Searching For Lear
Searching For Lear was an extraordinary project of the Debney Park Secondary College after school program. The play combined Shakespeare’s King Lear with a youth-devised street story with a running commentary by characters based on Estragon and Vladimir from Beckett’s Waiting For Godot. This heady mix created a complex and demanding work that was realised using designer Glenn Romanis’ extraordinary Rubik’s Cube-style set. The play was performed in Flemington to a huge and enthusiastic audience from the flats. Their pride at what the young people of their community could achieve was manifest. This project lived on in a paper presentation and workshop at the Drama Australia Conference and the script that was taken up and performed by a similar culturally diverse group based in Newcastle UK.
Showreel
Performances
7th & 8th May, Phoenix Youth Centre, Footscray
14th May, Flemington Community Centre, Flemington
Credits
Written and Directed by Dave Kelman and Cuong Nguyen
Design: Glen Romanis
Filmmaker: Hoang Tran Nguyen
Photographer: Martin Wurt, Working Photos
Participant Feedback
“It’s not everyday they get to have a show put on in the community centre by local youth – especially a complicated show like Shakespeare –the effect that it was staged in their community by local youth – that just in a way makes them proud of being from the community cos there’s a lot – this area’s been through trouble, police and stuff. It brought a different spot light to the place so I wasn’t surprised people in Flemington liked it.”
