Chatswood’s Zenith Theatre was home on Monday afternoon to the launch of CONNECTED, a new Australian musical which is set to go into interested schools next year.
The event was essentially a pitch, with the aim to preview the show to the many teachers that comprised the bulk of the audience, and to get them interested in having the production come to their particular school.
I found it persuasive. One would be hard pressed to think of a more prescient and pertinent subject that teachers would want students to reflect on. CONNECTED is about the internet and how students are interacting with it. It, in particular, focuses on the subject of cyberbullying, and how vulnerable students are to it.
The statistics are not good! Research has found that one in five students in Australia have experienced some form of cyberbullying. The fall-out is that, as a result of this newer form of bullying, the affected students have been suffering from anxiety and depression, anxiety, low self esteem, reduced concentration and an acute sense of helplessness.
At the launch, playwright Craig Christie, a former teacher himself, spoke briefly about the play.
Christie was motivated to write the piece after the daughter of a friend was involved in a cyberbullying incident. His hope is that, ‘his play will have some impact in teaching people everywhere how to be kinder and more responsible cyber citizens.”
Christie then went on to introduce the basic narrative and some of the play’s key scenes and songs, performed by some very talented and enthusiastic students from The McDonald College.
The playwright advised that CONNECTED already had runs on the board. Earlier this year the play was performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to good audience responses and some very positive reviews. UK’s Metro newspaper described the production as a, ‘sensitively handled coming of modern-age story- sweet, touching and painfully real.’
The launch also featured some notable speakers lending their support. They included writer and regular SMH Good Weekend columnist Benjamin Law, the State Member for Hornsby Matt Kean, Dr Rachael Murrihy, the Director of the Health Psychology Unit at UTS, and Leonie Smith, a Cyber Safety expert and the author of a number of texts on the subject.
The event concluded with an interesting but too brief Q and A period chaired by Mr Law, with the panel comprising the guest speakers. One teacher brought up the issue of how in her school there are some parents who, themselves, participate in cyberbullying and have little qualms about it. The panel responded by saying that they had heard of this happening, and clearly it was an issue that needed tp be addressed.
Summing up, this was a well put together launch of a play that shed light on an important subject that needs to be widely looked at and talked about.
It is very understandable to see why the Department of Education has given the show its stamp of approval and CONNECTED comes across as a show that deserves strong support.
CONNECTED, produced by Origin On Stage in association with Theatre One Productions, will be available for in-school performances throughout next year. As well, student/parent performances are being offered outside of school hours. Leonie Smith is also making herself available to conduct workshop discussions after performances to promote safer, more responsible and smarter online behaviour.