Bachelor of Performance students in the 2013 production of Embers by Campion Decent. Image by Heidrun Lohr.
When Australian theatre director Stefanos Rassios was invited to work with Sydney’s AIM Dramatic Arts (AIM) graduating company students on the forthcoming performance season production of Hell Hath No Fury: Elektra, Medea and Phaedra, he couldn’t say no.
‘For a long time I have been interested in working on classics. That has kind of been my bread and butter. I’ve wanted to do it [Phaedra] for a long time,’ he said.
Rassios said that Hell Hath No Fury, which opens on 3 May, features a contemporary retelling of three iconic Greek stories about the characters or Elektra, Medea and Phaedra.
‘I’m directing Phaedra. Elektra is directed by Shane Anthony and Medea is being directed by Kate Gaul.’
A NIDA acting and directing graduate, Rassios has worked professionally across the country whilst spending a good part of the last five years working as a director, facilitator and acting teacher with AIM Dramatic Arts and the program.
He said that the benefits of bringing in working directors to collaborate with Dramatic Arts students has been extremely valuable in developing hand-on skills across the theatre arts. It gives graduates a head start, and has fast established AIM Dramatic Arts as a centre for performance training excellence.
‘At AIM, the advantage is that students take an interest not just what is happening performatively in the rehearsal room, but also what is happening directorially, or within the design or the production elements of constructing a show,’ he said.
‘Although the students I am working with are fundamentally taking on the role of the performer, they are able to observe the other aspects of creating a work.’
Rassios said he finds the opportunity to teach at AIM Dramatic Arts extremely rewarding.‘ I always love directing at AIM. The last show I directed was in 2012 but the other thing I have done regularly over the last four years is to be the creative mentor for the projects that the students create.’
‘I have taken the final year students through a process of them coming up with ideas for their own shows, which they end up writing, producing and ultimately performing in a season of works,’ he said.
Rassios said that students who complete the two-year Bachelor of Performance intensive will be opened up to every kind of aspect of theatre making. ‘If you are unsure of where your path within the performing arts might be, you’ll definitely find it by the end of the two years at AIM.’
‘But also, if you are certain that you want to be an actor, a stage manager, a director or a designer it will set you up with the fundamental skills required to enter those professions,’ he said.
The AIM Dramatic Arts teaching staff feature a high-calibre group of industry professionals, and includes graduates from NIDA, QUT, WAAPA, VCA, Nepean (UWS).
Each is chosen for their specific expertise as a professional practitioner, teacher and industry mentor. Their combined knowledge and experience offer Dramatic Arts students the opportunity to learn current industry practices in a supportive, professional environment.
Applications are now open for the May intake of the Bachelor of Performance, an immersive two-year full-time program.
Visit the AIM Dramatic Arts website for more information about the 19 May intake of the Bachelor of Performance Program.
