Drama program back with a bang

AFTER getting the word out that the after-school drama program has returned from about an eight-month hiatus, participant numbers at Alise Amarant’s Props Theatre skyrocketed from twenty to one-hundred-and-sixteen.

Shut down completely during COVID-19 lockdowns, Amarant said she is thrilled to be back up and running consistently at the Bendigo Trades Hall on View Street, fuelling young children’s love of drama.

“In January I had 20 students… I thought, ‘I’m not coming back, I can’t pay the bills on 20 students’,” she said.

“I sent out e-mails to parents and they said ‘yep, we’re just waiting for you to tell us’, and now I have 116. Within two weeks, I got almost all of my numbers back.

“At the height of the program, I had 165 with three studios operating. We haven’t been able to get Mildura or Crook Street back up, but View Street is booming. I’m very happy to keep this going, make it consistent and then we can focus on those other studios.”

A former school drama teacher, Amarant turned her focus to the after-school program for children aged five to 16 in 2018 after seeing how differently children behaved outside of the structured classroom.

“Some kids don’t come out in a school environment, they’re with the same kids all day doing literacy and numeracy, but once they go to an after-school program, it’s just their drama space, and their headspace changes,” she said.

Props Theatre teaches budding performers all aspects of theatre in one-hour classes, covering improvisation, mime, soundtrack art, script work and specialised vocal techniques.

“We have a variety of students that attend. We have some that are so shy, they need to find their voice,” Amarant said.

“We have some kids with speech impediments that need a bit of speech therapy and every class we do 10 minutes of speech therapy teaching them how to breathe, how to articulate, how to do expression.

“Then we’ve got kids that are constantly doing characters at home, and you bring them into a drama class and suddenly they’re in a space where they feel safe and welcomed and they’re not the class clown being looked at, they’re actually being celebrated.”

The program operates at Bendigo with three staff including Amarant and Sharna A’Vard, who started in Props Theatre as a child.

New to the staff this year is Ky Kearin who brings plenty of experience to Props Theatre after performing in Bendigo Theatre Company’s We Will Rock You last year.

Amarant said Props will hold two performances at The Capital Theatre in December.

There’s a main idea for the script, but the kids will be in charge of characterisation and stage management.

“They will know how to bring everything on, how to take everything off, how to respect others,” she said.

“They not only have the acting skills and the confidence, but they’re so sure of everything they’re doing and their place in it. We’re actually working with professionals.”