By Philip O'Brien

"That boy has known a passion more ferocious than I have felt in any second of my life" - psychiatrist Dr Martin Dysart in Peter Schaffer's Equus.

The comparison is hard to resist. For nearly three years, Free-Rain's youthful enthusiasm has energised the local theatre scene. Now the company faces its greatest challenge as it stages Peter Schaffer's psychological drama about a disturbed teenage boy who blinds a stable of horses. After twenty-seven years, the play still has the power to shock.

Free-Rain Theatre is the creation of Anne Somes and George Huitker, drama teachers at Marist and Radford Colleges respectively. They see the company as a stepping-stone for young actors and directors, many of whom are former students, as well as a means of attracting younger audiences away from television and computer games.

"The company has developed an ensemble feel and is very supportive," Somes says. "There's actually now a two-tiered structure of actors who have been around for a number of years supplemented by newer performers."

Playing the central character of Alan Strang is Daniel Maloney, a former student of Somes' at Marist College. Appearing in his fifth production for Free-Rain, he appreciates the rapport within the company. "This gives you confidence," he says. "But they also know you well-enough to be able to tell you quite bluntly if you've gone too far."

Maloney won a Canberra Area Theatre Award last year for his role in the Marist production of Guys and Dolls. Earlier this year he took the lead in Free Rain's production of Macbeth. "I'm now beginning to appreciate the emotional honesty required of an actor. Up until now I've always been subsumed by the play. Now I've developed the confidence to trust myself and let go."

The role of Alan requires him to be striped bare both emotionally and physically. If he had any doubts about accepting the role, it wasn't just because of the nudity. "It was also because of the emotional energy and affinity with the character that was required." At 18, Maloney is just a year older than the character of Alan. "It's a rare chance to play a character of consequence who is basically my own age," he says.

Fiona Atkin plays the character of Jill Mason, the young stablehand whose sexual encounter with Alan precipitates the blinding of the horses. A former Radford College student, she appeared for Free-Rain in Macbeth and The Removalists. Her character is drawn to Alan's gentle innocence without realising his mental state. The demands of the role did not daunt her.

"It's not been as difficult as I expected," she says. "It's very cathartic to be able to stand up on stage totally exposed and say "this is who I am". There are so few places in life where you can actually be as truthful as that".

This production features a set by Jim Tregonning, based on Schaffer's text directions of a square set inside a circle, rather like a boxing ring. Other characters are seated onstage throughout the play, Greek chorus-style. The horses are played by members of the company complete with outline heads and four-inch high hooves. Their costumes, designed by Sarah La Brooy, see the chestnut garb of previous productions replaced by blue lycra.

One of the horses is played by Stuart Roberts, a former student of Huitker's at Radford College. He has played violently physical roles with Free-Rain in Extremities, The Removalists and Macbeth. "In this play I have almost no dialogue but it's the most demanding of any I've done," he says, referring to the climactic scene where he carries Alan on his shoulders, during a midnight ride, as the central platform revolves.

Away from the stage, Roberts is also a film reviewer for the Canberra Times. He is reluctant to compare the two mediums but, when pressed, suggests that the effect of the play is different to many modern films which deal only superficially with emotions. "If it has a parallel in cinema, it would be in films like Bringing Out the Dead and The Thin Red Line, which take audiences inside the mindset of the characters."

Patrick Collins, a former Marist College student, plays another of the horses. He appeared for Free-Rain earlier this year in the Edward Albee play Zoo Story, a role with heavy demands of dialogue. This role has none but, he says, is the more exhausting. "It's more physical and mentally demanding since you have to concentrate all the time," he says. "When you're not on stage you're also in the chorus."

George Huitker, who plays the role of psychiatrist Dysart, is pleased at the development of the company members over the past few years. "Even though they're passionate about their work, they're not lost within that passion. They're able to detach themselves from it. Given the emotional demands of the play I think that's a very healthy sign."

Equus at the Courtyard Studio, Canberra Theatre Centre, from August 10 to 26. Bookings 6257 1077.

*

A Stage They’re Going Through
By Philip O’Brien

Not many fifteen-year olds have their own theatre company. Fewer still are able to put their dramatic skills to the test in a professional performance space. But Rhys Holden, a year ten student at Stromlo High School, is doing just this. With his Rack Theatre Company, he has been presenting Gordon Graham’s play The Boys at the Canberra Theatre Courtyard Studio this week.

The play is about a brutal murder and its effect on a family in a culture where violence is a familiar form of communication. Rhys has gathered together a cast of seven and a production team of six, most are whom are students at Stromlo High. His school's student representative council provided a small grant and his mother Barbara, experienced in local productions, offered invaluable assistance.

All of which begs the question: do many young theatre practitioners go it alone? Or do they prefer to work as part of organised groups? And with what sort of issues are they interested these days?

Performing experience with companies such as Canberra Rep and Philharmonic served Rhys Holden well. He quietly observed and absorbed, before turning to directing. He wanted to extend his theatrical boundaries; everyone told him that it was a difficult script. “I also wanted to push my actors to limits they’d never experienced before," he says. "But I also wanted to push what the audience expects of an inexperienced cast and production team".

"We chose the Courtyard Studio because we wanted to perform at a higher standard than people expect in a school hall. I preferred to go outside the existing opportunities for youth theatre because that structure doesn’t provide for the long and extensive workshopping process we required," he says.

Rhys is not alone. Fourteen-year-old Paddy Murphy, a year nine student at St Edmund’s College, spent his first term holidays at this year’s Australian National Playwright’s Conference as one of his plays was workshopped. “The reaction from some of the other participants was quizzical at first," he recalls, "but after that I was readily accepted. After all, everyone was there for the same reason.” He welcomed the opportunity to work with a dramaturg and to talk with actors and directors. Murphy has a distinguished pedigree. His older brother Thomas, a former St Edmund’s student, won the Australian Young Playwright Award in 1997.

More than most people, George Huitker understands the challenges Rhys and Paddy are facing. Twenty years ago, while a student at a school then uninterested in drama, he pursued his own agenda, writing, directing and appearing in his own musicals and plays. He was the recipient of local government grant but, being responsible for his own advertising, venue hire and overheads, learned about theatre the hard way. He now admits that the risks of trying to make it on one's own outweigh the benefits.

Now drama teacher at Radford College, he is part-founder of Free-Rain Theatre, with fellow drama teacher Anne Somes from Marist College, building up a repertoire of Australian plays, both new and revivals. Somes says that the company is keen to encourage young talent, not only in acting and directing but also in writing for the theatre. She says that Free-Rain is not in competition with Canberra Youth Theatre, which has provided workshop-based approach to theatre for young people since 1972.

Daniel Moloney, seventeen, a year 12 student at Marist College, welcomes the opportunities that Free-Rain provides. “Setting up your own company is a daunting prospect. You would need a solid base of knowledge and finances and the respect of local actors to make it work.”

Then there is the option of studying drama within the school system. For more than twenty years, Canberra’s college system has offered students greater flexibility than their interstate counterparts, with drama as a separate subject.

Alanna Maclean, drama co-ordinator at Lake Ginninderra College, was partly responsible for devising the original ACT college drama guidelines in the late 1970s. She has observed a trend in the number of school productions now being directed by students rather than teachers.

One such young director is sixteen-year-old Eleanor Clapham, a year ten student at Radford College. She is co-directing a production of Taming of the Shrew at the College later in the year. Meanwhile at Dickson College, seventeen-year old Michelle Schaffer, a year 12 student, is working on a production as part of the International Year of Older Persons, with former Dickson College student Delia Fetter. She is also one of a number of Dickson College students who provide front-of-house facilities at the Street Theatre.

At Canberra Boys’ Grammar, a number of students have taken responsibility for producing shorter, more intimate works. As part of the year ten drama course, Brendan Bicknell, Michael Beard and Omar Musa are staging a public performance of the Jack Hibberd play Who. “The three of us each have roles in the play and share the directing responsibilities," Brendan says. Meanwhile year 12 Grammar student, James Woods, has recently staged The Cupboard, a play he wrote and directed with some of his class mates about the subject of homophobia. “We were probably a little too young to do it justice," he admits, "but it got a great reaction from boys and staff. The school council was amazed that such a subject had been dealt with.”

But are rites of passage and coming of age the only subjects in which young people are interested? And what of the amount of violence and strong language in these plays? Do these divide students on gender lines?

Many students say that they have no objection to violence or bad language if each is essential to the plot. “Violence is a part of modern life," Michelle Schaffer observes, "and at times it's necessary to shock audiences out of their complacency.”

James Woods says that the kind of theatre to which he is attracted is theatre that questions accepted notions. "It's theatre which gets stuck into contemporary Australia and stirs up issues," he says. "The challenge facing modern Australian dramatists is to continue what the New Wave of the '60s and '70s started. ”

"Young people love anything that is presented in a humorous vein," Canberra Youth Theatre's Linda McHugh says. "As for political issues, they prefer things to come at them from a social angle. In smaller groups, I've found that they're most concerned with issues such as youth suicide and personal relationships."

"I'm not convinced that most students are politically motivated at all," Joe Woodward, drama teacher at Daramalan College, observes. “Many will simply mouth issues touted by the purveyors of political agendas but most don't become politically aware until they leave school."

Dickson College drama convenor Lorena Param stands by accepted wisdom that girls are more likely to be attracted to the emotional issues and boys to the physical. But Peter van Riswijk, drama teacher at St Edmund's College, does not agree. “Among the young men I teach, I’m finding that alongside the aggression and bad language is a softness," he says. "They’re now more willing than before to show that it’s OK to cry.”

Surprisingly, selections from the so-called canon of traditional theatre are not unpopular with students. When Rhys Holden was given the title role in Canberra Rep’s production of The Winslow Boy last year, he thought the dialogue ponderous and the characters and the settings hard to relate to. But it began to dawn on him that the older theatrical traditions had something to offer. “I began to see past the boring bits to the poignant parts: people's journeys rather than their day-to-day lives.

“It’s not the choice of play that’s the problem,” Daniel Moloney says. “Older plays have something to offer but they are frequently presented in too safe a manner. They need to go much further if they want to attract young theatre goers.”

But here's the rub: Shakespeare is cool. And not just because of Baz Lurhmann and Gwyneth Paltrow. Directors with attitude like Barrie Kosky are enthusing a whole new generation of theatre-goers.

Brendan Bicknell and James Woods were impressed by the recent STC production of Macbeth, particularly the male witches. “It’s refreshing that Shakespeare can be interpreted in this way,” James Woods says. “It can be adapted because there is so much depth to the text. It creates a brand new piece of theatre." “The language can be difficult at first ," Eleanor Clapham adds, "but I love the way it flows so poetically."

Her comments are echoed by other students and teachers. And Peter van Riswijk has noticed how much his drama students love playing with language. “They love fast paced dialogue," he says. "It’s the influence of television shows like Good New Week and characters like Flacco. It’s also the effect of electronic media advertising where as much information as possible is crammed into thirty seconds.”

Paddy Murphy says that it is essential for contemporary playwrights to capture accurately the language of young people. Slang is an essential part of their speech, he says, as is faster pacing and shorter sentences. He is especially critical of the dialogue which playwright David Williamson has written for the young characters in the television series Dog’s Head Bay.

Indeed, most of the staff and students are unimpressed with Williamson’s current writing. "He's become mainstream and lost his rawness," James Woods says. “He tries too hard. He’s not cool," George Huitker adds. "Students don’t like his issue-driven melodrama and phony language. In fact, they hate phoniness of any sort.”

While some students talk longingly of a career in theatre, most acknowledge that places at drama schools are fiercely contested and employment opportunities after graduation even more so. Nonetheless, all talk of the positive effect on self-esteem of studying drama. Michelle Schaffer says, “It helps build self confidence in so many subjects that require presentations." Brendan Bicknell adds, "It helps you use your mind in a way that you can’t with any other subject.” And yet, after many years of teaching drama, Joe Woodward has come to the conclusion that its correlation with self-esteem is over-rated. "Sport has just as similar an effect," he says.

The students are much more optimistic about the future of theatre. Daniel Moloney says that many of his friends don't go to the theatre simply because they don't know what is being offered. “But when they come to our productions they are among our best customers,” he says.

George Huitker feels that the technological wizardry of movies is having the effect of sending younger audiences in search of a more personal experience. In the past few weeks, while appearing in Canberra Rep’s production of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, he has noticed the reactions of younger audiences. “For them, theatre has been a new and exciting experience. And it's the dialogue that engages them not the action.”

“Theatre is not dying," Rhys Holden says confidently. "It’s being reborn. It’s being taken to a new level and leaving the earlier generation behind. The Boys is one of the best crafted plays that I’ve ever read. It’s more dialogue than movement-based. Its great appeal is bound up in the dialogue.”

The Boys concludes tonight (Saturday 18 September) at 8pm in the Canberra Theatre Courtyard Studio. Tickets 6257 1077.