Community Services Reference Group - North Sydney Council

N O R T H S Y D N E Y C O U N C I L
Report CS15 - 28 June 2010
Community Services Reference Group
SUBJECT: PTS Workshop Presentation, 2010
AUTHOR: Narelle Spooner, Coordinator of Arts & Culture, 8.6.2010
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
PTS Workshops for young people (formerly Page to Stage) commenced on 19 April, 2010 in the
Conference Room at Stanton Library. Four plays written by students have been selected for
further work through dramaturgy workshops which are being conducted by professional directors
Bill Conn, Linden Wilkinson, Sher Guhl and Elaine Hudson. The selected plays are: A God Too
Far by Matt Reynolds, Cap On, Cap Twist, Cap Off by Tim Boyd, The Intruder by Molly
Tredinnick and Untitled by Laura Strykowski. The workshops involve students from Wenona
School, St. Aloysius College and Chatswood High School. The final presentation performance
will take place on Wednesday 18 August in St. Aloysius Drama Theatre (Miguel Pro Playhouse)
at 1.30pm for students, and 7.30pm for family and friends. It is anticipated that approximately
300 people will view the performances.
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT the report be received
Sustainability Implications:
The environmental, social, economic and governance implications are set out in this report.
Signed ____________________________
Endorsed by ____________________________
Manager Community Development

Report of Narelle Spooner, Coordinator of Arts & Culture
Re: PTS Workshop Presentation 2010
LINK TO MANAGEMENT PLAN
The relationship with the Management Plan is as follows:
Direction 6: A Sense of Community
Program 6.2: Arts & Cultural Services
BACKGROUND
Young Dramatists Page to Stage was part of North Sydney’s cultural landscape for 15 years. The
concept of young people writing and performing their own plays was instigated by local drama
teacher Eileen Hoare and Wendy Michaels from the NSW Board of Studies. The original project
took ten months to complete and eight plays were performed annually at the Ensemble Theatre
under the guidance of theatre professionals. In 2008 the project folded because of the heavy
workload experienced by the artistic directors, Bill Conn and Elaine Hudson who found that this
level of commitment was no longer sustainable. As Council was not keen to lose the project
altogether, it was replaced in 2009 by a more low-key program involving just three schools over
the course of one term each year. This has proven to be more manageable for the students,
schools and directors involved and the standard has remained high.
SUSTAINABILITY STATEMENT
The following table provides a summary of the key sustainability implications which are
addressed in full in this report:
QBL Pillar Implications
Environment • Limited lighting used in production, slightly more traffic congestion for
one night only.
Social • Excellent benefits in development of young writers, actors and social
interaction between students. Young people with disabilities also involved
in the project.
Economic • The cost of hiring professional directors is of great advantage to the
schools/students involved due to the higher quality of writing/performance
gained in the workshops/presentation.
Governance • This project complies with Council’s Strategic and Management Plans.
(2)