STUDENT BLOGGER OF THE MONTH- Tues 28th June

This is my first year at Hunter Drama and I’m loving it so far. I’m in two classes – Intermediate Musical Theatre and Drama for Years 5 and 6.

I think anyone can join Hunter Drama because the classes are all very inclusive and everyone is so friendly. A few of my friends from school were already in my classes, but I have also made lots of new friends. I loved getting to know the kids in my class when I first came. In drama we played a game called ‘Zombie’ to learn each other’s names. In ‘Zombie’ the only way to save yourself is to say someone else’s name and pass the zombie onto them. It is a really good way to learn everyone’s name and we still play it now (even though we already know everyone) because it is so much fun!

Hunter Drama is great because it opens up a lot of performance opportunities. So far I’ve been in the Roald Dahl Festival and my Musical Theatre class is organising a concert for the parents to watch. I love how everyone is given a chance to perform, even if you’re a beginner and not very good yet.

Lately we’ve been playing a bunch of new games. In my drama class we play lots of improvisation games that I love because they help to improve your improvising skills, but mostly because they’re just so much fun! ‘Musical in a Minute’ is my favourite musical theatre game because it encourages teamwork. It’s actually quite hard to pull together a whole musical and fit it into one minute!

Classes aren’t just educational – they’re super fun too. I never feel hesitant to go to my classes because they can be a highlight to a bad day or add extra excitement to an already fabulous day. I have been outside my comfort zone some days, which is great because I normally stick with what I know. I hate singing high notes and I’m not the biggest fan of dancing, but I’ve already had to do both things (and even both together!).

My favourite part of HD is putting together performances. I love finding out what part I got and what lines I have and then putting them into the performance. I also like brainstorming ideas for our performances because everyone gets to put in their ideas, then they are put together to make our performance.

I love coming to classes every week to see all my old and new friends and of course to see my amazing tutors (Alicia, James, and Elise). I love all of my tutors for heaps of different reasons, but mainly because they’re always up for a laugh.

I think anyone can join Hunter Drama because the tutors are trying to teach EVERYONE to be dramatic, not just the people who already are dramatic. Nobody is “too bad at acting” or “too good at acting” to join HD.

Classes are over for the term but I can’t wait to get back to them. 🙂

STUDENT NAME: Stephanie Hanlon

AGE: 11 years old

HD COURSE/S: Drama For Years 5 & 6, Musical Theatre Intermediate.