Learn More About Black Swan State Theatre Company's Education Programme Next Week

Black Swan State Theatre Company launched their 25th Anniversary season last month featuring three world premieres, five new Australian plays, three WA premieres, two co-productions, a French classic, a modern German classic, a glittering multi-award winning American play and three Malcolm Robertson award-winning plays.

Black Swan is committed to collaborating with educators in developing an appreciation of the performing arts. The company proves itself to be accessible to school and community groups with performances, workshops, quality resources and value adding experiences that support and complement the West Australian and Australian Curriculum.

Artistic Director Kate Cherry believes that "Nurturing and developing emerging artists and audiences is crucial to the future of Black Swan. In 2016 we celebrate our 25th anniversary by offering a diversity of work from the education curriculum including Picnic at Hanging Rock, Angels in America and Caucasian Chalk Circle. The 2016 season offers something for everyone including our edgy new work by some of Western Australia's rising stars."

Teachers and Educators are invited to learn more about Black Swan's Education season program on Monday 16 November at the State Theatre Centre of WA. The company encourages teachers to look at a two play or three play subscription for the year that supports a range of Education Curriculum Outcomes.

The Company welcomes back director Matthew Lutton, who makes his debut in the Heath Ledger Theatre as the newly appointed Artistic Director of Malthouse, in a daring retelling of the multi-award winning iconic film Picnic at Hanging Rock, where a group of schoolgirls and their teachers ventured out for a picnic but four members of their group mysteriously disappear. The production is a fresh adaptation of Joan Lindsay's classic novel with Lutton bringing his unique brand of storytelling to this much loved Australian story in a co-production with Malthouse.

Black Swan is excited to present their first international collaboration with Bertolt Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle, which was based on an old Chinese fable. Directed by Dr Wang Xiaoying with artists from the esteemed National Theatre of China - this will be a rare opportunity to witness an engaging fusion of Eastern and Australian Indigenous cultures with storytelling and songs sung in Noongar language.

Set against the backdrop of a tumultuous civil war, The Caucasian Chalk Circle is an engaging parable about motherhood, ownership and identity.

The company will present the wonderfully politically charged work suited to both upper secondary and tertiary students, in Tony Kushner's Angels in America - Part 1. Kate Cherry is delighted to be directing this production and guarantee this inspiring tale of heartbreak and hope will move all who experience it and will become a much cherished theatre experience. Cherry attended the first reading of the play and says" her goal is to present a version that is less of a spectacle than the Broadway production, focusing more on the humanity within the story."

Set in 1985 Angel's in America follows Prior Walter, a young man who receives an AIDS diagnosis and is abandoned by his lover. The play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and has won Best Play at the Tony Awards on two occasions.

There is also an opportunity to witness WA's rising stars fresh out of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts with the establishment of The Bridging Company. Consisting of an ensemble of eight acting graduates, they will make their professional Black Swan debuts in our Lab, as they perform in LOADED, a double bill of new Western Australian plays - Gita Bezard's Girl Shut Your Mouth and Will O'Mahony's Tonsils + Tweezers.

There are a host of other value add on activities for teachers and students:

With each production engage with Rio Tinto Pre-show talks, where teachers or educators making a group student booking have the opportunity to gain a rare insight into the processes of some of the country's best designers by participating in a pre-performance talk with a designer from the production.

Post-show Q&A's also enable teachers or educators who have made a student group booking the opportunity to gain a rare insight into the processes of some of the country's best actors by participating in a post-performance Q&A session with the cast.

Back stage tours are a great way to see the theatre in ways you never have before! Our backstage tours invite students into areas never usually seen by the public, offering a peek behind-the-scenes of their State Theatre Company.

Black Swan offers a range of practical, interactive workshops in the fields of design, production, performance, vocal work and management. All participants (including the teacher) receive a certificate of participation. These workshops can be tailored to all ages and ability levels.

Education Kits are distributed free to teachers and lecturers who make a student group booking as supplementary material to the performance. These kits are information packets designed in-house by Black Swan to supplement each play.

In 2016 Black Swan will reprise the successful production of Shadowboxing, a 50 minute performance created specifically for young people to tour to schools and regional Western Australia. Shadowboxing looks at social media, the online world and identity and is aimed at Years 7-12 (ages 12 - 17). It has been designed to accommodate a wide range of communities and is aligned to current social issues such as trust, identity and safety on social media and the current Drama, English, ESL and Society and Environment curriculum.

Black Swan also welcomes four Year 12 high school student ambassadors for 2016: Caitlyn Donnelly from Tranby College; Jessica Spies from Sacred Heart College; Nicholas Warrand, from Christchurch Grammar School and Zach Little from Kolbe Catholic College. These Students were nominated in Year 11 for participation in the program by their drama teachers. Now in its fourth year the annual student ambassadors program gives students the chance to participate in a theatre enrichment program that offers experiences outside the classroom including tickets to the season's productions, attending talks, events discussions in support of the student's passion for the arts.

The launch is a wonderful opportunity for teachers to step into our world and browse through the Education Season 2016 brochure and find out about other details re subscriptions, industry placement, work experience, internships, Professional Learning, development workshops and other opportunities provided by Black Swan State Theatre Company.

Black Swan State Theatre Company 2016 Education Season Launch:

When: Monday 16 November

Where: Rehearsal Room Two, State Theatre Centre of WA

When: 5 to 7pm

Cost: FREE for teachers with refreshments provided

School Groups- book at ticketek.com.au or 1300 364 001

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