Student Theatre: Why get involved in the first place?
In my case the motivation was simple enough, just to make friends. I knew no one at La Trobe in in 1978. All my friends were at Melbourne or elsewhere. However what I wasn’t prepared for was how many of those friendships would turn out to be lifelong. Nor did I expect that along the way I would come to realise that I got as much if not more joy from enabling others as I did from pursuing any ambitions of my own.
So, what is it about theatre that creates such bonds between people?
I think the answer resides in the shared vulnerability of eventually facing an audience together. While protecting each other on a football field is quite straightforward, to do so for the stage means building confidence and resilience over time with genuine care and consideration. It has to be genuine. Insincerity in the theatre is easy to detect. This means casts often bond strongly.
In my case the motivation was simple enough, just to make friends. I knew no one at La Trobe in in 1978. All my friends were at Melbourne or elsewhere. However what I wasn’t prepared for was how many of those friendships would turn out to be lifelong. Nor did I expect that along the way I would come to realise that I got as much if not more joy from enabling others as I did from pursuing any ambitions of my own.
So, what is it about theatre that creates such bonds between people?
I think the answer resides in the shared vulnerability of eventually facing an audience together. While protecting each other on a football field is quite straightforward, to do so for the stage means building confidence and resilience over time with genuine care and consideration. It has to be genuine. Insincerity in the theatre is easy to detect. This means casts often bond strongly.
Isn't it a distraction from studies?
For those of you who think Student Theatre would be a terrible thing to get involved with given the pressure of HECS loans and the high cost of courses, we would like you to reconsider as it frequently pays off in other ways.
Getting involved doesn’t inherently hinder your personal development, it inherently enhances it. You only have to read the “What happened next after uni?" section below to see how.
What happened next after uni?
After directing the La Trobe revue, Sue went on to start the ball rolling with a revue at RMIT when she as appointed Student theatre Coordinator there. She later ran the South Melbourne Gasworks complex and earlier had stints at Unley Youth Theatre in Adelaide and the Murray River Performing Troupe in Albury and Anthill. Sue later moved to Switzerland where she did a PHD on Australian theatre.
Suzanne, however, along with her partner Julian would ultimately create an immersive theatre company that is today renowned and commissioned the world over.
After uni Leonie joined Theatre Works and wound up teaching drama at Xavier for years.
Rafik rose high in the McDonalds organisation worldwide, launching them in Indonesia and elsewhere in south east Asia.
Perhaps not so surprisingly Chris rose to the top of Australia’s advertising industry, running Clemenger’s Melbourne office.
Marg Dobson would go on to create award winning one woman theatre shows.
Edwina would eventually do a PhD in theatre therapy but not before touring the world with the secret policewomen comedy troupe.
John Considine continues to broaden his experiences in a range of fields. He has been a writer and performer for a range of theatrical works, has been a musical director for several productions, is an accomplished musician and drummer featuring in Joe Dolce's No.1 hit of the 1980s. He studies French language at the Université de Bourgogne in Dijon, France, while continuing his work as a Special Needs high school teacher and has had several novels successfully published.
And who knows, perhaps we helped inspire a regular audience member, Sue McClements’ little sister Catherine to become Australia’s most accomplished actress.
After uni Leonie joined Theatre Works and wound up teaching drama at Xavier for years.
Rafik rose high in the McDonalds organisation worldwide, launching them in Indonesia and elsewhere in south east Asia.
Perhaps not so surprisingly Chris rose to the top of Australia’s advertising industry, running Clemenger’s Melbourne office.
Marg Dobson would go on to create award winning one woman theatre shows.
Edwina would eventually do a PhD in theatre therapy but not before touring the world with the secret policewomen comedy troupe.
John Considine continues to broaden his experiences in a range of fields. He has been a writer and performer for a range of theatrical works, has been a musical director for several productions, is an accomplished musician and drummer featuring in Joe Dolce's No.1 hit of the 1980s. He studies French language at the Université de Bourgogne in Dijon, France, while continuing his work as a Special Needs high school teacher and has had several novels successfully published.
And who knows, perhaps we helped inspire a regular audience member, Sue McClements’ little sister Catherine to become Australia’s most accomplished actress.
Years later in the late nineties, when Shaun Micallef first joined the cast of Full Frontal, he and Gary McCaffrie, already a writer on the show successfully put forward Mike as a support writer, where he continued to enjoy writing TV comedy for a number of years. Also on the writing team he discovered Brendan Luno, many years earlier directed in the Architecture revue and Michael Ward, who was originally inspired by Sue McClements at RMIT. Following his stint at Full Frontal, Mike was able to sell Channel Seven the most expensive comedy pilot in Australian TV history, a science fiction puppet show written by Shaun and Gary and directed by Ted Emery. It’s worth noting Mike’s entire foray into television had all stemmed from those enduring friendships first struck up when recruiting for FAST all those years ago. Student theatre can prepare you for life after university in ways you least expect.
It must be emphasised that friendship is the key tangible you gain from the extra-curricular involvement in student theatre.
As discussed previously, due to its very nature theatre creates friendships that literally last a lifetime. The Latrobe cohort still keep in contact with each other some forty or fifty years later, so do the South Australians. Student Theatre also delivers on other tangibles like self-confidence and presentation skills.
The dust settles on student theatre life.
The dust settles on student theatre life.
Looking back, what stands out is not simply the shows we mounted but the spirit that made them possible — a rare mix of laughter, chaos, ambition, brilliance and generosity that defined our salad days at La Trobe. Thunderbolt Theatre became a meeting place for people who might never otherwise have crossed paths. Together we created something larger than any one production or personality. It was a time when ideas were taken seriously and anything felt possible.
Eventually becoming a Revue audience member rather than participant after leaving La Trobe was a real joy. The revue had a life of its own. The cast even included my old housemates from outside La Trobe, Ruth Harrison and Ken Howden, both in touch with their inner clown. Ken was then and still is my best friend. Not surprisingly I found his highly original contributions very amusing.
For those of us who were part of it, La Trobe student theatre helped forge friendships, build confidence, shape the way we approached new ideas and influence the paths we took in later life. What we gained from those years has stayed with us ever since.
— Mike Lewis
— Mike Lewis