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StageOne - The Hagley Theatre Company

Do You Want To Act?

StageOne From The Hagley Theatre Company are pushing the boundaries of youth theatre expectations …

Renovations are going on but inside it's all atmosphere - a rabbit warren of rooms and corridors, dimmed lights, hushed voices, rehearsals, practised lines, hesitant footsteps, spotlights, stage curtains, stairs, nooks and crannies - all coming together to create … theatre.

StageOne has been specifically designed for young people and offers classes in acting, physical movement, voice and character analysis plus opportunities for you to research scenes and characters in depth. The course involves a complete shift away from the more traditional game-playing, improvisation-based teaching models because the people at StageOne believe that young students are more capable than this.

Sounds like you? Then have a read of our interview with Darryl Low, Creative Director to find out more …

Seating

How did StageOne come about?
It's been four years in the making but it's finally here and there's nothing else out there like it really. Our full-time course has been going for fifteen years and our part-time course for adults has been incredibly successful so we decided we'd offer something different for teens. A lot of other courses for this age group tend to be for the specific purpose of creating a production - one that just gets shown to the families and friends of performers. It stays in-house. StageOne is different. It's all about getting ready for public performing and promotion.
Darryl LowAre any special requirements to get in?
No. There are no auditions and no essential requirements - just a love of acting and the theatre and, of course, wanting to really be here!
What are the courses about?
We'll be offering much more than the school curriculum because we have more time. Schools are pretty restricted because of their time-frame. We're not. The courses are all about up-skilling on existing skills and all disciplines will be covered - vocal, physical, dancing, acting. Plus we'll be using all the amenities here - the film and TV suite, dance studio and drama room. And, of course, it's about the real stuff - actually working from scripts.
What sorts of scripts?
We've been sourcing some great stuff that will really appeal to teens - a lot of it's come from overseas and deals with up-to-date topics. For example, we're looking at one called Bang Bang You're Dead which is a play based on the Colombine situation and the aftermath. We're also looking at scripts about teen suicide - with one of the highest rates in the Western world, it's obviously something that's going to be of particular interest. Also, there was book published a few years ago called Ophelia Speaks. Apparently it was supposed to be a collection of what 11-18 year old girls talk about all the time but this wasn't the case, so one young woman decided to get another collection together about what girls really talk about and a play of these monologues has now been produced. That's the sort of stuff we're looking at.
What do you hope your students will gain from the courses?
It's all about building confidence, self-esteem and a real belief in their abilities. We'd also hope to encourage intra-personal skills - especially in such an isolated high tech world of computers and Ipods and the like. We also want students to be open to new ideas, taking chances, accepting of failure … and to be relaxed and have fun.
The expectation is to attend two concurrent terms?
Yes. The first term is skilled and technical based and then we start work on a production for the second term - with a fair bit of extra rehearsal time closer to production date. And we won't be keeping this just in-house. We'll be promoting and publicising it to the whole community. Not just to family and friends. Most of our sessions are for students only to prevent them from censuring themselves in front of parents, guardians or whoever. But there will be some open sessions throughout the term so family can be aware of the whole process instead of just seeing the finished product. They'll then be able to appreciate just how much it takes to get to the end result.
StudioAre there any career opportunities?
Yes. We have regular visits from agencies and companies to view students' talents etc for various vacancies. We also offer advice and suggestions about what to do and where to go once the course is finished - although they're more than welcome to repeat the StageOne courses. There's the full-time course with Hagley and then there are professional companies like NADA and WAAPA in Australia. Plus I'm off to Australia in the next couple of months to visit a few of the successful youth acting companies over there and we're hoping to have an entry ready for the Adelaide Festival 2006.
And the reality of trying to make a professional career of it in New Zealand?
Acting theatre is tough in New Zealand but it's certainly getting better with more and more opportunities coming up.