Pocket Mozart and Pocket Tosca 2024
“What’s The Story”
An outreach project, working with South Australian young people writing their stories into Operas and Musicals.
From September to December 2023, Co-Opera conducted a new project “What’s The Story”, connecting with disadvantaged schools from metropolitan and regional South Australia workshopping with the students to turn their own stories into operas and musicals.
Devised by Artistic Director Stephanie Acraman, the highly successful project worked closely with four schools that were registered to be disadvantaged, either in regards to their proximity, resources or other factors.
Stephanie, and mentor Joshua van Konkelenberg (previous Artistic Director for Co-Opera) conducted workshops in each of the schools, across a number of weeks, teaching the students what opera and music theatre was essentially about and introducing them to the idea that their stories could be told through this format. Stephanie and Joshua worked with the students to craft their ideas into libretto, and then scores. They then continued to develop the operas and musicals into staged works, helping the students learn about stage direction, and then the actual performance itself.
Funded by the Department of Human Services, under the Government of South Australia this project saw 35 students and staff reached, with the idea in mind of not only offering exposure to new art forms, but to develop knowledge and support the staff in each school providing useful Professional Development opportunities. We are very grateful to the Department of Human Services for believing in this project and the young people participating, and for seeing the potential for the performing arts to be used in many varied ways to connect communities, and engage young people.
The project culminated in a final Workshop Presentation Day held at the Parks Theatre and Parks Library, where the young people all joined together to have workshops through the day, supported by Catherine Campbell (workshop leader), Grace Jones (workshop assistant) and Deborah Proeve (workplace intern).
Students and staff were able to mix with the other schools, get to know other creatives from different regions of South Australia and Adelaide, and to share and support each other through an exciting day of exploration, skill development and general fun around Opera and Music Theatre.
The evening saw each school presenting their ‘works in progress’ at the Parks Theatre, where they invited family and friends to be part of the audience, seeing the outcomes of the work and development the students had been engaged in across the workshop period.
As part of the project, tickets were also offered free of charge for the Elder Conservatorium Music Theatre course production of Shrek. The Adelaide Festival also provided $5 tickets to the students for select performances at the upcoming festival, under the Tix for Next to Nix Program. A wonderful support for Co-Opera and the “What’s The Story” participants.
The Elixir of Love – a comic opera
by Gaetano Donizetti, presented in Italian and English
