Rowan’s Story Vlog 2
It has been a fascinating journey so far – working with these young adults on things that impact their lives so immediately and yet are so assumed and sublimated that, as one young woman said – it’s just “around” us… so, it’s good when you have to reflect on it.
And the process of using drama techniques to enable that reflection is actually very affirming for me, as a playwright, and for the actors working as teaching artists with the group, Jess Veurman and Zac Boulton. And I know that our Executive Producer, Erica Fryberg, and Associate Producer, Tom Yaxley, feel this, too.
We all share a sense of privilege, I think… a sense of being privileged to work with this group on something that is so crucial in the world, in their world. And that drama is a way to explore and understand the dynamics of a way of seeing that world that just won’t go away.
Things have shifted, certainly since a couple of hundred years ago when, in a very practical way, women were regarded as having no human existence under the law – they were property, of their fathers, then their husbands. Hundreds of years – that seems a long way away? Not so very long, really.
Until 1983, here, a married woman’s passport application had to be approved by her husband.
And in 2023, 83% of Australian female-identifying gamers had experienced offensive and abusive behaviour online – “get back to the f*!!ing kitchen, s*#t!”. (See Maybelline’s ‘Through Their Eyes Campaign).
These young adults are the agents of change in our society. They’re thoughtful, responsive, observant, and respectful of each other. Here are some of the techniques and ideas AoE used to stimulate their interest, and their detailed consideration of the world around them.
This project is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.
Many thanks to the fabulous people at SunPAC, our co-presenters for the showcase of the Rowan’s Story Project’s student-created work, and to the wonderful drama staff at MacGregor SHS and Yeronga SHS.
