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Dinner Celebrates 2011 Achievements for Midnite Youth Theatre Company and Drama
- Attachments
The annual Drama Dinner was held last week at the Claremont Yacht Club, with boys and actors from other schools, their families, staff and patrons of the Midnite Youth Theatre Company (MYTC) enjoying an evening celebrating the productions and performances of the year.
Head of Drama, Drew Stocker, introduced students to give a reflection on each of the 4 main productions for the year - Mnemonic, Gondor, Hoods, Anitigone. He also spoke of the new elements of the School’s drama programme this year such as House Drama and academic Drama evenings.
The Leo Awards were instituted in Honour of MYTC’s first Theatrical Patron, Leo McKern AO, the international Australian actor. Mr McKern and the then Artistic Director, Mr Tony Howes, formulated the criteria, and the awards are given in Mr McKern’s honour and memory. Leos are awarded for each production and a full list of winners can be found here.
Thomas Drake-Brockman and Louis Crossing (Year 12) were each awarded a ‘Special Leo for Long and Outstanding Service’ for their contribution to the backstage management of many productions over the last 5 years. The Midnite Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts and Western Australian Theatre was awarded to Mr Dean Morris for his production management and lighting design and contributions to more than 100 productions both for Midnite as well as professional and amateur theatre companies.
The Willoughby Family, in memory of the late Tim Willoughby, presents the coveted ‘Tim Willoughby Award for Outstanding Performance’. This year Miss Nina Willoughby presented the award to Lachlan Ormonde (Year 11), for his performance as Professor Spindler in Mnemonic.
Mr Stocker said, “As a department and a youth theatre company, we have tried very hard to provide significant opportunities for as many boys and girls as possible to perform, teach, manage, create, explore, watch and appreciate drama and theatre.”
The evening concluded with a forecast of the 2012 Season, including Pericles (coming up in November this year), a Year 6 production, House Drama included in the Beatty Cup, Under Milk Wood for Years 11 and 12 as a Studio Drama, Goonies for Years 7 and 8, the LA Tour early 2013, a Year 9 play, a Year 10 play, a foreign language play and an innovative production of Macbeth for Years 11 and 12 presented as a piece of ‘promenade theatre’ at a local nightclub.