Spectacle and sobriety
This year, the Glen Waverley campus has witnessed some exemplary theatre productions, with outstanding creativity, spectacular costumes, lighting and set design; together, they enabled the casts to shine, and achieve exacting professional standards. Two examples demonstrate this.
The musical, Return to the Forbidden Planet, was arguably the biggest Years 8 and 9 musical ever produced at Glen Waverley – it involved nine chorus numbers, a multitude of lines, songs and choreography. Somewhat eclectic, the musical was based upon Shakespeare’s The Tempest and the 1950s sci-fi film, The Forbidden Planet. (Moreover, there were many references to other Shakespearean works; from subtle jokes to entire lines borrowed from the various plays, from Shakespearean characters, such as Doctor Prospero and Miranda, to the movie’s Captain Tempest).
And the plot? It was zany and frankly, way “out there”; a true reflection of the vibrancy of colour, animated choreography and toe-tapping music. The mad scientist Doctor Prospero, duped by his wife, Gloria, is sent into hyper-space, along with their infant daughter Miranda. Meanwhile, Captain Tempest and his crew, similarly thrown into hyperspace, are in turn pulled towards D’Illyria, the forbidden planet and…well, you get the idea!
Great dancing and singing were hallmarks of Return to the Forbidden Planet. Along with the characters taken from the film, the costumes and set designs were deliberately “over-the-top” in their own inimitable sci-fi way. Bursting with red hot rock “n” roll hits, the musical included Great Balls of Fire, Good Vibrations, Teenager in Love, Born to be Wild and Gimme Some Lovin’. Old rockers in the audience could test their memories.
Not so eclectic, and with greater sobriety, the Senior School theatre production, The Roaring Girl, was no less a success. Written by David Dunn, the production was based upon historical fact, detailing the life of an extraordinary woman, Mary Firth, who refused to conform to the conventions of a man’s world. She cut her hair short, wore male clothing, smoked a pipe and often sang bawdy songs on the Jacobean stage.
Juliet Oswell and Serena Moon played the role of Mary Firth, or as she was nicknamed, Moll Cutpurse. Both students sang superbly. Supported by a wonderful cast, the play depicted Mary as the leading “fence” in seventeenth century London. (Indeed, at the age of sixty, she rode out with the leading highwayman of the age, Captain James Hind, played here by Ben Warren, and held up Oliver Cromwell’s coach. Hind was captured and hanged. Mary escaped, paying a 2000 pound bribe.)
The spectacle of costumes, lighting and choreography were augmented wonderfully by the construction and use of a revolving set that captured the intense action and characterisation permeating the production from beginning to end. Both theatre productions are testament to the serious manner with which Glen Waverley Student Theatre is approaching each production. Passion, engagement, creativity and a sense of endless fun have been hallmarks of our theatre this year.
