Joondalup Encore Theatre Society presented ‘Secret Life of Humans’ by David Byrne, at St Stephen’s School Theatre in April, with this being the first production since the independent theatre company entered into a community partnership with the School. The partnership provides opportunities for our students to participate in workshops, audition for supporting roles and experience backstage crew roles.
“A big part of what we want to achieve with our company is to provide performing arts opportunities for people to try new things and support them to thrive in those environments” explained President Audrey Poor.
‘Secret Life of Humans’ by David Byrne is a historical-fiction play exploring the life and legacy of Dr. Jacob “Bruno” Bronowski. Bruno was a television scientist, famous for his BBC series ‘The Ascent of Man’. However, the play delves into the mysteries that lie beyond his TV persona while raising questions about existentialism and what it means to be human.
Whilst a cast of actors played the main roles, our very own Jack Sneddon, Lisya Lee and Fletcher Woodfield performed the ensemble roles in the show, playing a range of characters including as Parkinson, a Producer, a Librarian, several voice over roles, waiters and German Civilians.
“These three students came into rehearsals with such great energy and a want to perform” says Audrey and the experience has obviously had a positive impact on them.
“I thought this show was so good with the cast being so enjoyable to be around with everyone making the experience and the show in general great,” said Fletcher Woodfield. Whilst Jack Sneddon said that “being part of Secret Life of Humans was such a fun and memorable experience. Even as a background character, I really enjoyed being involved in the production and seeing how all the different scenes came together. It was amazing to watch everyone’s hard work pay off during the performances, and the atmosphere backstage was always supportive and exciting.”
The production presented several challenges, particularly in the areas of design, sound, and AV. The play shows video and audio from real (and performed) TV and radio broadcasts. This created an extremely unique experience for both the audience and also for the cast and crew when putting it together. Yet, it was a welcome challenge to overcome and consequently strengthened the underlying themes and questions the play presents in a very unique and engaging way.
The hard work certainly paid off with several members of Joondalup Council attending including the Mayor Daniel Kingston who said the play was “An engaging production and an incredible piece of theatre.”
In addition to the wonderful feedback from audiences, the play received rave reviews with one reviewer even mentioning the student ensemble cast,
“Overall, all the performers in this production worked seamlessly together, understood their connections to each other, and the history surrounding themselves. A mix of movement pieces from the Ensemble, and comedic timing helped to make the production entertaining to watch… Secret Life of Humans is an engaging production and an incredible piece of theatre.” (Theatre Reviews)
Joondalup Encore Theatre Society President Audrey Poor said they were grateful that they could provide our students with the opportunity to experience being part of a production outside of school, “they were a valuable part of this show, well done to these students and we look forward to continuing to offer opportunities to St Stephen’s students in our future productions. So, keep an eye out!’
Student Lisya Lee said she “loved how the show brought so many people together and gave us the opportunity to be part of something creative and meaningful. Overall, it was a great experience that I’ll definitely remember.”
Joondalup Encore Theatre Society plan to return to St Stephen’s School towards the end of the year with another production. What will it be you ask? That is yet to be announced, but you can bet your jingle bells on it that they will be back for another show!
