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Elwood College Ski Camp 2010 By Declan Mulcahy, Year 10D Bleary-eyed and messy-haired, thirty or so kids gathered outside Elwood College on a bleary Monday morning. No one was all too pleased at being awake so early in the day, and it showed through the sour expressions on everyone’s faces. Soon, the bus rolled up and the party boarded, the thirty children along with the jolly camp leader Mr. Toce, the Canadian Mr. Kinch, the mysterious Mr. Brelsford, the impish Mr. England and the no-nonsense Ms. Owen. The five-hour trip was fairly uneventful, or at least for this journalist, who fell asleep against the window in a manner that created a terrible neck cramp upon his waking. Mt. Buller sat under perfect blue skies, dusted with a fine white layer of soft powder, and perfect for skiing, snowboarding, or any other type of snow activity. All of us were captivated by the incredible weather as we trudged through the snow in our inappropriate footwear. Checking into the lodge and gear hire took annoyingly long, as always, but eventually we all hit the slopes. We split up into skill levels for our lesson, and I (along with the other advanced skiers) met our ski instructor. We were all thrilled to learn some helpful tips and tricks from him, but unfortunately he had drank a little too much the night before, and wasn’t feeling his best. Instead, we simply skied around the mountain, ecstatic to be back in the sub-zero scene (or for the first-timers, amazed at the true wonders of the peak). For lunch and dinner every day, we ate at the wonderful Uncle Pat’s, where we quickly formed a hate-based relationship with one of the waiters after he bet the chef that we wouldn’t eat the salad. Determined to beat the cocky young man, we came together as a team and managed to devour all of the greens that were put before us. We felt like true Australian heroes as he gazed upon the empty bowls in shock. After a hard day’s skiing, we all collapsed back at the lodge, where we undertook in a number of leisurely pastimes. Some played cards, while others popped on a DVD. Some created a new kind of cold drink, while others chose to read outdated Girlfriend magazines. But possibly the most exciting activities were the frequent snow fights that took place just outside the front of the small building. Snow forts were made and perfect snowballs sculpted as numerous battles waged between the campers, with clumps of cold snow and ice being hurled at the opposing team. Occasionally some of the teachers even took part in these wars, Mr. Kinch impressing all with his deadly accurate aim, and Mr. England trying his best to level with his colleague. Then on Thursday afternoon, after hours upon hours of skiing throughout the week, it was time to pack our bags, clean the lodge and head back to Melbourne. Everyone was sad to leave, but our spirits were raised with the wonderful movie, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, followed by that old favourite, Monsters Inc. We all arrived back on Glenhuntly Road late in the evening, tired from our trip, but all smiling at the memories that we had kept from it.
The Man Behind Bell Shakespeare Interview by Jeremy Nielsen Edited by Gabi Hodge Photography by Sam Metz It’s not commonplace for Australian theatre royalty to visit the humble grounds of Elwood College. Thursday 15th July was indeed an exception when John Bell, Artistic Director and founder of Bell Shakespeare, arrived to watch a performance by his company’s Actors at Work team, and to further illuminate the dark recess in our mind that is occupied by Shakespeare’s byzantine plays. In fact half the board of the company was in attendance including the writer, Hamlet’s director and his two daughters. The reason for their appearance was beyond our knowledge. Here is what John had to say: (EC- Elwood College, JB- John Bell) EC- Why are you here? JB- Well, we have three Actors at Work teams, this one being based in Melbourne, and I hadn’t seen them at rehearsals because I was away on tour with King Lear for 6 months, so I wanted to see them early on in their season to see how they are, what they’re like and to give them any feedback they need. EC- What do you think is one of the biggest achievements of your company? JB- Just surviving frankly. A lot of theatre companies don’t survive that long. We started without any funding then sponsorship and private supporters came along and we’ve been able to maintain our mission of taking Shakespeare all over Australia. It’s grown year by year; it’s grown from literally nothing to what is now a major arts organisation. EC- What inspired you to recreate and to educate Australia’s young people? JB- Because when I was at a country school in NSW we didn’t get much in the way of theatre or performance and when ever anything came to town I was really thrilled and I wanted to do something similar when I leave. So when I started this company in 1990 I thought we have to have a part of the company that is dedicated to his work. So from day one we had the education teams in the schools. EC- In terms of the play your company is performing today, what do you think is the relevance of it in our day and age? JB- It’s not actually a play but a reconstruction and talking about the play. It is an endless discussion of why the play is meaningful and relevant today. EC- You were touring with King Lear recently, how did you find the role? JB- I found it exhausting that we did over one hundred performances of it, about 6-7 shows a week, so it’s very taxing with physical stamina and emotional stamina and the travelling. Yeah, I was quite happy to see the end of it. EC- We had heard that you received an OBE. How does it feel to get such an honour? JB- Years and years ago. You’re always quite pleased to get recognised and that particular award is a bit dated now, I got an Officer of the Order of Australia, which is more acceptable because I’m a republican, and to hang on to the OBE is quite archaic and the Australian award is quite meaningful. EC- You’ve obviously made a big career of your passion. What things do you do when you’re not directing or acting? JB- I have quite a time consuming family, two daughters and 5 grandchildren and I spend my time with them. I have a house outside the coast of Sydney where I like going on my weekends. I like gardening and bushwalking. And I like music and opera and I listen to it a lot. I’m interested in painting and I’d like to take it up again one day. I wanted to be a painter when I was 12 to 15 and I guess I might take that up again. I’m interested in the arts generally; newest literature, poetry, so you know, life is really full.
Elwood Students Dazzle at Monash Festival By Moshe Topol, Year 10 Year 10 Theatre Studies students from Elwood College ventured to Monash University in Clayton on Thursday the 13th of May, to perform at the Monash Schools’ Theatre Festival. All participating schools were given the same two images and an audio piece as starting points for their play. Elwood College’s Theatre Studies class collaborated to develop an engaging storyline and script, found appropriate costumes, purchased necessary props and created a thrilling performance. Elwood’s Theatre Studies teachers Matthew Green, Robin Garden and Glenn Perry, helped produce, direct and organise the play and chaperoned the students to Monash University. The students anxiously anticipated their performance, which was to be the final one of the evening. They eagerly watched as three other schools, Leibler Yavneh College, Caroline Chisholm Catholic College and As the lights dimmed on the Ruyton Girls’ performance, Elwood’s team of actors and backstage crew left the audience to get ready for their performance, and what a performance it was! A deep, captivating story about two sisters, Ivy and Charlotte, who grow apart after the neglected Charlotte becomes increasingly jealous of her favoured sister, who receives more attention from their parents. Charlotte begins to have delusions about a man who convinces her that the only way her parents will acknowledge her is by killing her sister. The story, which delved into incredibly deep issues of family, deception, betrayal, delusions and murder, had many twists and turns and left the audience spellbound. Although comparatively shorter than the other schools’ performances, the Elwood play was mesmerising and was really enjoyed by the Monash judging panel. The Year 10 students had a great experience in producing their performance and had a wonderful day at Monash University. Epic performance by Elwood intermediate girl's volleyball team By Courtney Gaze, Year 10 On the 22nd of April Elwood College’s intermediate girls volleyball team travelled out to the Darebin International Sports Centre in Thornbury to compete in the regional finals. After exciting wins against Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School and Melbourne Girls’ College, we were fired up and ready for a big day of competition. Our first match was against Merrilands Secondary College. We were fairly confident that we could get the win. Jessica Peterson, our only Year 9 competitor, played an excellent match, killing it with her excellent serves. Merrilands could not compete against Jess’s serve and we won in 2 straight sets, 25-22 and 25-21. After a boring 2-and-a-half hours of waiting and watching other schools, we began our second match, this time against Lalor Secondary College. They were a tough team and pretty intimidating, but we pulled through in an epic 3-set match (25-19, 24-26, 15-12) with outstanding performances from Nuala Clarke and Irinya Byelyayeva. Exhausted, we then had to play our final match against Eltham Secondary College, a volleyball school. Both teams were undefeated and tired from the day’s competition. We went into the match a bit nervous and apprehensive. We didn’t get the win, losing in two straight sets (9-25, 11-25), but Aleaya Dinh played exceptionally well, as she was our only player capable of effectively returning Eltham’s powerful serves. Alishah Leontsinsis also played well the whole day, contributing to our wins. Thank you to Mr Weisheit for driving us and to Oscar Persson for his support. Well done, girls!
House Performing Arts 2010 By Sam Metz (Year 10) and Jeremy Neilsen (Year 11) One of the many changes to the Elwood College curriculum is the new House Performing Arts program. The event was put into motion a couple of weeks before the end of term one. Each house created a play that went for approximately 5- 10 minutes. The play had to keep the audience enthused and the judges in awe. The four judges watched and discussed each performance, giving each house points out of 10 for each category. The house with the highest score would win.
Byron (4th place) A very enthusiastic performance that was full of excitement during their in-school rehearsals. Byron performed a moving and dramatic piece about a lost, ‘partied-out’ teenager who was struggling for acceptance and brings old demons to the surface via the strange appearance of a magic rope in the living room. Matthew Taylor headed up the cast with his dark character while Lillian Albazi, Tatyana Egorova and Maddi Connolly followed up with equally stunning performances. Kudos to the musicians who put on a good show for the audience as well. Well done Byron - keep it up! Fourth place is never bad! Script: Aidan Connolly Director: Aidan Connolly Main Characters: Matty ‘T’, Lillian Albazi, Madi Connolly, Tatyana Egorova. Musicians: Charlie Timlock, Mateuzc (MATOOSH!) Solnicki, Sam Maher, Dajana Brkic, Winston Wardell. Make-Up: Juniper Rae, and her test guinea pig, Jessie.
Lawson (3rd place) A bit on the eccentric side, Lawson’s performance was admirable and certainly brought a few laughs from the audience, not to mention a few raised eyebrows from the teachers, when Stephanie Griffin “tripped” through a worm hole into another universe, where she learnt of the wonders of recycling which she was to preach upon her return to Earth: “REDUCE, RE-USE, RECYCLE!”. It was also good to see some appearances by some whom were not expected: Huw Dedman was lovely as he accompanied the Queen of Recycle Land! Lawson’s dancers also put on a great show with regular appearances throughout the piece. Well done, Lawson - excellent performance! Unlucky with the points, though. Lawson came out with a third place just ahead of Byron on 84 points. Script: Dussy Kutner, Steph Griffin, Jordan Lawson (yes, her name is actually Lawson Main Characters: Stephanie Griffin, Jayne Daniels, Moshe Topol, Macklin Leslie, Anita, Jacinda, Melissa, Nicole, Huw Dedman, Nicole, Murphy, and Jordan Lawson.
Milton (2nd place) Milton house took to this challenge enthusiastically, creating a play that depicted the good and bad side of war. With an array of colorful costumes, quick scene changes and entertaining songs it was a real contender to take out the number one position. Four main characters took important roles to give helpful points to a young boy confused about war. Each scene ended with an entertaining song relating to the information beforehand. This performance took a different twist to the other houses, making it unique. It was a close battle to the end, but Keats took out the trophy with only one point separating Milton from the eventual winners! Script: Declan Mulcahy, Year 10
Keats (1st place) When the House Performing Arts competition was announced, Keats house went into overdrive to put on the perfect show and take out the illustrious winner’s trophy. As three of the four houses had the common theme of environment, Keats felt they had to do something bigger and better to triumph over them. So they decided to put a comedy/fairytale spin on the common theme. During the school holidays many Keats members showed up to help put together the performance and learn their lines. Their commitment was immense and it showed throughout their huge performance. They really did commit to everything that the house needed: whether it was music, prop creating or acting, each person really put their heart and soul into this performance. Keats was headed up by Sam Peart and Kit Richards, who did an amazing job creating and finalising the performance. The show was about a young prince who disobeys a sign and ends up destroying the forest, thus the king gives the young prince an ultimatum on whether or not to marry the ugly princess or the beautiful forest nymph. Not only did the play transport the audience into the realm of an enchanted fairytale, it also created a world of amusement. The play was written so well that characters delivered amazing one-liners that kept the audience in stitches. One noteworthy line came from Year 12 student Herr Stefan Richter, who declared “Wunderbar!” The short play really did deliver, and not only were the actors and the singers amazing, the backstage crew and prop makers made the performance stand out.
It was a great job all round and with just one point between Keats and Milton - it was a very close outcome.
Script: Olivia Hoak, Kit Richards and Lisa Bell, Year 12 ANZAC Day Commemorations in Elwood, 2010
The Elwood College Choir was in attendance on Anzac Day at the Elwood RSL where a sizable crowd gathered to commemorate the day. The students had the privelege of opening the ceremony with the national anthem and, following speeches and wreath laying, closing proceedings with the theme from the musical, Chess. Elwood College parent and trumpeter extraordinaire Jack Howard played a haunting last post.
VCE Music Evening
Students from the VCE music class and the school choir performed to a full house in the school library on Wednesday night. The evening began with the uplifting harmonies of the school choir; its numbers diminished by the exit of year sevens to school camp, but its sound as full and mellow as ever. The audience was then treated to an impressive range of solo performances from the year 11 and 12 music students, whose ranks include guitarists, pianists, a saxophonist, a violinist, a drummer and a vocalist. Four students also combined to form a jazz ensemble. The evening was a chance for the musicians, whose styles ranged from rock to jazz to classical, to play their set pieces in front of an audience. It also gave the wider school community an opportunity to see, hear and support our talented and hardworking students. At the close of the evening, VCE music teacher Briallen Darlow expressed her delight at how much the students had achieved only six weeks into the school year. Given the warm and enthusiastic response from the audience at the close of each number, it seemed everyone else agreed. If you missed this performance, there will be two further chances during the year to see and hear these students. Where: Senior Performing Arts Evening, Phoenix Theatre When: 2 June
Where: VCE Music Evening, Elwood College Library When: 7 September
Elwood Choir at Albert Park Primary Fete Albert Park Primary was a bustling with activity last Saturday (20 March). The annual fete attracts thousands of people for the food, the vast array of goods and the entertainment on the main stage.This year the Elwood College Choir were part of the mix, performing new songs to a new audience. Under the direction of choir leader Janelle Hopman, the choir sang both traditional and contemporary numbers. As well as an ensemble piece there were solos from India Mitchell-Fletcher, Emmet Mulcahy, Olivia Hoak, Lillian Albazzi, and Aidan Connolly with backing from Mia Schunemann.
Year 10 Careers Advice (From Rhonda)
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