Theatre and Drama
brief desc
Theatre and Drama at Murdoch introduces students to a range of dynamic performative and dramatic texts. Students develop the critical language to explore how dramatic texts and performances make their mark in a ramge of different historical, social and cultural contexts. With numerous opportunities to engage – both on and off stage – in a diverse range of performance modes and styles, students also develop the professionalism and the confidence to create, perform, and produce work for public performance.
Climate Era
Directed by Alys Daroy
The play is staged on the lands of the Whadjuk Nyoongar Nation. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging and acknowledge
the tens of thousands of years of storytelling and performance taking place on these unneeded lands.
In 2017, I sat in the foyer of Griffin Theatre in Sydney waiting for a meeting that was running late. I picked up a script of their latest production, a provocative new work by Austral ian playwright David Finnigan titled Kill Climate Deniers. The play was filled with recognisable archetypes ranging from frenzied eco-activists to AM radio ‘shock jocks’ contesting climate change predictions made by the “eggheads at the CSIRO”. The work was creatively fresh, environmentally topical and politically brave, winning the 2017 Griffin Theatre Playwriting Award. Then it disappeared.
February, I wrote to Finnigan’s agent to request the rights to Kill Climate Deniers to stage for the 2024 Murdoch Theatre Showcase. They graciously obliged but returned an entirely different play called Scenes from the Climate Era. I recommend that you do your own digging as to what happened to the original, with videos and statements available online from
Finnigan himself. Suffice it to say, the play was—in our common vernacular—“cancelled”.
Scenes from the Climate Era sees a different Finnigan, one more resigned, with a more tempered passion, but still with ruhes of the same fire and urgency. Perhaps it was fate that the production falls in the week of the US election, given the event’s power to influence much the planet’s ecological and social direction. Murdoch University has never been afraid to comment on politics and champion environmental and social justice. With sustainability as one of our key pillars, we seek to do so again here at this fraught time through the Theatre and Creative Production program.
Sydney’s Belvoir Theatre staged Scenes in 2023
in conventional black box theatre style. We have chosen to experiment with a more immersive impact
for affect, including video by Dannon Wu Pictures, soundscape by Dr Leo Murray and lighting by Nexus Theatre Manager and Tim Brain. The show is the combined work of the committed and talented ensemble cast of EGL353 Theatre and Creative Production, along with an exceptional crew and creative team, who have together worked tirelessly to bring you a show in a fraction of the time and budget allocated to externally funded tertiary drama programs (please see the cast and crew list for details). I am eternally grateful for their enthusiasm and hard work and have every faith in their bright creative futures. The Theatre program is maintained by our supportive Head of School , Professor Dee O’Connor. Finally, there would be no theatre without you, our audience. Deepest thanks for your support.
We hope that this production does not encourage despondency but inspire personal and collective
positive acts, or at the least, spark new discussions. We all are perhaps dually oppressed by and compicit in climate impacts to different degrees
by virtue of the systems into which we are born and operate but we have the power to choose to what degree. Whether the play really believes that “hope is the enemy” is for you to decide but we remain strategically ‘blindly optimistic’ (or to cite Gen-Z, “delulu”) in the hope of creating change. In the words of the play’s therapist: “Because the problem is everywhere, that means the solutions are everywhere, too, right?”
— Alys Daroy, Director
Cast
Charlotte Bramley
Bramley Charlotte is in her first year at Murdoch University, majoring in Japanese, with a minor in Theatre and Creative Production. She is an extremely creative individual and talented artist, who has an eye for details and intricacies. In her free time Charlotte enjoys doing arts ‘n crafts, drawing, designing and making clothes. She has a deep love for animals, having many unique pets at home. In the future Charlotte hopes to one day lend her voice to many characters as a voice actor.
Kristin Carruthers
Kristen is halfway through her Bachelor of Arts Degree, with a double major in English and Creative Writing and Theatre and Creative Production. Writing and performing has always had a pivotal role in her life. Starting out in dance, she had her first performance at the age of 3, quickly followed by acting and singing. Drawn to the world of storytelling, she is a creative and passionate writer hoping to publish a book and screenplay. Given her love for writing and creating, she also hopes to write, produce and direct a film.
Janie Davidson
Janie is in her final year completing a Bachelor or Arts in Theatre and Creative Production at Murdoch University. Janie is no stranger to the Perth theatre and events scene, with over eighteen years of experience managing venues such as The Fly By Night Musicians Club, Astor Theatre, Subiaco Arts Centre and currently works as a Front of House Manager for the Arts & Culture Trust. Janie has a passion for the arts, music and loves beach walks and spending time with her kitties.
Tinashe Dwazoma
Tinashe, a 21-year-old double major in sound and screen production, is an emerging talent eager to explore the world of acting. While he does not yet have formal acting experience, Tinashe brings a unique creative edge, with a strong background in sound production. As part of the sound team in various projects, Tinashe has developed a deep understanding of storytelling through audio and is excited to translate this experience into future acting roles within the entertainment industry.
Alec Hay
Alec is currently studying a Bachelor of Secondary Education at Murdoch University, with a major in English and minor in HASS. Scenes from the Climate Era is the second production in which he has has been involved in; he first featured in two Shakespearean reimagined scenes for EGL244 Shakespeare and his Contemporaries. His favourite role in his last performance was Gremio from The Taming of the Shrew.
Phil Hughes
Phil is currently majoring in Theatre and Creative Production. Phil’s dream is to follow in his granddad’s footsteps as a performer to entertain, share his creative talents and inspire others. Entertainment experience includes immersive roleplaying performances, theatre and dance performances. In his late tens, he performed in a punk band. Outside of theatre, Phil writes and produces hip-hop music, writes poetry, trains Muay Thai, spends quality time with his community, while renovating pools and delivering plants to garden centres.
Channing Whitworth
Channing is in her final year at Murdoch with a double major in Theatre and English & Creative Writing. She spent her teen years participating in 12 high school and local theatre musical productions. Favourite roles were the Evil Queen in Snow Off-White and Dick Whittington in Dick Whittington. Channing also has a passion for script-writing, buying books and writing poetry in her free time. She aims to one day be a drama teacher, specifically the type that she had in high school that encouraged her life-long love for performance art.
Esme Wood
Esme is completing her final year of a BA in Psychology with a minorin Theatre and Drama, and Sociology. Her aim is to combine her loveof theatre and the arts with helping people through art therapy. Her love of theatre began as a child, and she has had the privilege of performing at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s ‘Other Place’ and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in productions such as Titus Andronicus (as Tamora, Queen of the Goths), Behind the Glitz,and notable roles in Caryl Churchill’s Hotel and Aladdin
(as Aladdin).
Student Production Team
Megan McClare
Meg is a dedicated production manager with over seven years of experience in theatre and is currently studying a double major in Screen Production and Theatre and Creative Production. She served as the stage manager for the final-year theatre production of Much Ado about Nothing and has additional expertise in set and AV design/operation. Meg is an accomplished choreographer and has been a dancer for over 11 years. Syles include ballet, jazz, and hip hop. Her favourite style of theatre is Butoh physical theatre, in which
she has completed technical training.
Berlin Brownlee
Berlin is currently studying Theatre and Creative Writing. Her latest theatre performances include Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing (Murdoch, 2023) and Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
(Dewdrop Productions, 2024). Berlin has been dancing for a total of ten years, training in various styles; with a focus on ballet. She began choreographing for theatre in 2023 for self-directed production Grief and Communication, and also choreographed last year’s EGL353 production of Much Ado About Nothing.
Lauren Daniels
Classically trained, Lauren has been acting for over 10 years, recently playing Puck in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. They have worked steadily in theatre and musical theatre, entertaining audiences as Donkey in Shrek by David Lindsay-Abaire and Tzeitel in Fiddler on the Roof by Joseph Stein. After graduating from Frederick Irwin Anglican School with ATAR Drama, Lauren has constantly sought acting and backstage training, honing skills on screen with training from Jeremy Levi, as well as taking on backstage roles including set, costume design and stagehand work
Staff Production Team
Director
Digital Media and Stage Visuals
Lighting Design and Tech
Sound Design
Recording
Support
Dr Alys Daroy
Dannon Wu
Tim Brain
Dr Leo Murray
Benjamin Morton
Tim Eng, Jayson Brown