Years 7 – 9 Acting drawing laughter from the crowd

Early in May, our Years 7 – 9 Acting students presented the play Hitler’s Daughter, adapted from the novel by Jackie French. It begins at a bus stop in rural Australia, where four friends tell each other stories to pass the time before school. 

One girl, Anna, tells a tale of a girl named Heidi: who loved playing with dolls, feeding fish in the garden pond and whose father was one of history’s most infamous monsters. The story challenges her friends’ ideas of morality and responsibility, and they soon find themselves contending with these ideas in their everyday lives.

For some in the cast, it was their first-ever stage production. Even for the more experienced actors, it presented a formidable challenge through its many characters, complex staging and challenging themes. But the resulting output was a triumph and exhibited some of the best qualities our young performers have to offer. They found their voices and confidence, buoyed by the skills they worked so hard to develop. 

It has been thrilling to witness this class transform into such a tight-knit ensemble, who supported and celebrated each other on and off stage. As their focus shifts to other areas of their craft, such as film and more experimental theatre forms, their shared knowledge is producing increasingly impressive results. They will surely produce some equally exciting work for the high-performance showcase next term.