Q. Does my child need to have previous creative arts or performing arts experience?Drama Scene is ideal for all levels, an ideal place to make a first exploration or to increase skills. We use original programmes for all sessions that have been designed by Drama Scene to respond to the interests and skill levels of players. Sessions are conducted in a friendly atmosphere that fosters a positive group dynamic and confidence and encourages players to acquire new techniques and build on skills at an age appropriate and individual level.
Q. How will I receive feedback on my child's progress?We often invite family and friends to view an open class workshop or performance. Newsletters are sent home regularly and the website News Page updated (with photographs that can be printed at home). Children are presented with certificates of progress and participation and bi-annual reports. Coaches also welcome discussions with parents.
Q. Can my child join Drama Scene at any time throughout the year? Our Rolling Curriculum means children may join a group at the commencement of any of the four terms in a year. School holiday programmes run on both daily and weekly enrolment lengths and participation in these events can be on a programme by programme basis.Saturday programmes run as either two or four week workshops and masterclasses and participation in these events can be on a programme by programme basis.
Q. When are enrolments and fees due?As all sessions run with the optimum number of players, an enrolment form must be received at least 10 days before the first session. Fees for School Holiday workshops are due 1 week prior to the workshop. Term Fees must be finalised before the end of the fifth week of the term. All fee payments are finalised with a tax receipt.
Q. Are there any additional charges?Drama Scene provides drama materials & resources, costumes, props, masks, music, art & craft supplies etc.
Q. What does my child wear to a session or workshop?School uniforms are suitable for sessions during or after the school day. Players should wear comfortable ‘play clothes’ to Saturday and school holiday workshops and sessions. Players may be asked to remove their shoes for safety reasons. Members of the Drama Scene Players or Players Stage Crew may be requested to wear all black clothing (Theatre Blacks) to some rehearsals or performances.
Q. What does my child bring to a session or workshop?Please bring a bottle of water to every session. If required, the need for snacks and hats will be advised.
Q. What do I do if my child will be absent?It is important that Drama Scene Coaches are made aware when any absences are intentional as this allays any fears that a child has not arrived as intended and also allows session planning suitable for participating Players. Please call the Drama Scene office mobile on 0407 235 914 with details of your name, your child’s name and the session your child will miss.
Q. What do I do if there will be different arrangements for my child’s departure from a session?Even if changes are temporary, please call the Drama Scene office mobile 0407 235 914 with details of your name, your child’s name and information about any alterations. It is important Drama Scene Coaches are aware of your child’s departure on all occasions.
Q. Can I watch my child’s session?We appreciate your interest in the content of your child’s sessions with Drama Scene. Please also appreciate that some children behave differently in front of an audience and a parent or carer or any non-group member in the back of the drama room can create the sensation of an audience that influences Players responses in a session (increases and decreases in confidence and focus etc.). For this reason we look forward to inviting family and friends to view open classes or presentation. We also encourage you to make a time to chat with your child’s Drama Scene Coach after a session or please call the studio office to discuss your child’s participation or progress in any programme – (02) 9716 6604.
Q. What disciplinary methods do you use?At the start of every Drama Scene programme, Players agree to a ‘Drama Deal’ – a method of playing and working with other Players that is suggested by group members and agreed by all.No child is ever excluded from the drama room.If a Player aged 4 – 8 loses focus, they may be reminded of ‘Our Drama Deal’ and asked to participate as an audience member until the activity changes direction (a maximum of 3 minutes).If a Player aged over 8 years loses focus, they may asked by the group to participate as an audience member until the activity changes direction.
A TYPICAL DRAMA SCENE DEAL 1.Be a good audience, play to make others look good. 2.No falling down. 3.No wrestling. 4.No gymnastics. 5.Have fun and leave with a sparkle in the eye!
CONTACT US DRAMA SCENE POSTAL: PO BOX 92 HABERFIELD NSW 2045 Tel / Fax: (02) 9716 6604 Mobile: 0407 235 914 Email:enrolment@dramascene.com.au
COACHES
STEPHANIE WAITES(Drama Scene Head Coach) BA Theatre, Theory & Practice Theatresports® Teacher Accreditation 2007-2008 Drama NSW Committee - Arts Industry Promotions Officer Proud Member of Actors Equity since 1979 St John Emergency First Aid certificate exp 30/07/10
Trained in Theatre, Drama, Voice, Singing, Dancing (RAD Ballet, FATD Tap, Jazz Ballet), with fourteen years professional performance experience including title roles in musical theatre productions and roles in film, television, voiceovers and radio plays, Stephanie worked across Australia and in the United Kingdom and the United States before establishing the Drama Scene studio in Sydney. In response to working professionally from the age of 8 years and with 15 years experience in working with pre-school aged children, school aged children, children with special needs, teenagers, professional juvenile performers and adults, Stephanie continues to write for children and to develop a range of unique programmes for children in the creative, practical and performing arts. Stephanie also acts as a mentor to Student Primary Drama Teachers and in the past 5 years has run workshops for Drama NSW, Drama Australia and the Sydney Theatre Company, to train Primary Teachers to use drama in the BOS primary curriculum.Specialisations include acting technique, voice, movement, mime, improvisation, musical theatre, puppetry, mask, characterisation, Shakespeare, script analysis, playwriting, Storybook Theatre, Narrative Theatre, Readers Theatre, Image Theatre, playbuilding, Theatresports®, monologue creation, poetry presentation, audition technique and Drama Scene’s unique ‘Dramadance’ programme.
MARIKA AUBREY BA PERFORMANCE Proud Member of Actors Equity
Marika is a graduate of Theatre Nepean. Her screen
credits include All Saints and Jesse in the feature film Feed and
on stage she has played roles ranging from Prospero in The Tempest to Miss
Spider in James and the Giant Peach.Marika
is also an extremely accomplished musical theatre performer, in 2008touring in 3 Kookaburra (The National
Musical Theatre Company) musicals - I
Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change;
Songs for a New World and The
Emperor’s New Clothes (a musical fable
for primary school age children). In the same year she received aBest Actress nomination for her
performance in Short, Sweet & Song. Marika carries her musical talents into
the classroom, currently teaching with the ‘1-2-3 Sing With Me’ program and
in 2006 she visited Korea and became the first teacher leading children (0-6
yrs) and their Carers in the popular and extensive USA program ‘Music
Together’.Across the disciplines of musical theatre,
accents and dialects, improvisation, puppetry, storytelling and acting for
stage and screen, Marika has taught children from pre-primary and up at Mountains
Youth Theatre, Australian Theatre for Young People, Monkey Baa Theatre for Young People. She continues to perform, most recently
in her one woman show CAUTION:
Aggressive Birds, Directed by James
Beach, musically directed by Geoffrey
Castles.
ROMY BARTZ
BACHELOR of DRAMATIC ART (Acting) Proud Member of Actors Equity
Romy graduated from NIDA (the
National Institute of Dramatic Art) in 2002. She has worked professionally as
an actor in television, film and theatre, most recently in the STC’s (Sydney Theatre Company’s) Rabbit at Wharf 1. Romy works extensively for the NSW (DET) Department of Education Arts Unit – Student Company and Ensemble, State Drama Camps and the South West Region’s Primary
Play Day.In London she worked
with 3-13 year olds teaching for Act
Drama and Perform, directing final year performances of Aladdin and Noah’s Arc. In Australia, Romy has
worked with Theatre of Image holiday workshops and she coaches for NIDA’s Open Programs (improvisation, acting, audition,
camera technique, movement and script work for 6-16 year olds) and she is a
Casual Teacher at McDonaldCollege. Romy is
also skilled in RAD Ballet,
Tap, Jazz, Piano and musical theatre, clowning, monologue, puppetry and
clowning.
ANGELA CARMICHAEL BA PERFORMANCE Dip Ed Drama
From studying drama for
the HSC and extensive performance experience with Theatre Nepean, Angela demonstrates a passion for devising
performance and her talents in voice, movement, singing and acting. Last
year we saw her on TV in Home &
Away and Double the Fist Series two for the ABC, this year on Jesters and commercials.Her professional performances over the past 5 years
have also included work with the Globe Shakespeare Company, DwaKonie
Physical Theatre Company, numerous television commercials and a roles on the
television series Love My Way. Angela appeared at the Adelaide Fringe Festival with a self-devised company in a
production of Peep. A popular
Coach in 2006, Angela returns to Drama Scene in 2008 from her Double Drama
Diploma of Education studies, qualifying as a NSW school Teacher. Angela
specialises in coaching HSC IP
monologue performances and her past students have achieved band 6 & 5.
HANNAH COURTNEY BA – Theatre &
Performance / English Graduate Diploma of Arts
English MA – English Literature
(research) – Current
Hannah joined Drama Scene in 2007 and
she specialises in teaching our younger Primary school groups.With 21 years of dance training (ballet,
contemporary, tap, jazz and musical theatre), she also teaches drama, ballet,
musical theatre and contemporary dance to children in a range of age
groups.Her Acting roles have
included; Lady Macbeth – Macbeth, Evelyn – The Shape of Things, Directing; Man of La
ManchaandSalomé. Hannah
is also extremely experienced in backstage and technical production roles as
she has stage managed,
choreographed and event coordinated professionally and designed numerous
independent and amateur shows, also working as a script editor and extra on
two Australian short films.While
working as a Drama Coach, Hannah is researching and writingher Masters in English Literature.
KAREN JONES BA (Hons) Drama &
American studies LAMDA British Equity Karen has been acting for 8 years and her
first job was in the National UK and Ireland tour playing Lulu in Bananas
in Pyjamas. Acting led to teaching and
working as a freelance Drama Coach with different theatre companies and youth
theatres throughout the UK, including 4
years designing drama programs and coaching children 5–10 years old. Karen is
a Shakespeare specialist, working with Dramarama & The Royal
Shakespeare Company at their annual Shakespeare
4 Schools festival and last year being
a Festival Director at one of the venues. She works regularly for Dramaworks in schools across the UK on various
subjects such as Text, Devising, Improvisation, Vocal Studies, Creating Characters
& of course Shakespeare. Over the past 5 years Karen has also
enjoyed directing Pantomime and youth theatre Productions.
TIM MARTIN BACHELOR CREATIVE ARTS –
Theatre Performance BACHELOR SECONDARY
TEACHING – Drama & Dance Certificate IV Performing
Arts In many years of drama teaching, Tim
has also managed to combine a busy professional career as a Performer and Choreographer.
In addition he has been involved with the Rock Eisteddfod Challenge
productions many times, including; working with
Australian and international students in Sydney, Singapore, London, New York,
Washington and Los Angeles Global
Tour 2000 and Directing award winning
productions in 2002, 2003, 2005.In 2006 he was fortunate to
extend his teaching skills at TereoraCollege in Rarotonga, Cook Islands as part of an Overseas Professional Experience
Program. As an Actor Tim has played; Edmund in King Lear, Chino in West Side Story, Geoffrey in Stepping Out, Curly in Oklahoma,Frank
Butler in Annie Get Your Gun, Lt Joseph Cable in South Pacific, Jerry Lukowski in The Full Monty,Al
in A Chorus Line, and the twin role Tonnino/Zanetto in The
Venetian Twins. Dance
credits include Human Nature, Jimmy Sommerville & The Christopher Reeves Benefit. Tim also worked on the Sydney Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies as assistant to the TV Broadcast Director
Peter Faiman. Most recently Tim appeared in the children’s show: Fairy
Princess’s Surprise Birthday Party at Glen
Street Theatre, 2009.
CAMILLA VERNON BACHELOR Media Writing / Major
in Drama Performance DIPLOMA of Arts in
English Literature A favourite Coach with Drama Scene,
Camilla has recently returned to us from three terms in America where she
studied ‘Acting For Film’ at the New YorkFilmAcademy based at Universal Studios
in Los Angeles.She was also very fortunate to be granted a
Theatre Internship in acting and directing with Taproot Theatre Company in Seattle one of the
biggest theatre companies in WashingtonState that has
main stage productions an acting school and a touring company.Camilla has therefore retuned from the USA
with new experiences in her favourite areas of children’s theatre,
improvisation, writing and acting.She
also specialises in teaching Shakespeare, modern and classical playwrights,
actor's technique, theatre history, educational/children's theatre,
directing, scriptwriting, alternative theatre, production and Theatresports®.Camilla has many years experience
coordinating children’s entertainment programs and teaching at drama clubs
and holiday camps.When Camilla was
young, she competed in Eisteddfods and completed Speech and Drama AMEB
examinations.