Dio-Theatre Sports is a schools Drama competition where school teams, made up of four students from Years 9-11 participate in a variety of short theatrical tasks. All games are improvisation-based, meaning students are given a scenario and have fewer than 20 seconds to come up with a scene to perform for the audience. Games included 'mime, change break, death in a minute, voices off, typewriter, slow motion commentary, commercial time and expert double figures'.
Each team is scored on its performance to produce an eventual winner, which was judged by Year 12 students from St Mary’s Campus, Maitland.
One of the organisers, St Francis Xavier’s Creative Arts Co-ordinator, Patrick Campbell, said Dio Theatre Sports is a fantastic opportunity for drama students from different Catholic schools to come together, learn from each other and really enjoy the performances of their peers.
“Improvisation is a form of drama that audiences can really enjoy. The natural talent of the actors is on display and it’s all about the students working together as a team and that’s really important in acting. It’s not just about being a star, it’s about working together,” he said.
Mr Campbell, who is also employed by BOSTES to mark and supervise HSC drama in NSW, said the skills that students learn in the improvisation of theatre sports can also be very beneficial for HSC drama.
“Just like sport, you have days where you’re really wonderful and other days when no matter how hard you try it’s just not working but you have to keep working, you have to improvise. You just keep going because one funny line, one moment, can rescue the whole thing and can get the whole performance back on track. The audience is very understanding, they enjoy the natural spontaneity and it’s a very enjoyable and rewarding day for everyone involved.”
Congratulations to the winners on the day.
Winners
Year 11
1st place St Joseph's High School, Aberdeen
Year 10
1st place was St Pius X, Adamstown - Group 2
Year 9
Equal first place was St Pius X, Adamstown and San Clemente, Mayfield
A big thank you to the creative arts department at St Clare’s, Taree for organising the day by liaising with the schools, working out the draw and organising teams and to St Pius X, Adamstown for hosting the event.
