One of the pleasures of being a Drama teacher is being able to inspire young people to use their creativity to have a voice and encourage audiences to imagine other worlds and futures.

The Stage 1 Drama class, known as Aspect Theatre Company, wanted to present a play that used a form of magical realism to engage audiences on issues that were important to them. This class was particularly concerned with environmental issues. The initial idea was to incorporate some kind of hero origin story where a character fell into some contaminated water and grew wings. It was a discussion with the Head of Science, Mrs Simone Burzacott-Gorman, about the capabilities of dolphins such as echolocation and the plight for survival of our local dolphin community in the Port River, that shaped the final story which I had the pleasure to write for the class.

Mrs Burzacott-Gorman closely studied the dolphins and environment around the Port River Estuary in the 1990s as a marine biologist. She shared many of her personal stories about her favourite dolphins as well as some of her more alarming findings as part of her research into the human impact on the dolphins and their habitat. We were lucky to workshop the play with Mike Bossley and Marianna Boorman from the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary who gave us advice to shape the story and inform the science and politics which permeate the play.

Our story, ‘Little Fish’, was set in a time not too far away from our own. A new synthetic chemical compound is discovered in the waters around the Port River Estuary which is believed to have caused a human mutation after sightings of a half-man, half-dolphin creature in the area. The creature, known as the Dolphin Man or the Port River Monster, has residents worried for their safety and activists concerned about the declining state of the water and natural environment, while industry fear this is a hoax and the work of ‘deluded greenies’ trying to take down big business.

In the centre of all of this is the Minister for the Environment of the day, Clive (Olivia MacCormac), who has a dark past of his own and who is caught in the tug-of-war between simultaneously supporting the environment and industry. When his daughter, Alice (Tessa Moloney), sneaks out one night in search of the Port River Monster, he is forced to start believing in things he can’t see and learns what it means to take real action.

Olivia was engaging as the duplicitous Clive capturing the internal tension and arc of the character with appropriate smugness. Tessa played moments of comedy and pathos in quite a demanding role. As the true heroine of the story, she brought a palpable sense of what it means to be true and courageous through her performance. Esen Cinar shone as Alice’s sarcastic sister, Chelsea; their scenes together were a particular highlight providing much needed comic relief through their all-too-familiar sisterly banter. Charlotte Linke as Gen rounded out the family unit as the busy mum with a big heart trying to support her husband’s demanding political career while encouraging her daughters to stand up for what they believe in.

Grace Hyde-Kelly held the role of Aster, the much-famed Port River Monster, with deftness giving a human face to the real struggle of the dolphins in our own Port River. Caitlyn Randle alternated between Aster’s headstrong activist mother, Sally, and Clive’s fastidious Executive Assistant, Denise, showing her versatility in both serious and comic roles. Meg McGrath provided context and narration as the matter-of-fact news reporter, Trish, and doubled as Aster’s humble and mild father, Wilbur. Special guest stars, Dr Sally Nobbs, Ms Steph Fisher and Chrissie Downes, featured as Dolphin Man believers and sceptics, and disgruntled local residents in news reports.

Holly Goodchild and Bianca Rowan produced an impactful, innovative and cohesive design concept through costume and technical elements respectively. Their work complimented the set design which drew from the colours of the Port River and the surrounding Wingfield rubbish dump. They were supported by our Drama Assistant, Ms Steph Fisher, and Technician, Mrs Candace Gwyther, who help to elevate the production through their innovation and creativity.

The true star of the show, however, was undoubtedly our dolphin puppet, Billie, designed by Ms Fisher and operated by Esen and Grace. Billie swam, splashed, dove and flippered her way through the play bringing a sense of wonder and magic to the production.

This was very much a collaborative effort from conceiving the ideas, writing and workshopping the play, and building every aspect of the production. Each girl was responsible for designing and developing animations, projections and multimedia for the show considering the extent to which technology could be used to engage audiences. The final impact was made when Aster asked audience members to take out their phone to scan a QR code projected on the screens which took them to a Linktree page that contained information on what they could do to support the dolphins. It was a true sign of the success of the production to see every audience member take out their phones and go home with an important message about looking after our own local environment and our dolphin friends.

Creating this show with this class was a truly special and magical experience, primarily to see the agency and efficacy with which every member of the company approached their work. I am excited to see what the future holds for this exceptional company of talented young women.

If you would like to learn more about what you can do to look after the dolphins in the Port River, scan the QR code in the photo gallery below.

Wildy Fringe

The Wilderness Creative Industries are proud to present the 2021 Wildy Fringe from Monday 8 November to Thursday 11 November.

The girls and their teachers have been working incredibly hard to put together a fantastic lineup of events and they would love to see the Wilderness community come along to celebrate their work. View the full lineup of events here.

The week will kick off with Creative Industries Day on Monday 8 November. This is a dress-up day for the girls with the theme of an 'Explosion of Creativity'. Please remember to bring along a gold coin donation to raise money for creative supplies in Nepal.

To book your tickets click here.

Art

Year 6 Basket Weaving Workshop

In Week 3, students in the Year 6 classes were fortunate enough to have guest artist Belle Stormonth visit to teach contemporary basket weaving techniques.

The girls are currently learning about textiles and will create a basket that can be used in a functional way.

Belle showed the girls how fabrics and recycled materials can be used in textiles to add colour and taught them about the role of sustainability in the art classroom. We thank Belle for her wonderful workshop – the girls had an absolute blast.

Brittany Neeb
Teacher of Art

Music

Dream Girls Excursion

A special opportunity came up recently for the Dream Girls ensemble to attend a private screening of the movie musical ‘In the Heights’. This was a wonderful opportunity for the girls in this ensemble to bond and finish up their 2021 performance year together. Lots of fun was had by all.

Instrumental Concerts

At the end of the year, the Wilderness Music Department hosts a series of Instrumental and Vocal Concerts providing girls who learn an instrument at school an opportunity to gain valuable performance practice. These concerts will be held in Week 6 and 7 this term. If your daughter is involved, her Instrumental Tutor will provide you with the unique trybooking link and relevant details regarding specific concerts.

Vanessa Abela
Ensemble and Instrumental Coordinator