Pao School's drama course encourages discovery through experimentation, risk-taking and the presentation of ideas. Students participate in drama throughout the whole of their time at YK Pao School, from year one to year twelve. Drama provides students with opportunities to build their confidence, improve their language skills and better prepare themselves for the future workplace. In drama classes, students gain teamwork experience whilst building public speaking skills and their analytical thinking abilities, alongside exploring stories, characters, and story development. In drama clubs, students are free to explore the art of performance.
Pao School's SIX:45 is a drama club organized by students and supported by teachers. The students of the drama club recently shared their new work (Un)forgettable.The SIX:45 Actors ensemble, founded in March 2018, is named after the clubs meeting time. The name represents the commitment and the collective power of every ensemble member. The group started with improvisational acting and was then introduced to script-based acting, acting theories, and so on. They have put on three highly-praised shows on- and off-campus: Stay With Me: A Showcase of Duologues and Monologues, (Un)forgettable, and Unbelievable: An improv Night.
Pao School's first student-created two-act play
(Un)forgettable is the first student-written two-act play in Pao School history. The play was written by Irene from Y12 and SIX:45 members were fully in charge of the production, including the playwriting, acting, directing, technical support and publicity. The four pieces of background music were composed by Yolanda and played by Kitty, Jason, and Wilson (all from Y12).
The story is set in a sci-fi world, in which a neuroscience PhD. Alexander, develops a "memory removal treatment" to serve her clients. Four characters come to Alexander with their own struggles: a girl who has been secretly in love with her violin teacher for seven years, a boy lost in unrequited love, a man suffering from immense guilt from his abuse of his ex-wife, and a woman unable to take on a second marriage. The play centers around the question: does forgetting help? It explores the ways people deal with their struggles and what they choose to learn from them, expressing their reflections on their identities.
"The pursuit of self-growth"
The playwright Irene, as a sixteen-year-old young woman, included her deep reflections on the real world and created five main characters that explored her confusion towards life and truth. When writing the script, she realized that there were few teenage characters in previous school drama productions – and felt that, instead of letting teenagers play adults, why not let them play fully-developed, intriguing characters that share their age?
Regarding the portrayal of these profoundly emotional experiences, Irene expressed that throughout acting, directing and playwriting, she attempted to show her vulnerability, seek growth and connect others.
Irene therefore created the characters Charlotte and William, to show that the depression and anxiety in teenagers' minds are not the commonly perceived "overly dramatic moans and groans". They truly are the teenagers' confusion and insecurity towards themselves and society. She also constructed some humorous dialogues between the young characters to engage the audience.
In creating the other pair of main characters, Derek and Amanda, the playwright challenged herself by portraying a man with a history of domestic violence; she presented a distorted form of logic and intrusive behaviors, and further discussed the impact of domestic violence to both parties in a relationship.
While Dr. Alexander seemed like an ordinary listener, the playwright used her to ground the sci-fi setting of the entire play. Through Derek confronting Alexander on whether she uses "memory removal treatment" to satisfy her selfish need of "playing God", Irene explored the boundary between the application of science and technology and the moral standards.
"When ideas fuse, stage lights hit, everyone's effort pays off"
If the script was the basis of a successful production,
then the acting would be the key.
At the beginning of last semester, Irene shared the first draft of Act One and the outline of Act Two, which intrigued SIX:45 members. In the process, club members contributed various suggestions towards the script and the acting, and then put their ideas into action during rehearsals. Before rehearsals, SIX:45 spent half a month polishing the script, learning about acting theories, and did close readings on the text. In every rehearsal, the director would check "did you draw the beats?" and then everyone would start to share their analysis of the text. The discussions were always heated and the constant exchange of ideas allowed the director and the actors to improve the fluidity of the script's structure and the complexity of the characters.
I've learned a lot from this production. This is the first time I've ever learned that a character has an objective beneath every line, and that an actor needs to find the objective and think about the character's emotions on that moment. A huge thanks to the senior members of SIX:45 for accepting me - an amateur of acting - into the club and helping me fit in.
——Richard
All the text analysis and rehearsals took place during evening free time. Thus, it was a huge challenge for SIX:45 members to ensure the quality of the production in combination with managing their heavy academic workload. Still, every cast member, out of the responsibility towards the ensemble and the production, dedicated their full selves and spared all possible time to practice – ensemble members went through lines in the hallways and in the cafeteria; and if the Black Box was occupied, they would go out to the lawn to rehearse.
Whilst actors are shining under the stage light, crew members behind the tech table are often overlooked. Yet, technical support is also essential to a play's success. The other challenge the ensemble encountered was the limiting equipment in the Black Box, which meant that Wilson, the ensemble's "tech guru" had to manually adjust the angle of the lights and the shaders. Alongside rehearsals, the ensemble worked to find matching props, coordinate suitable costumes, design the set, and choose the color palette. The final visual presentation was the product of diligent collaboration, and the optimization of every individual and the school's resources.
In the play, the beautiful background music contributed to the gentle atmosphere and heightened the dramatic effects. Most of the music was composed by Yolanda and played by club members. In the narrow space at the back of the Black Box, with one music stand, two violins, and one piano, the musicians made graceful music flow to reach the actors and the audience.
The music is created by Yolanda
While the cast and crew members were busy with rehearsals, club member Vicky designed a series of stunning posters for the play, which were highly praised by both students and staff members. In all, from the first few typed lines on the screen to the final production, (Un)forgettable could only be realized with the contribution and commitment of all SIX:45 members. Each one of them put their creativity and passion into action, to make the production as best as it could be.
"Moving on,
there's always a long way to go"
Only a team guided by mutual understanding would be able to produce such an 'unforgettable' piece of art.
——SIX:45 member Selina
(who portrayed Bernadette)
To all SIX:45 members, this production has made them feel delighted, touched, anxious and so many other emotions; to many audience members, this production has also left them with lingering emotion and insight. SIX:45 Actor Ensemble did not indulge themselves in their achievements, but continued spreading their creativity and collective power - this week, they performed Unbelievable: An Improv Night.
