ANZAC Centenary Production

In their own words was a multimedia, interdisciplinary student-created performance project for the ANZAC centenary which was performed at Dominic College in The Oratory Space from Thursday 23 April to Tuesday 28 April 2015.

Performances – where:

In their own words was the first production in our new performing arts venue, The Oratory Space. The Oratory Space has been named for Don Bosco's original school in Turin and is very apt in this year which commemorates the bicentenary of his birth. The first stage of the progressive development of this precinct will deliver a flexible performance and teaching space with a fully-equipped lighting rig, seating and technical equipment. The design is based on the Black Box style theatre which allows for multiple stage configurations such as in-the-round, thrust, traverse as well as proscenium.

The development of the project

The starting point and spine of the project is our local War Memorial in Glenorchy. Our students researched the names on the memorial to find out who they were, where they lived, who their families were and what happened to them. All Year 9 students completed research in Term 4 2014 and following this our Drama, Dance, Music, Art and Media students became involved in the next phase of the project. More than just a play, In their own words was a performance event that provided the opportunity for our community to come together and share, celebrate and remember.

The search for stories

In their own words is a unique educational project: taking the Glenorchy War memorial as the starting point and using the techniques of Verbatim Theatre as well as community theatre, students conducted research using the names on the memorial looking for details about the people behind the names – their stories, their families, what their lives were like before leaving Tasmania, their journeys, their responses to where they ultimately found themselves.

In short, painting a picture of the human side of people who lived in our community, thus providing connections, understanding and empathy between the up and coming generation and one from 100 years ago, who were not much older than our current students when events overtook them.

Mrs Lynne Rhodes answered the call for Glenorchy ANZAC stories in November's Glenorchy Gazette and her grandson, Campbell (current Dominic College student), couldn't be more pleased to find out about his great great grand uncle! Mrs Rhodes father, Cliff Millhouse, died in June 2013 and soon after, Lynne discovered the story of how her father's uncle, Leonard Eric Millhouse, had donated blood in a World War One battlefield. Leonard Millhouse wasn't yet 18 when he enlisted in May 1917, wanting to fight for his country with his mates. He was sent to Claremont Army Camp and was soon on his way to France. After 12 months off fighting Leonard Millhouse was in a field hospital, and volunteered as a donor for an emergency blood transfusion. Len returned to Australia, after suffering mustard gas burns to his lungs. As he recuperated he would communicate by pen and paper, to allow his lungs to heal. He married in 1921 to Lillian Marvell – it is thought he was able to speak by then! Len's story was one of those portrayed in the production.

Carrie McLean, Playwright and Dramaturge

We were delighted to welcome Tasmanian playwright Carrie Mclean to work with our senior drama students in developing a script for In their own words. Carrie is a founding member of Mudlark Theatre and has had over 13 years experience performing, directing and writing in regional Tasmania. Her writing credits include Strange Fruit as part of Dancing Back Home, an epic continent-wide collaboration with JUTE Theatre in Cairns; The Fools of Fire in the 2008 season; and Cafe, which toured Tasmanian schools and colleges in 2007. Carrie also wrote and directed the short film New Skin, awarded a WiFT Award for Emerging Artist, and wrote 'Chasing a Sound like Rain', a youth theatre project for SSYT which was performed as part of the Ten Days on the Island Festival in 2011. She also writes for television and film. Carrie contributed her extensive experience as a drama practitioner as mentor, facilitator and playwright in guiding our students through the process of devising and refining the material and was an integral member of the production team.

The people behind the names

Several Dominic students and staff found relatives amongst the Glenorchy Memorial's names. Mr Rod Butterworth, a staff member at Dominic College, located his great uncle, Private Clarence John Butterworth on the honour roll. Clarence was a local Glenorchy orchardist before he left for the Great War with the 12^th Battalion in 1916, said Mr Butterworth, My aunty Bev and our cousin Julie found out he was wounded in 1917, later re-joined his unit but was sadly killed in action in May 1918. Mr Butterworth's cousin visited Clarence's grave in the Borre British Cemetery in France a few years ago. The family now have a photograph of the headstone as well as the studio portrait taken of Clarence that has been shared with Dominic College and was used in the Anzac production.

Call for photographs

Dominic College's Director of Creative Arts, Mike O'Brien, responsible for overseeing In Their Own Words, put out an appeal to our local community to help the College students find the photographs of those remembered on the War Memorial. Here is a list of those named on the Glenorchy War Memorial.

In their own words poster

You can download a pdf of the poster from this link: ANZAC poster. Or a jpg of the poster here: ANZAC JPG.

Thank you for your support

Dominic College's ANZAC Centenary Project has received excellent support from the Australian and Tasmanian Governments. The Australian Government has assisted by supporting the project through funding from the Australian Government under the ANZAC Centenary Local Grants Program. The Tasmanian Government has assisted by supporting the project with a grant through Communities, Sport and Recreation Tasmanian (CSRT).