PLAYLAB'S WA SYLLABUS SUGGESTIONS 2022

UNIT 4: YEAR 12 PART 2 (CONTEMPORARY AND DEVISED DRAMA)

The following list of plays has been curated by Playlab Theatre staff in order to provide an extended list of plays suitable for study in Unit 4: Year 12 Part 2 (Contemporary and Devised Drama). The following plays have been selected as they were either created and/or developed through unique collaborations, and group devised processes, or because they are heavily relate on ensemble performance. We believe that the texts suggested in this list will provide a greater insight into the area of devised and ensemble performance and will offer great opportunities for both practical performance outcomes and study.

Rising

by Hannah Belanszky, Madeleine Border, Emily Burton, Lauren Sherritt and Sarah Wilson

THEMES: Climate Change, Extinction, Politics and Governance
LENGTH: 90 Minutes
CHARACTER AGES: 20s–40s
CAST SIZE: 3
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years

Rising by Hannah Belanszky, Read more

Undertow

by Hayden Jones and Sam Foster

THEMES: Resilience, Mental Health , Relationships and Identity
LENGTH: 50 minutes
CAST SIZE: 17 Characters
CHARACTER AGES: 16-30+
SUITABLE FOR: Middle & Senior Years

Shock Therapy's Undertow is an honest and powerful look at the hidden forces, beneath the surface that move us and determine the choices we make and the actions ... Read more

The Pride

by Side Pony Productions

THIS IS A DIGITAL PUBLICATION

THEMES: Inter-generational Tension, Human Behaviour
LENGTH: 60 Minutes
CHARACTER AGES: Various
SUITABLE FOR: Adult
CAST SIZE: 3

The Pride by Side Pony Productions takes a long hard look at lions.
SYNOPSIS
Bruce ... 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

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 Village

by Multiple Playwrights

THEMES: Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Immigration
LENGTH: 90 Minutes
CHARACTER AGES: 18+
CAST SIZE: 7
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years & Adults

The Village is a collaboration between La Boite Theatre Company and MDA, and features stories from <... Read more

Melek Mo Hani

by Steve Mayer-Miller

THIS IS A DIGITAL PUBLICATION

THEMES: Cultural Identity, South Sea Islander Themes, Immigration, Deportation
CHARACTER AGES: Adult
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: 1 – 2 Cast Members
TARGET AUDIENCE: Middle & Senior Years

Moses Susuburi has three homes — Malaita Island, Vanuatu and Beaconsfield Road, Mackay — it's a long story, so when he is caught busking without a licence, it's hard for him to ... Read more

Behind the Cane

by Michael and Margery Forde

THIS IS A DIGITAL PUBLICATION

THEMES: Blackbirding, White Australia Policy, Australian South-Sea Islander History and Culture
CHARACTER AGES: 10+
LENGTH: 120 Minutes
CAST SIZE: 9+ Cast Members
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years

In the late 1800s, Australian ships arrived in the South ... Read more

Driving Into Walls

by Suzie Miller

THEMES: Youth, Drugs, Sex, Self-representation
CHARACTER AGES: 18-21
LENGTH: 1 Hour
CAST SIZE: 5 – 6 Cast Members
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years

Making out, fighting, laughing, dancing and confessing … Drawn from over 500 starkly honest and highly confidential interviews with West Australian teenagers, this intimate and confronting play draws back the curtain on ... Read more

The Belonging Trilogy

by Margi Brown Ash

THEMES: Belonging, Home, Not-Belonging,
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: 1–2
CHARACTER AGES: ≤50
SUITABLE FOR: Adults

Alongside the three plays, social artist, Margi Brown Ashshares her devising processes and provides key learnings for readers to reflect on and explore their own personal and cultural mythology, collaborative ... Read more

The Long Way Home

by Daniel Keene

THEMES: Military Service, Mental Health, Trauma, Relationships
CHARACTER AGES: 18+
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CAST SIZE: 9+ Cast Members
SUITABLE FOR: Adult

We shall overcome Created from first-hand accounts, The Long Way Home reflects the Australian Defence Force's recent experiences on operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and East Timor as well ... Read more

Please Be Seated

by David Megarrity

THEMES: Love, Loss, Life
CHARACTER AGES: Non-Specific
Length: 1 Hour
TARGET AUDIENCE: Senior Years
CAST SIZE: Large Cast Without Doubling

This is a performance that knows it’s a performance. Collaboratively devised, drawing on verbatim, movement and music, Please be Seated tracks romantic relationships from reflections on the experience of ... Read more

Hanako

by Katherine Lyall-Watson and Caroline Dunphy

THIS IS A DIGITAL PUBLICATION

THEMES: Culture Clash, Art, Dominance and Female Empowerment
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
SUITABLE FOR: Senior Years
CAST SIZE: 7 – 8 Cast Members

Hanako plunges the audience into the hyper-realistic fantasy of ... Read more

Snow White

by Lindy Hume, Zulya Kamalova, Suzie Miller Libretto by Suzie Miller

THEMES: Womanhood, Power, Beauty
CHARACTER AGES: 18+
CAST SIZE: 3 – 4 Cast Members
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
TARGET AUDIENCE: Adult

There’s a queen, a girl, a huntsman, a mirror, an act of jealousy, a poison apple and a deadly axe. It’s everything you recognise, but nothing you’d ... Read more
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