St Joseph's Nudgee College

July 15, 2009

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St Joseph's Nudgee College and St Margaret’s School students will combine on the next two Friday evenings to perform in Way Out West (Legends and Larrikins: A Travelling Federation Show).

The students will be sharing the hilarious trials and tribulations of people living in Western Queensland on Friday July 17 and Friday July 24 as part of the 2009 production.

Commissioned by the Queensland Performing Arts Trust and funded by the Queensland Government as part of Australia’s Centenary of Federation celebrations in 2001, Way Out West is a tribute to the travelling tent shows that toured outback Australia from the 1890s to the 1960s.

"The play is a combination of drama, comedy and music putting it into the theatrical style of Vaudeville theatre," said Nudgee College Head of Drama Ms Alison Crilly.

"The script consists of a series of short stories that celebrates the lives and day to day routine of the people of Western Queensland."

Although dramatic license has been taken in various aspects of the Way Out West stories, the spirit and essential details in all stories is real.

The plays writers Margery Forde and Michael Forde spent two weeks travelling throughout outback Queensland in December 2000. During their trip they visited Roma, Mitchell, Quilpie, Thargomindah, Charleville, Cunnamulla, and St George, speaking with locals to get their stories and learn about their diverse experiences.

These stories and experiences will be brought to life by Nudgee College students from Years 5-12 and St Margaret’s students from Years 11 and 12. Despite the play being made up of a number of different stories, the cast is only small with performers constantly changing characters between stories.  

In keeping with the plays original travelling tent show concept, the performances were held in a marquee/tent in the old Nudgee College car park above Wilkes Oval.

"We felt that holding the play in a tent would be more authentic," said Ms Crilly.

"This is the way the play was originally written and, really, how often do city audiences get to experience a travelling tent show?"

Adding to the experience, the audience will be able to enjoy pre-show cocktail food and drinks while being entertained by College bands, bush poetry and whip cracking, among other forms of entertainment.

Nudgee College Principal Mr Daryl Hanly is excited about the upcoming performances and believes that future College productions will continue to delight audiences once planned refurbishments are made to the College’s drama space.

"Nudgee College is about to commence a $5.5 million refurbishment of our drama space in Tierney Hall," Mr Hanly said.

"Once completed, the building will include a 400 seat tiered auditorium, drama rooms, kitchen/servery and a hospitality training bar. These facilities will not only benefit Nudgee College students but those from a number of surrounding schools and Colleges as well."

Anyone wishing to purchase tickets to Way Out West on either Friday July 17 or Friday July 24 should download a ticket order form and return it to the Nudgee College Finance Office. Tickets are $30 for adults, $20 for student/concessions & $80 for a family (2 x Adult + 2 x Conc.).