have been. McPherson skilfully highlights the persistence of the supernatural in a modern,
materialistic Ireland. Sam Strong’s production will be staged in a naturalistic style with
performances from the ensemble cast centring on each character’s key monologue. The play
features five characters, four male and one female. The arrival of the female character in the
community raises questions of status and motivation as they reveal more of themselves and their
lives to each other. The actor-audience relationship is brought into question by way of each
character’s monologue. Sound and lighting design will be used to enhance the supernatural
undercurrent that permeates the world of the play.
Advice for schools and teachers: The Weir contains an element of the supernatural presented in
the style of mystery rather than horror. The staging will be atmospheric without being menacing.
Themes of personal loss will be dealt with in a sensitive manner with an overriding sense that, with
community, comes support and the chance to heal emotional wounds. Schools are advised to
contact the theatre company to discuss any concerns they may have regarding this production.
6. Adventures in the Skin Trade by Dylan Thomas; adapted for the stage by Lucy
Gough with Theatr Iolo
Theatre Company: Theatr Iolo (Wales) at Arts Centre Melbourne
Season: Wednesday 5 August–Friday 7 August 1.00 pm, Thursday 6 August–Saturday 8
August 7.00 pm
Venue: Fairfax Studio, The Arts Centre Melbourne
Duration: 90 minutes
Ticket prices: students $18, one accompanying teacher free per 10 students in school
group bookings; individual bookings tickets $25
Bookings: performances@artscentremelbourne.com.au, Hannah Schneider (03) 9281
8582
An ensemble of six performers from Theatre Iolo will bring this unfinished novel by Dylan Thomas
to dramatic life and give it a contemporary feel. Samuel Bennett leaves his home in South Wales to
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2015 VCE Drama and Theatre Studies Playlist
pursue a career in London. Setting out with an attitude of reckless, nihilistic purpose, he
encounters a nightmarish city. A room full of furniture, an assortment of bizarre characters and an
embarrassing first sexual experience in a cold bath. Join Samuel as he meanders through this
dreamlike world, all with a beer bottle stuck on his little finger. Lucy Gough uses the device of three
female harpies to dramatise the voices and thoughts in Samuel’s head. Adventures in the Skin
Trade explores the themes of leaving home, youth, the beginning of adulthood, losing one’s
virginity, being lost and coming to terms with the enormity of the world. The three stories that make
up Adventures in the Skin Trade vividly capture the madness and melodrama of youth, and the
wildness and passion that exemplifies Dylan Thomas.
The production design draws inspiration from some of the artists exhibited in a surrealist art
exhibition Dylan Thomas attended in London in the 1930s. Adventures in the Skin Trade takes
place in a variety of locations: a family home in Wales, a train toilet, a bar at Paddington Station,
the street, a second-hand junk shop, a bathroom, and various pubs and clubs. The audience will
witness Samuel Bennett’s journey and experiences. The production will feature aspects of physical
theatre, accompanied by a contemporary music score intercut with 1930s jazz music.
Advice for schools and teachers: The themes of this production are not suitable for younger
students and as such it will available to Senior Secondary students (Years 10 to 12) only. Schools
are advised to contact Arts Centre Melbourne to discuss any concerns they may have regarding
this production.
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