Collaborating to perfection… Lyn Beasley, Manager of School Visits at the National Museum of Australia, describes her work with Peter Wilkins, Drama Coordinator at Narrabundah College.
Museums have an opportunity, indeed a responsibility, to enable students to learn in ways that differ from but complement their school learning. Even before it opened, the National Museum of Australia regarded performance as a key element. In a paper he wrote for the Museum, Peter Wilkins, Drama coordinator for Narrabundah College, said:
Schools offer an invaluable resource to national institutions. Similarly the National Museum offers the opportunity for interaction with all subject areas of the curriculum …
Collaboration between schools and the National Museum provides a unique experience to interpret and present ideas that reflect the Museum’s collection, at the same time as presenting the talents of young people who participate in the performing and creative arts.
Peter and I began to collaborate in 2004 with a production called Stranded. Based on the story of the Mozart Vienna Boys Choir in the Horizons Gallery at the Museum, it also drew on emotive themes in the Eternity Gallery. Stranded was performed at two conferences in Canberra in 2004 and 2005, and elicited very positive responses. We decided to collaborate again in 2006.
In January 2006 I went to the National Gallery of Victoria to see Exiles and Emigrants and think about what programs we might develop when it toured to Canberra. I found the images extremely evocative and felt they could inspire a performance piece. Peter had seen the exhibition too, and agreed that it had great potential for theatre.
As the exhibition was due to open in Canberra in April, we had not left ourselves much time. And because it is not a National Museum exhibition, our access to the background information was more limited than it had been for Stranded, however generous the curator, Patricia MacDonald, was (and she was, extremely).
We used the exhibition catalogue to choose stories, images and characters. A trip to the National Library supplied letters and newspaper clippings, and from there we developed the synopsis. Letters with dramatic interest formed the basis. We added pieces of poetry and songs to create a poignant, atmospheric work called Exile. Sue Webeck, the director, workshopped with the students to produce the dramatic outline, while Cati McCarthy and Michael Caesar worked up the musical numbers.
The production used no set and minimal costume. Paintings from the exhibition were projected as backdrop. The students used extracts from letters and poetry to tell the story, and song and dance to evoke the emotion and passion of the paintings. Exile was performed three times while Exiles and Emigrants was showing at the National Museum, to both school groups and the general public. Both audiences received it enthusiastically.
The piece was then taken to Melbourne, to a national forum on performance in cultural institutions. There, the audience was overwhelmingly enthusiastic. I don’t think it is going too far to say that these museum and theatre professionals were absolutely blown away by the talent, dedication and sheer presence of this group of young people. Earlier in the conference, one speaker had delivered a paper on what he called the eight P’s of interactive theatre. In closing the conference to a close Patrick Watt spoke of the ‘ninth P’ – the perfection of the performance by the students of Narrabundah College. While in Melbourne, the students also performed twice a day at nursing homes and schools – in seven other venues.
Peter and I look forward to our next collaboration. We are exploring the possibilities of stories currently featured in the Museum as well as looking at upcoming temporary exhibitions for inspiration.
The students worked with staff in the Indigenous Information Centre, Discovery Centre and the Museum Archives which provided them with unique opportunities for to broaden their cultural knowledge and learn about workplace environments while being exposed to potential careers. They were encouraged to undertake a special investigation into an area of the museum that interested them with a particular focus on careers and presented their findings to the whole group.