Image courtesy ACTT
The graduates of Actors College of Theatre and Television (ACTT) are showcasing their talent in six plays shown across two Sydney theatres – Bondi Pavilion and Belvoir Street through October and November.
For 20 years, ACTT has been teaching students how to improvise, explore, analyse and critique a range of scripts and production styles, whether it be for theatre, film or television. The ACTT style of training is unique in Australia because it combines the psychology of acting with an approach to moving and embodying the character for both stage and screen.
The current season features graduates from the Advanced Diploma in Acting course. This year’s diverse program showcases student’s newfound skills which allows them to produce powerful, emotional performances in a variety of contexts.
The season’s first production The Last Days of Judas Iscariot at Belvoir Theatre was a sell out. Also at Belvoir Theatre SLUT: The Play, explored the complex meanings associated with the term. At Bondi Pavilion, the season began with Lucky, then Joseph K, which was a reworking of The Trial by Franz Kafka.
Coming up in November, the final two shows of the ACTT season reflect further varieties in characters and storylines. Roundheads and Peakheads is a satirical play written by Bertolt Brecht and directed by Lex Marinos. Written in 1936, the story is set in the fictitious country of Woop-Woop and traces the revolution between the majority ‘roundheads’ party versus the minority ‘peakheads’. The play will run at Bondi Pavilion between 5–9 November.
The Boys from Syracuse, a musical theatre production, also debuting at Bondi Pavilion, between 19–21 November, has been a described as a mixture of Fawlty Towers and Shakespeare set in a tropical paradise. The show’s director, Stephen Lloyd Helper, says this production demonstrates the way ACTT students are able to ‘employ new ideas and harness their fantastic imaginations and talents to recreate a vibrant production’.
The six plays presented by ACTT’s graduates showcase a new generation of performers who are reinvigorating traditional performance genres.
For more information about this graduate season and tickets go to http://www.actt.edu.au/events/performances/
