Performing Arts

Performing Arts

There are a number of streams within the Performing Arts program at Fitzroy High School.

All students take part in classroom drama sessions in Years 7-8 and can choose to continue their drama study in Years 9 and 10, where they may also include elements of Theatre Studies. These opportunities in the years 7-10 program are pathways to VCE Drama or Theatre Studies at Wurun Senior Campus. At Wurun Senior Campus, the students are involved in a major production through the study of VCE Theatre Studies or Drama. There are also VCE Drama/Theatre studies performance evenings in which student solo or ensemble performance pieces are performed publicly.

Fitzroy High School runs a range of performances and events. Every second year the school mounts a major school production, which has historically been either a substantial play or musical or a cabaret performance. Every alternate year the school puts on an Arts Party, a festival that celebrates student performances as well as the visual and media arts.

School productions

The school’s major productions are typically modern or classic plays such as Louis Nowra’s Cosi, Eugene Ionesco’s Rhinoceros, Shakespeare’s Macbeth or Christopher Marlow’s Dr Faustus.

The productions are developed in conjunction with the students and are typically performed in a theatre over a series of evenings. Sometimes the students are involved in writing the whole piece, such as the original musical The Return of the School, which was based on the closing and reopening of the main campus in the 1990s and early 2000s. Often the students will work with the director to adapt stories or plays that have already been written, such as Alice in Wonderland or, most recently, Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie.

The performances are usually cast during Term One and are performed in Term Three. The school play is open to students from Years 7–10 with roles allocated based on merit, talent and aptitude. Students are also involved in the direction, lighting design, videography, sound, costume and stage management of the performance piece.

School cabaret

The school cabaret typically consists of a range of performance pieces from students, who submit their ideas and pieces and then audition.

Student work is selected, with ample opportunities for students from all age groups to develop skills through performance. Past works include Solo character pieces, musical medleys, dance numbers, short films, student bands and school choirs.

The night is MC’d by students and the Fitzroy High School community typically organises tables of people to come for a sit down picnic-style event, with light refreshments served at the venue. Both the play and the cabaret use the latest in performance technology, from video projection to laser lighting.

Anyone can be involved in the productions and Arts Party, either onstage or backstage. Students are encouraged to take on different and more challenging roles as they progress through school. A myriad of roles exist for students from onstage performer to backstage crew work, including directional or technical roles.
Our students are given the opportunity to work with best practice industry equipment. We have strong relationships with local and internationally renowned artists who often work one-to-one with our students developing characterization or artistry in their work.

Parents can also involve themselves in the productions and events through assistance with front of house, backstage or fund raising.