Download School Dance - Arts Centre Melbourne

School Dance
by Matthew Whittet
A production by Windmill Theatre
Presented by the Arts Centre Melbourne’s Performances
Program 2013
Years 9 – 12
ARTS CENTRE TO INSERT PICTURE
1
The Arts Centre Melbourne’s Performances Program is dedicated to fostering the arts by giving
schools the opportunity to see a diverse range of excellent theatre in fully produced form.
These teachers’ notes have been designed to address, in the first instance, VCE Drama Unit 3,
Outcome 3, Performance Analysis because School Dance has been selected to the Drama Playlist for
2013.
For students in Years 9 and 10 who may also be attending, these notes address aspects of AusVELS,
Level 6, specifically Discipline based learning, The Arts – Drama, English, and the Strand, Personal
Physical & Social Learning. They also reference the general capabilities of literacy, critical and creative
thinking, personal and social capability, and ethical understanding that are inherent in the new
Australian Curriculum.
Please note: The Year 9-10 learning activities of these notes specifically address thematic aspects of
School Dance. Lower secondary teachers of Theatre Arts and Drama should feel free to also make use
of the VCE Drama resources in these notes as required.
Teachers’ notes by Meg Upton with additional material from Windmill Theatre and from Sydney Theatre
Company Program notes.
NOTE: Please remember to arrive 30 minutes before the starting time of the show.
Contents
ABOUT SCHOOL DANCE .................................................................................................................... 3
ABOUT WINDMILL THEATRE .............................................................................................................. 3
THEATRE ETIQUETTE.......................................................................................................................... 4
1980s POP CULTURE .......................................................................................................................... 5
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
AUSVELS & THE AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM ................................................................................. 6
THEME #1: SELF-ESTEEM .................................................................................................................. 7
THEME #2: COURAGE ......................................................................................................................... 7
THEME #3: FRIENDSHIP ..................................................................................................................... 8
THEME #4: LOVE ................................................................................................................................ 8
THEME #5: ESCAPISM ........................................................................................................................ 9
REVIEW WRITING ............................................................................................................................... 9
VCE DRAMA
ANALYSIS & EVALUATION ............................................................................................................... 10
STRUCTURE & WORLD OF THE PLAY ........................................................................................... 11
PERFORMANCE STYLES ................................................................................................................ 13
THEATRICAL CONVENTIONS ......................................................................................................... 15
DRAMATIC ELEMENTS .................................................................................................................... 16
STAGE CRAFT ................................................................................................................................. 17
REPRESENTATION OF CHARACTERS ........................................................................................... 20
THEMES
................................................................................................................................. 20
RESOURCES
................................................................................................................................ 21
2
ABOUT SCHOOL DANCE
Luke and Matt are waiting outside of the school dance. They can hear the music from inside as the dance
starts. They’re waiting for Jonathon who makes up the third of their friendship. He arrives and they wait...as
they wait they are all caught up in their own terror. Luke has the nightmare of a violent father; for Matt it is
his aversion to his own body; too skinny, stupid glasses and a chest that looks like it will never become an
adult chest. Jonathon, well he hates being alone, having to face his own thoughts in silence. And then there
is the terror of the school bully, Derek Sturgess who has Jono in his sights. Enter Jono’s sister Joanie who
decides to help sort them out, and finally there’s Danika, an ‘invisible teenager’ like Matt who decides to
return to the real world and go to the school dance.
Characters:
Matt, he’s 15, although he doesn’t look it - Matthew Whittet
Luke, also 15. Luke likes dancing, and he is pretty good at it - Luke Smiles
Jonathon, even though he is taller, he is only 14 – Jonathon Oxlade
Narrator/Joanie/Danika/Random Girl/Hannah Ellis – Jude Henshall
Derek Sturgess, the bully – Jim Rose
Creative Team:
Director – Rosemary Myers
Writer/Performer – Matthew Whittet
Designer/Performer – Jonathon Oxlade
Original Sound Design/Performer – Luke Smiles
Lighting – Richard Vabre
Animation – Chris More
Movement – Gabrielle Nankivell
Costume Makers – Robyn Jones & Martine Micklem
Wig and Make-up Design – Jana DeBiasi
Performer – Jim Rose
ABOUT WINDMILL THEATRE
Windmill Theatre creates and presents incredible performances that captivate their audience’s imagination
and resonate deeply.
The company’s artistic vision has created a unique and distinctive house style of theatre that makes true
adventure and creative ingenuity synonymous with the Windmill name.
Windmill artists are inspired by the vibrancy, sophistication and inventiveness of young people and the
exhilarating challenges they pose to creating theatre of genuine relevance in this modern time. In meeting
this challenge Windmill Theatre positions theatre for children, young people and families in a dynamic
national and international conversation that is defining the future of theatre practice.
Since their inception in 2002, Windmill Theatre’s enduring purpose has been to continue to create incredible
shows, and tour them nationally and internationally. Windmill Theatre continue to inhabit new media spaces
and participate in the development of innovative means to connect artists and audiences to tell, create and
share stories.
More information about Windmill Theatre can be found at http://www.windmill.org.au/about-us
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THEATRE ETIQUETTE
What does it mean to be a theatre audience? If this is your first time seeing live theatre here are a few tips.
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Theatre is ‘live’ and the actors are real
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You can hear and see the actors, and they can hear and often see you
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It is a dynamic experience, each audience is different and the actors can feel this and they respond
to it
How to get the most out of the theatre experience:
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Arrive on time - there are no advertisements or trailers in live theatre! If you miss the start you may
not catch up with what is happening
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Turn off your mobile phone and/or iPod. You won’t need them and if your phone rings it will disrupt
everyone
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There’s no interval so make sure you go to the bathroom before you go into the theatre. You don’t
want to be that person who climbs over everyone to get out during the show…you really don’t
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An usher will help you find your seat so you need to follow their directions
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How do you know when the performance begins? The lights will dim and/or you might hear a voice
over or sound. That’s your cue that it has begun – time to be quiet
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Because the show is live it is important that:
- There’s no photography
- You don’t speak loudly (remember the actors can hear!)
- No eating (it’s only 75 minutes and you can last, plus it’s distracting)
- Stay in your seat
Feel free to laugh during the show, and applaud or even cheer at the end.
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These tips are aimed at allowing you to get the most out of the performance and for the actors and the other
audience members to feel the same. You are all in it together!
4
1980s POP CULTURE
What do you know about the 1980s?
School Dance emerged from the creators’ experiences growing up as awkward teenagers in the 1980s.
Check out these 1980s iconic objects and popular culture references that appear in the production
The Smurfs – toys and television show (1981-1990)
The Smurfs was a television show first aired in America by Hanna-Barbara in 1981. It was based on a
Belgian comic series. Smurfs are small blue fictional creatures that live in mushroom houses in a forest.
There are more than one hundred Smurfs, whose names are based on adjectives that emphasize their
characteristics, e.g. 'Jokey Smurf', who likes to play practical jokes on his fellow smurfs, 'Clumsy Smurf',
who has a habit of creating havoc unintentionally, and 'Smurfette' – the first female Smurf to be introduced in
the series. Figurines, dolls and other Smurf merchandise became a huge and popular success.
My Little Pony – toys and television show (1983 – 1995)
My Little Pony was an entertainment franchise developed and marketed primarily to girls. It began as plastic
pony toys which featured colourful bodies and manes and a unique symbol on one or both sides of their
flanks, referred to in the two most recent generations as "cutie marks." My Little Pony was revamped at least
four times with new and more modern looks to appeal to a new market. The ponies were ‘collectable’ and
had names such as Blue Belle, Butterscotch, Cotton Candy, Snuzzle, Blossom and Minty.
Tinky Winky from Teletubbies (1997-2001)
Although not strictly 1980s, Tinky Winky makes it in as schmaltzy kiddy program character. Also known as
the purple Telebubby, Tinky Winky has a triangle on his head and carries red luggage. His character caused
controversy due to allegations that his behavior, bag and body colour have homosexual qualities.
Mogwais from Gremlins (a film, 1984)
From the Steven Speilberg film Gremlins; ‘Never expose a mogwai to bright light (especially sunlight which
will kill it), never get it wet (which will make it multiply) and, most importantly, never feed it after midnight’. In
the play the mogwai is the furry creature in The Land of Invisible Teens that everyone is scared of.
1980s Fashions
Link: http://www.liketotally80s.com/top-80s-fashion-trends.html
All the costumes in the production reference the 1980s. So what was popular then?
 Skin tight pants, parachute pants, shoulder pads, mini-skirts, leg warmers, huge earrings, big hair,
fingerless gloves, perms, stirrup pants, acid wash jeans, oversized tops, high stop sneakers, doc
martins, flat top haircuts, bubble skirts, scrunchies…
School Dance – Spotify Playlist
http://open.spotify.com/user/118813000/playlist/0A3Ph3nilYji2xJ0Xwh7mG
Listen to the soundtrack and recall how it contributed to creating the world of the play.
Link: http://www.liketotally80s.com/80s-culture.html
5
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
SCHOOL DANCE AND AUSVELS
The Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS) have been aligned with the Australian Curriculum as an
interim measure, known as AusVELS. Teachers who wish to consider how the production references and is
relevant to the Strands, the Domains and the Dimensions of AusVELS, please consider the following table.
Strand – Physical,
Personal & Social
Learning
Strand – Discipline Based
Learning
Strand – Interdisciplinary
Learning
Interpersonal Development
- Building social
relationships
- Working in teams
The Arts – Drama
The Arts – Visual Arts
- Creating and Making
- Exploring and Responding
Communication
- Listening, viewing,
responding, presenting
Personal Learning
- The individual learner
- Managing personal
learning
English
- Reading and viewing,
writing, listening and
speaking
Design, Creativity &
Technology
- Designing, producing
- Analysing & Evaluating
Thinking Processes
- Creative thinking
- Reflection & evaluation
The Australian Curriculum - General Capabilities:
Literacy, Numeracy, ICT, Critical and Creative Thinking, Personal and Social Capability, Ethical
Understanding, Intercultural Understanding – teachers may find that many of these terms are not dissimilar
to those they are working with now.
Each activity below includes a combination of the AusVELS and general capabilities as focus points for
student learning
6
THEME #1:
SELF-ESTEEM
Visual Arts, Creative Thinking, Personal Learning
In the play each of the boys creates a persona or imagines themselves being in another place in order to
help them escape from some challenging circumstances. These personas assist them in building their selfesteem and personal confidence – even if they are only imaginary and it is only for a short time.
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Imagine if you had a secret persona or character - who would they be?
What powers would they have that you wish you had?
Brainstorm some ideas around this idea and create a profile
Design your secret persona – sketch, draw, use digital technology and generate a poster
THEME #2:
COURAGE
Critical and Creative Thinking, Writing, Literacy, Ethical understanding
In School Dance, Matt desperately wants to ask Hannah Ellis to dance but he lacks the courage. Jono
wishes he could stand up to Derek Sturgess, and Luke wants to stand up to his dad. These require acts of
courage, some more than others.
In this activity you are asked to help out a friend:
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Your friend wants to ask someone out.
Like Matt, they like them heaps but lack the courage to ask
You are going to write Instructions for asking someone out
Think carefully about a step by step approach to this
What did you see in the show that could help? What is your own experience?
Think about this step-by-step eg. What to wear, what to say, rehearsal processes, where to find the
person, possible responses etc. etc.
You can make this light hearted and fun
Share your instructions with the class OR role play some of the instructions in pairs
7
THEME #3: FRIENDSHIP
Critical thinking, Literacy, Personal and Social Capability
Jono, Matt and Luke are three close friends thrown together by their mutual feeling of being ‘outsiders’. They
look out for each other, support each other and end up rescuing each other. Their friendship is very
important.
This activity is aimed at exploring ‘friendship’.
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Interview either a parent, grandparent or other adult about friendship – you may like to record this on
your smart phone or tablet so you can listen to it later
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Who was their first friend? Where did they meet them? How did they become friends? What did they
used to do together? Did they ever fight? Did the friendship change? Are they still friends? Why or
why not?
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Get as much detail as possible then write up a report about the adult’s perspective on friendship
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Share these stories back in the classroom and find similarities and differences with the idea of
friendships from the past
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How do the adults’ experiences compare with contemporary friendships?
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How does social media impact on ‘friendship’? Has it redefined the word ‘friend’?
THEME #4:
LOVE
Drama – Creating & Making, Exploring & Responding
In School Dance, love is something that Matt thinks he feels with Hannah Ellis but ends up feeling it with
Danika. Love is something that is pretty much absent from the boys’ lives even at home.
This exercise explores love but in a fun way.
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Research a range of 1980s romantic comedy (rom com) movies.
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What are the main plot lines? What types of characters? What challenges? How do they usually
end? What are the soundtracks like?
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In small groups of four or five, create your own ‘rom com’ that has fourshort scenes – an accidental
meeting, the awkward first date, the break up, the happy ending
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Choose a 1980s song as your soundtrack
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Rehearse your ‘rom com’ and then perform them to the class including the soundtrack and possibly
some theatrical elements you saw in School Dance
8
THEME #5:
ESCAPISM
Drama – Creating & Making, Exploring & Responding
The play explores the idea of leaving reality and entering a fantasy world in order to escape from some fairly
negative realty.
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In small groups create a classroom scene – types of students, a teacher, a particular lesson etc.
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In the first scene, the main character dreams of ESCAPING and being somewhere else or being
someone else – a super hero, a movie star, in outer space – be creative
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In the second scene, using the magic of transformation, the classroom scene slips into an alternate
reality and our main character ESCAPES
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In this new world, the students and teacher become new characters
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The final scene, the classroom scene begins to interfere with the alternate reality and the two worlds
become mixed up – how might it end
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Perform these short plays and share the ideas that each group arrived at
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Critique the different ways that dramatic elements were used, how transformations were achieved.
Review writing
Critical thinking, Literacy
Write a review of School Dance. Your review is aimed at letting others know about the show and discussing
the strengths of the show and the aspects you thought might be less successful
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What was the main story?
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What were three aspects of the show that were outstanding – story, acting, music, staging - Why?
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What was an aspect of the show that you felt didn’t quite work? Why?
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Would you recommend the show? To whom?
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An overall rating out of ten.
9
VCE DRAMA – ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION
This section specifically focuses on Drama Unit 3 - Analysing Non-naturalistic Performance.
School Dance is a non-naturalistic performance and your task is to analyse how and why it is nonnaturalistic, and evaluate the effectiveness of certain choices using the following KN and KS as a focus.
Key Knowledge
This knowledge includes
• ways in which performance styles that are not dependent on life-like representations of everyday life and
theatrical conventions are used in performance;
• ways in which characters are represented in non-naturalistic performance through the actors’ use of
expressive skills including voice, movement, facial expression and gesture;
• ways in which dramatic elements, theatrical conventions and stagecraft are manipulated to enhance nonnaturalistic performance;
• the language of drama associated with performance styles, traditions, and practitioners from contemporary
and/or cultural traditions relevant to non-naturalistic performance.
Key skills
These skills include the ability to
• analyse the representation of characters within a non-naturalistic performance;
• analyse and evaluate the manipulation of dramatic elements, theatrical conventions and stagecraft within a
non-naturalistic performance;
• analyse non-naturalistic performance styles within a production;
• use appropriate language of drama to analyse and evaluate a non-naturalistic performance
Here we go …
10
STRUCTURE AND WORLD OF THE PLAY
We decided to set our show in one of these infamous school halls. Its interior allows us to slip between
multiple realities and offers a theatrical freedom that parallels the make-believe, anything-could happen
feeling of the school halls of our teenage years – Jonathon Oxlade, Designer
Using this quote from the designer, the following questions explore how the world of School Dance was
created in the performance
1. The ‘infamous school hall’
 How was the world of a school hall created on stage – consider the stagecraft areas of set, props,
costume, sound and lighting
2. We share a lot in common. We’re all in our mid-30s, grew up as kids of the 1980s, work in the theatre,
are into pretty geeky things and were all outsiders as teenagers. Oh, and also, we’re all complete idiots!
In our own special way. So ingredients were now starting to emerge. I had a starting point. Three
teenage boys who don’t fit in – Matt Whittet, Writer
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How does the play introduce the three main characters?
How does this introduction set up the world of the play?
How did you initially respond to Luke, Jono and Matt? Why?
3. The creation of ‘multiple realities’
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How many different perspectives/stories or realities were presented on stage?
For instance how is the friendship of Matt, Jono and Luke presented?
How is each of the boys personal worlds presented to us?
How is space and stagecraft used to present these individual worlds? How is silence used? What is
the significance of a single door? The remote control in Luke hand?
How is school life represented? How is Derek Sturgess, the school bully, introduced?
4. The designer talks about a theatrical freedom that parallels the make-believe, anything-could happen
feeling.
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What aspects of the story are make-believe?
What is it about the world of the play that allows us as an audience to believe that ‘anything could
happen’? How is this established and maintained throughout?
5. The Land of the Invisible Teen is presented as a world-within-a-world, one where Danika hangs out and
Matt disappears into
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How is this world created on stage?
What stagecraft is used? What spatial choices are made? How does projection/animation work in
this world? What do the invisible teens look like?
Do the characters use particular non-naturalistic conventions and expressive skills in this world?
Voice? Movement? Focus?
6. The Point
The Point is a place where the three boys go to escape and to dream. The show suggests that it is out of
town and higher up
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How is The Point created?
How does lighting and use of space allow us to believe that the boys are at The Point?
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7. Everything in the world of School Dance is either a direct reference to the 1980’s or some kind of weird
hybrid we’ve invented– Jonathon Oxlade, Designer
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The overall aesthetic of the world of the play is 1980s pop culture and fashion
These are evident in the design elements
Use the above quote to prompt a list of some specific 1980s references you saw and heard in the
play
What about the use of expressive skills to create this world?
How is movement used in a way that suggests a 1980s era?
Is the language used of a 1980s era?
8. It was a pleasure to build a world that has such a strong aesthetic from music film clips, specific colours,
cartoons and toys. It’s a world where superstars wore lycra with tube socks and used roller-skates as a
viable mode of transportation. Needless to say costuming this showing was a blast for us all – Jonathon
Oxlade, Designer
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Discuss this comment by the designer
What aspects of the world of the play were like music film clips? For instance there are several
scenes where the characters lip synch to 1980s songs (see playlist reference below)
What do you recall about characters wearing lycra and looking like superstars or superheroes?
12
PERFORMANCE STYLES
The overall performance style in School Dance is non-naturalism. Within that overarching style, the
production also uses aspects of:
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Magic realism/fantasy
Dance & Stylized movement
Physical theatre
Comedy
Narration and a self-referential style (characters knowing they are performing)
Magic Realism/Fantasy
What happens when a highly detailed, realistic setting is invaded by something too strange to believe?
Magic Realism is a genre where magic elements are a natural part of an otherwise mundane, realistic
environment. Fantasy is a genre that takes place in imaginary worlds where magic happens and the
supernatural is present.
What aspects of School Dance incorporate these ideas?
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Consider the ‘invisibility’ of Matt
Luke’s sudden transformation into a 1980s action movie voice-over dude
The sudden magical appearance of ‘bleeps’ to take out the swear words
The slippage into The Land of the Invisible Teen
The sudden appearance of the Unicorn
The imagined personas of Jono, Luke and Derek Sturgess
The evil Mogwai (from Gremlins, 1984)
How Danika and Matt become visible again
Other moments that you recall as having magical or fantastical qualities
Dance & Stylized Movement
There is considerable use of dancing and stylized movement in this production and a choreographer /
movement coach, Gabrielle Nankivell, is part of the creative team. There are aspects of 1980s dance styles,
as well as other more abstract moments i.e. where movement symbolizes or represents.
Consider how the following scenes in the play use movement and dance:
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Hannah Ellis in her pink dress and big hair dancing at the school dance
Jono and Luke providing the stylized background choreography for Matt complete with gymnastic
ribbons
Luke as He Man as he defeats Derek Sturgess and rescues Jono and Matt from The Land of the
Invisible Teen
The final scene with the four characters at the school dance
What other moments do you recall where movement and dance were used to explore the story or
ideas in the play?
13
Physical Theatre
School Dance also uses aspects of physical theatre in the exploration of ideas and to tell the story. What is
physical theatre? It is a form of theatre that primarily uses physical means to tell a story.
Consider the following scenes from the production and how physical theatre was used:
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The boys riding the BMX bikes
Danika physically responding to Matt repeating her name
The personification of the Unicorn
Derek Sturgess beating up Jono
What other moments can you recall where there was strong use of physical theatre?
Comedy
School Dance is often very funny. It uses different comedic styles including - physical, verbal, visual, the
unexpected, and juxtaposition as forms of humour. Some of the comedy is quite cheeky.
Consider how each of the following is comedic forms/conventions are used in the play:
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Geeky/nerdy characterization
Voice overs and ‘bleeps’
Physicality i.e. dancing, bike riding
Fart jokes
Stillness and silence
Dialogue
Costume, make-up and hair
Appearance of the strange or unexpected
What other aspects of comedy did you notice?
How do the comic elements contribute to the non-naturalistic style of the performance?
14
Narration and self-referential style
1. The play uses the mechanism of a narrator to initially introduce the characters and then at points
throughout to further the story. While narration can be seen as theatrical convention, it may be useful to
treat it as a style, particularly if you think about the relationship between the narrator and the actors that
develops across the production.
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How would you describe the role of the narrator in this production?
Why don’t we see them? Why do you think this choice has been made?
Does the narrator control any of the action or do they describe it?
How do the aspects above contribute to the non-naturalism in the production?
2. Towards the end of the production, the narrator is rejected by Jono, Matt and Luke. After they ask her to
butt out she says: ‘See how long you last without narrative cohesion’
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How is this exit created via stagecraft?
What do the characters then do for a narrator?
How does this contribute to the SELF-REFERENTIAL style?
What do the characters do that allows us to know they know they are performing?
Why is this non-naturalistic?
THEATRICAL CONVENTIONS
1. The performance styles in School Dance offer a rich exploration of non-naturalistic theatrical
conventions.
How are each of the following explored in the production?
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Transformation of time and place
Exaggerated movement
Disjointed/parallel times/flashback
Caricature
Pathos
Song
Stereotype
Direct address and Aside
Multiple narratives
Ensemble
Chorus
2. Consider your discussion here based on prior discussion about theatrical styles and the use of
stagecraft, for instance:
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How are nerds/geeks caricatured?
How are the female characters caricatured – Barbie Dolls, Mean Girls, bossy older sister?
How does the female actor create so many different characters? Does she transform? Does she go
off stage and return as a new character? Is this transformation?
What stereotypes are created in this show?
How are multiple locations created – school, home, The Point, The Land of the Invisible Teen?
How would you describe the way memory works in the show? Is it flashback? Parallel time frames?
Do you feel empathy or sympathy as generated through ‘pathos’?
Do the characters use direct address to the audience and when?
How many different narratives are occurring within the production?
What moments of ‘chorus’ effect are there? Are these Greek, Vaudeville, Brechtian versions? Or
their own version?
Evaluate these aspects of the production – were they effective? Did they enhance the nonnaturalistic style of the production?
15
DRAMATIC ELEMENTS
All theatre uses particular dramatic elements as the basis for its creation. In Drama Unit 3, particular
dramatic elements are listed as being relevant to ‘non-naturalism’. How is each of the follow dramatic
elements explored in the production:
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Contrast – between characters, between stories, between comedy and drama?
Conflict – inner conflict, intra conflict, meta conflict?
Climax – for each character, for the overall story?
Space –the use of intimate space, vast space, the endowment of space with different meanings for
different characters and for different purposes?
Timing - fast paced scenes, contrasting timing, slow motion, repetition?
Rhythm - in the music, sound design, movement?
Focus - on whom, within the show, individual actor focus, audience gaze?
Symbol – what was symbolic and how was it made so through words, gesture, stagecraft elements,
props such as the remote control, lighting, sound, costume?
Sound - sound effect, composition, the 1980s-soundtrack-of-our-lives?
Mood – the comic juxtaposed with dramatic/tragic?
16
STAGE CRAFT
Set Design
1. The set is a realization of a school hall set up for the school dance or social with an elevated stage,
curtains, mirror ball, balloons, parquet flooring, exit signs and entrances to the boys and girls toilets
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Is this a realistic set?
If so, how does it contribute to the performance styles of the production?
Can there be moments of realism or naturalism in a non-naturalistic production?
If so, how does the premise of a school hall work in terms of non-naturalism?
What is the symbolism of a school hall? How is it used to create other locations and places?
2. A toilet cubicle for Joanie and Danika appears. Danika is played by Luke in costume
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How does this set item appear?
Is it realistic? Representational? Non-naturalistic?
What does it symbolize within the story?
3. The mushroom Smurf House is part of The Land of the Invisible Teen
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How does it enhance the magic realism in the production?
How do the actors engage with this set piece? How does it affect their use of expressive skills?
How does this set play with a sense of ‘scale’ and distortion?
4. The doorways into each boy’s home are used very specifically to reveal their home lives.
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Consider how a single door as a set item can have several meanings and operate symbolically within
the play.
5. The BMX bikes are a symbol of the 1980s
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How do the bikes enhance the non-naturalistic conventions?
How do they appear? How are they used?
How do the bikes enhance the development of the characters?
Sound/Composition
1. I went to lots of Blue Light Discos in the 1980’s and by the 90’s I was DJ’ing at them. The music I
remember being played was of course 80’s pop music. For ‘School Dance’ it was a natural choice to
have an eclectic mix of licensed tracks from this decade as the base for the soundtrack – Luke Smiles,
Sound design
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2.
How do these 1980’s songs provide a soundtrack for the show?
What is their effect? Did you enjoy them? Why/why not?
I approach making soundtracks for live theatre in much the same way as I would for film. Foley, prerecorded dialogue, sound design, original score and licensed music are combined to create the
deliberately ‘cinematic’ soundtrack of School Dance – Luke Smiles, Sound Design
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Discuss the different elements of the sound used in School Dance that the designer lists above – did
you hear these different elements?
How did sound work to create The World of the Invisible Teen?
The presence of Derek Sturgess?
What moods were created using sound?
Would you agree with the designer that the sound for School Dance is like a film soundtrack?
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How did sound work to enhance the non-naturalistic style of the production?
Lighting
Richard Vabre’s lush lighting design is crucial part of the telling of this story – Rose Myers, Director.
The lighting achieves many things in this production as the director states. Discuss how lighting was used in
the following scenes;
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The school dance itself – what particular aesthetic
The toilet cubicle – how does it create location
The three boys own homes, just inside their front doors – how does it create subtext?
The entrance of Derek Sturgess
The BMX bike riding extravaganza up to The Point
How else does lighting work to contrast the real world and the fantasy work, inner fears with outer
fears?
Animation
1. Director Rose Myers describes the animation and video for the show as ‘evocative’.
In the image above you have an impression of how the animation and video was working in conjunction
with the other theatrical elements.
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What was the purpose of the animation? What world did it create?
How would you describe the overall mood of the animation? What did it evoke?
How did the actors interact with the video screen?
How did the animation contribute to the non-naturalistic style of the production?
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2. The animated world on the screen includes figures of lost teenagers.
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How does the animation work symbolically within the production?
Costume
The designer has made a point of using the 1980s as a source to inspire the costumes – acid wash jeans,
denim skirts, hi-top shoes, white belts, high heels, head bands…the list goes on.
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Consider how Jono, Matt and Luke are dressed and how it enhances their particular character
How does Hannah Ellis dress at the school dance? Does her costume ‘heighten’ her character?
Does it make her more caricatured?
Consider the use of costume in the ‘real world’ and then in the magical or fantasy worlds’ – contrasts,
exaggerations, colours, styles
For instance what do the invisible teens wear? What does this symbolize
What is naturalistic about some of the costumes?
What is inherently non-naturalistic about some of the costumes?
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REPRESENTATION OF CHARACTERS
By now you will have established that the production of School Dance explores a range of theatrical
conventions and dramatic elements from the non-naturalistic performance style.
You may agree that there are also moments of naturalism in order to evoke pathos. This section of the notes
explores the characters in the show.
1. But as well as being painful it is also very funny and the fact that we all relate to it on some level means
we want these characters to win – Rosemary Myers, Director
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How did you respond to the three main characters in the production?
Did you have a favourite? Why?
Do you agree with the director that we, as an audience, want them to win?
2. Choose two contrasting characters from the production – one could be in the ‘real world’ and the other
could be in the ‘fantasy world’. They could be different versions of the same person. Now choose a
specific scene to discuss in more detail.
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Discuss how each character used their expressive skills in this scene
How would you describe their voice, what type of moment did they use (dance, stylized movement)
were their facial expressions natural or exaggerated, did they use gesture and did it have any
symbolism?
Did your chosen characters represent particular ‘types’? What ‘type’?
Did the character have a particular ‘function’ in the production ie To rescue, to provoke, to love?
Evaluate the use of expressive skills – were they effective in conveying the character? How did they
contribute to the non-naturalistic style of the production?
THEMES
Some of the themes that School Dance explores are violence, bullying, identity, self-esteem, courage, love,
friendship, trust, escapism, popular culture
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How does each of the following statements/descriptions of the production explore some of
the key themes?
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Discuss how the use of stagecraft and expressive skills explored the themes in the
performance
I began to delve into our collective, and horrifically awkward memories of youth. Of what it’s like to not
belong. To be riddled with demons that are too hard to talk about. With anyone. And how the only thing that
ever got you through these moments were like minded friends. Other outcasts in the hormonal wasteland of
adolescence – Matt Whittet, Writer
All of us remembered the bubble of childhood breaking and our awareness of the social pecking order being
particularly acute during our teenage years. It’s a growing consciousness of the beautiful people
accompanied by the brutal realisation you are not one of them – Rose Myers, Director
We wanted to explore the experience of being at the bottom of that pecking order to examine the self
loathing, threat of violence and the ultimate self discovery that exists there – Rose Myers, Director
Quotes Source: Sydney Theatre Company Program January, 2013
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RESOURCES
A School Dance promo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLCU6s3EdkI
Reviews
Arts Hub - March 10 2012
http://au.artshub.com/au/news-article/reviews/performing-arts/school-dance-188128
Sydney Morning Herald - Jan 14 2013
http://readnow.mediamonitors.com.au/ReadNow.aspx?45AoubyBJO7
Sydney Daily Telegraph - Jan 16 2013
http://readnow.mediamonitors.com.au/ReadNow.aspx?45C1c5yBONN
Articles
The Land of Invisible Teens – Elissa Blake, Sydney Morning Herald, Jan 11 2013
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/the-land-of-invisible-teens-20130110-2chbt.html
Adelaide Festival: School Dance - Samela Harris, The Advertiser (Adelaide Now), March 7 2012
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/entertainment/festivals/school-dance/story-fnb4gl49-1226292370874
Interviews
Time Out Sydney - Interview with Matthew Whittet, Writer and Performer
http://www.au.timeout.com/sydney/theatre/features/11667/school-dance-matt-whittet-interview
Revenge of the Nerds – Interview with Matthew Whittet by Benjamin Cooper and Dee Jefferson
http://www.thebrag.com/2013/01/28/theatre-interview-school-dance/
Video interview with Matt Whittet for Real Time TV by Keith Gallasch
http://www.realtimearts.net/feature/realtime_tv/10938
Images
Production Images – Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sydney_festival/sets/72157631553665364/detail/
Production Photography by Tony Lewis
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