Mailbox plays

The third phase of the Mailbox Plays project, 2007 is undertaken in conjunction with "Creative Communities" USQ and the Queensland Murray Darling Committee. Since the project's conception, various project stages will occur.

Contrary to initial planning which was based on a voluntary student basis cohesively working on the same subject matter, The Mailbox Plays consists of four strands of play-building workshops and rehearsals that will feed into varied and introspective content depending on the individual community. The overwhelming support from regional staff has allowed the project to involve up to sixty students in an original, creative theatrical experience that can cater to the specific requirements of the three high school communities of St. George, Surat and Dirranbandi.

Independent workshop programs

Surat

With their school speech night on the night of the 28th (performance date for the other participating schools), the Surat students won't be able to be a part of the official presentation of their work. However, the work that will be done in rehearsals and workshops will be presented at their own speech night in a high-school presentation that will deal with the student's views on their community and their place in it as high school students, some of whom must face leaving their community to pursue further education. Workshops will consist of presenting students with various theatrical and performance techniques and together with the assistance of their teachers and project staff, will collate a short presentation that will integrate a variety of performance mediums, which will be explored through workshops. Surat's participation in the project will be documented via still images and presented as a mini-exhibition at the St. George performance evening.

Dirranbandi

Dirranbandi's class of higher-middle students will be divided into groups of four to five to work on up to four short collage drama performances that will deal with the student's interactions with their communities, environments and their place in these concepts as regional high school students. With the nature of a collage drama enabling a diverse range of performance mediums, the Dirranbandi students will explore these genres and decide upon the direction of their pieces under the guidance and facilitation of their teachers and the project staff. The Dirranbandi students will be bussed to the St. George State High School on the evening of 28 November 2007 to present their pieces in collation with the St. George groups. Process journals will be kept via the online blog sites that have been set up; this will also enable project staff to keep in contact with the students on the off-weeks when there are no workshops.

There is an opportunity for one of these groups to attend the USQ Theatre Studies Department Showcase on 16 November and to present their work there as representatives of the Mailbox Project. This will be open to further discussion upon the commencement of the project.

St. George

The year 10 drama class in St. George will be divided up into five groups of four in a program similar to that of Dirranbandi's and create their own collage drama performance based on the results of the first workshop conducted in October. Students will be responsible for their own scripting, blocking and medium of performance with facilitation provided by their drama teacher and the project staff. Online process journals will also be maintained by the students, which can be used as a written outcome and also as a channel for communication.