PLAYLAB'S NSW SYLLABUS SUGGESTIONS 2022

TOPIC 4: APPROACHES TO ACTING

The following list has been assembled by Playlab Theatre in order to provide an extended list of plays suitable for study in Topic 4: Approaches to Acting to assist educators and students to explore approaches to actor training in the 20th century and its realisation in theatre production or other forms of drama performance. The following list of titles provides a guide for selecting work written specifically to be performed by senior years aged actors. Each of the titles below provide an opportunity to apply knowledge learned in this topic in practical, age and skill appropriate performance environments.

Wisdom

by David Burton

THEMES: Civic Responsibility, Political Agency, Youth & Aging
LENGTH: 60 Minutes
CHARACTER AGES: 13–17
NO. OF CHARACTERS: 16, Large Cast
SUITABLE FOR: Middle & Senior Years

David Burton's Wisdom is a politically charged black comedy that unpacks ... Read more

The Fledglings

by Maxine Mellor

THEMES: Dreams and Desires, Disappointment, Generational Battles
LENGTH: 1 Hour
CAST SIZE: Large cast without doubling
CHARACTER AGES: ≤50
SUITABLE FOR: Middle & Senior Years

The Fledglings by Maxine Mellor is published alongside Good Grief by Merlynn Tong in a collection. SYNOPSIS: The Fledglings ... Read more

The Final Days of Bedlam

by David Burton

THIS IS A DIGITAL PUBLICATION

THEMES: Role of Education, Freedom of Choice, Bullying
LENGTH: 1 Hour
CAST SIZE: Large Cast Without Doubling
SUITABLE FOR: Middle & Senior Years

David Burton's The Final Days of Bedlam is written specifically for Grade 7–10 and designed for classrooms to reflect on the purpose of education and learning in classroom environments. <... Read more

Bathory Begins

by Emme Hoy and Gretel Vella

THEMES: Survival, Good vs. Evil, Horror
LENGTH: 90 Minutes
CAST SIZE: 14, Large Cast
SUITABLE FOR: Middle Years

Emme Hoy and Gretel Vella's Bathory Begins Read more

Impending Everyone

by Michael Andrew Collins

THEMES: Technology, Adolescents
LENGTH: 90 Minutes
CAST SIZE: 9
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years

Michael Andrew Collin's Impending Everyone was inaugural winner of the ATYP Foundation Commission (14 - 17 Year Olds) in 2016. <... Read more

Spontaneous Human Combustion

by Daniel Evans

THEMES: Trauma, Defiance, Grief
CHARACTER AGES: 16 – 18
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: Large Cast Without Doubling
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years

School Captain Astrid Pollard is on fire. Ever since she was assigned that oral presentation on Joan of Arc life has sort of, well, spontaneously combusted. People are looking at ... Read more

Sugarland

by Rachael Coopes and Wayne Blair

THEMES: Indigenous Themes, Regional Australia, Displacement, Growing up
CHARACTER AGES: 16 – 18, Adult
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years

Sugarland provides a glimpse into a teenage Australia that feels like a foreign country. This haunting new play will make you pause, make you smile, make you wonder how much ... Read more

The Chosen

by Lachlan Philpott

THEMES: Desires to be unique, Adolescents
CHARACTER AGES: Teenage to Adult
LENGTH: 90 Minutes
CAST SIZE: Large Cast Without Doubling
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years

For most girls, finding a place within the cliques, the hierarchies, and the gossip of a new school is tough enough. For Freya Star, it’s astronomically more difficult. She’... Read more

The Pineapple War

by Lachlan Philpott

THEMES: Oppression, Revolution, Influence
CHARACTER AGES: 16 – 23
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: Large Cast Without Doubling
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years

It’s 2022 and Queensland is now part of China to resolve a civil war. The rest of Australia has become Nation One, with a conservative government and a return to ... Read more

Orbit

by David Burton

THEMES: Ambition, Love, Success, Growing Up
CHARACTER AGES: 15 – 18
Length: 1.5 Hours
TARGET AUDIENCE: Middle & Senior Years
CAST SIZE: 9+ Cast Members

Orbit is a science fiction adventure about 20 young people, of which two will be chosen to carry on humanity’s bright future on planet Mars. The teenagers must ... Read more

Talking To Brick Walls

by Claire Christian & The Empire Arts Impact Ensemble

THEMES: Young People, Coming of Age, Parenting
CHARACTER AGES: Middle – Senior Years
LENGTH: 1 Hour
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years
CAST SIZE: Large Cast Without Doubling

Hey! We need to talk! And we've needed to talk for over 8000 years. Talking to Brick Walls is a hybrid verbatim piece exploring adolescent and parent relationships. It was co-created ... Read more

The Land Mine Is Me

by David Burton and Claire Christian

THEMES: Adolescence, Crisis
CHARACTER AGES: 15 – 18
LENGTH: 90 Minutes
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years
CAST SIZE: 9+ Cast Members

There’s a bomb in the school. The bomb is going to explode. Do you know who did it? The Land Mine is Me is a comic and ... Read more

Define ‘Adult’

by David Burton, Claire Christian and La Boite’s Young Actors Company

THIS IS A DIGITAL PUBLICATION

THEMES: Coming of Age, Youth, Inter-generational Change
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: Large Cast Without Doubling
SUITABLE FOR: Middle Years

When do you reach that point? When you turn 18? When you move out of home? When you get married? When you have a baby? When you lose ... Read more

Male Monologue Collection

CAST: 1M
CHARACTER AGES: 16 – 50s
SUITABLE FOR: Adults

The Male Monologue Collection Volume 1 features 20 monologues gleaned from Playlab Theatre’s extensive catalogue of Australian plays. Plays and characters featured in this collection are:

Male Monologue Collection Volume 2

CAST: 1M
CHARACTER AGES: 16 – 50s
SUITABLE FOR: Adults

The Male Monologue Collection Volume 2 features 20 monologues gleaned from Playlab Theatre's extensive catalogue of Australian plays. Plays and characters featured in this collection are:
  • Read more

Female Monologue Collection

CAST: 1F
CHARACTER AGES: 16 – 50s
SUITABLE FOR: Adults

The Female Monologue Collection Volume 1 features 20 monologues gleaned from Playlab's extensive catalogue of Australian plays, including monologues from:

Female Monologue Collection Volume 2

CAST: 1F
CHARACTER AGES: 16 – 50s
SUITABLE FOR: Adults

The Female Monologue Collection Volume 2 features 20 monologues gleaned from Playlab's extensive catalogue of Australian plays.
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