Wakool Burraboi Public School students will write and star in a new play being shown at Wakool and Barham this month, as part of the ACRE21 festival. Local communities are invited to see the show for free.
Theatre maker, Angela Frost, has worked with the Wakool school’s 12 students this term to write a play called Heading to Yallapenya.
They will perform it on Tuesday, June 15 at the Wakool Hall at 6pm. They will perform it again with students from Koondrook Primary and Koondrook Pre-school on Friday, June 18 at the Faulkner Pavilion in Barham at 1pm.
People living in Wakool, Barham and surrounds are invited to be part of the audience and attendance is free.
“We want to make this really special for our kids,” Wakool Burraboi Public School principal, Lisa Chambers, said.
“We’d love the Wakool community and people from around our area to show support to their local school by coming along on Tuesday,” she said.
Ms Frost said students had worked hard this term to write the play.
“For most of these children, it’s their first time on stage. They’ve shared their lives and it’s been a really rich experience learning about them,” she said.
She likens the play’s storyline to that of a children’s story book.
“A little girl gets lost in a place like Wakool, she visits a farm, goes to a big community event called ‘The Classic’, and everyone helps her get on her way.”
There is no need to book to attend the Wakool event – just come along for the 6pm performance.
Bookings are needed for the Barham performance – call 5036 2430.
Organisers are monitoring COVID-19 regulations and will share any changes to the schedule via The ACRE Project’s social media pages.
The project is a partnership between The ACRE Project and Outback Theatre for Young People.
It is part of ACRE21 – an arts festival taking place across the Murray River, Balranald, Swan Hill and Gannawarra council areas. Concerts and on-farm artist residencies have already been held. This project with Wakool Burraboi Public School is the first of two in-school artist residencies taking place during ACRE21.
For full details on the ACRE21 festival, visit www.acreproject.org.au/acre21.
ACRE21 is supported by Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery, Regional Arts Victoria, South West Arts, Creative Victoria, Murray River Council, Balranald Shire Council, Swan Hill Rural City Council and Gannawarra Shire Council.
