TAG - Teens At Garrick
TAG is held once a month, on a Saturday from 11am to 2pm and each workshop explores a different aspect of acting and theatre.
For example, voice, from page to stage, acting for the camera, stage combat, audition techniques and Commedia dell’arte. We get specialists in a couple of times a year as part of the ‘package’.
We also organise a couple of outings per year to support other community theatre productions.
We have been going since 2014. Since then our productions have included James and the Giant Peach, The Snow Queen, Dreamjobs, Game of Tiaras and Shakespeare’s The Tempest. These have all been directed or co-directed by older students.
Their creativity and dedication is a testament to them and made us very proud.
We strongly encourage not only the students to become a part of the theatre on stage and off, but also the parents.
At the beginning of 2016 we staged James and the Giant Peach and won a variety of awards:
- Adjudicators Certificates for STRONG YOUTH PERFORMANCE IN A LEADING ROLE
- STRONG COMEDIC DUO
- AILSA TRAVERS AWARD FOR BEST COSTUMED PRODUCTION
- PRESIDENT’S ENCOURAGEMENT AWARD – KATIE TONER: For her passion for TAG and direction of James and the Giant Peach
In 2019, we did our first full-length production, Agatha Rex, a choral piece based on Antigone and was highly successful. We were delighted to win an Adjudicator’s Certificate ‘For excellent vocal timing and the delivery of the Greek Chorus’ at The Robert Finley Awards 2019. Indeed, we had great reviews
“Teens at Garrick are primarily a top rate acting school for beginners, but they also appreciate the importance of helping the less fortunate or talented and giving them courage and pride through acting….. Directed by Gail Lusted and her assistant Caitlyn Roberts, the students produced quite a few (intended) dramatic moments. Considering the large number of performers on stage and the intricacy of their routines, the production for these 12 to 19 years old was most admirable. Very well done.” – Gordon the Optom
2020’s production was a joint TAG/Adult venture which was obviously best with Covid problems, but after many delays, it was a hit.
Hound of the Baskervilles: A Comic Thriller Starring Shirley Holmes and Jennie Watson. Adapted by Kent R. Brown. Inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel of the same name. Directed by Rodney Stickells-Palmer and Gail Lusted.
2021 production, TRAP, by Stephen Gregg, is a thriller. It is being directed by one of our long-time students, Natalia Smith. Synopsis. An incomprehensible event: every person in the audience of a high school play falls unconscious – every person but one. Using interviews with witnesses, loved ones, first responders and the investigators pursuing the case, a theatre ensemble brings the story of the strange event to life, documentary-style. But as the strands weave together into an increasingly dangerous web, it becomes clear that this phenomenon might not be entirely in the past. Unnerving, exhilarating and wildly inventive, you’ve never walked into anything quite like Trap. Performance dates are from 1st – 17th July.
TAG membership costs $30 (under 18) $45 (over 18) per calendar year.
For expressions of interest or more information, please contact glusted@westnet.com.au
Gail Lusted, Drama B.Ed (Hons), Grad Dip. Dance/Drama (Secondary)
