Three students from Glen Innes High School are performing this week in a prestigious Sydney theatre festival.
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Lachlan Martin, Emily Walmsley and Tom Macansh were included for “Potential Borrower”, a short play about types of literature which they wrote and perform themselves in the OnStage showcase.
It sounds a dry subject but, in the opinion of The Examiner, the work actually cracks along and engrosses the audiences they’ve performed before, including teachers at the school earlier in the week. It is funny and perceptive and dramatic.
They perform this week at the Seymour Centre in Sydney which describes the works in the series as "programs of outstanding Drama performances from the 2017 HSC”.
Emily Walmsley said the three had collaborated closely to reach the final work, with each writing his or her own part and then adapting it in discussion with the others.
Their work made it through from 4,000 productions done in schools in NSW as part of the 2017 HSC.
Glen Innes High School drama teacher, Genevieve Byrne, said it was an amazing honour. As an examiner, she tours schools throughout the state, including expensive private schools which have fully-equipped theatres which far outstrip the facilities at Glen Innes, even the Chapel Theatre. And yet, Glen Innes had got through.
Two of the performers, Lachlan Martin and Tom Macansh, have also won an equivalent honour for visual art. Their HSC work with paint has been selected for Art Express, the showcase for the very best in creative work by students in the state.
Earlier in the month, NSW Education Secretary, Mark Scott, congratulated two Glen Innes graduates and the few others whose work was chosen: “It is a tribute to the creativity, ingenuity, imagination and flair.”
The school put on its Facebook page: “To be eligible for Art Express, students must achieve a near perfect mark in the HSC marking process. Tom and Lachlan's artworks are currently in Sydney and will be displayed at an Art Gallery in NSW.”
And on the drama award, the school said the inclusion in Onstage 2018 was a showcase “of the top 10 HSC Drama group performances selected from over 4000 candidates sitting the 2017 HSC.
“This is an exemplary accomplishment for these students and for Glen Innes High School. Well done to all three students. What an achievement! This is a first for Glen Innes High School.”