NASDA students challenged by Blackrock play
Some National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art (NASDA) students will duck for cover and some will face the
consequences of their actions when they perform the tragedy Blackrock tomorrow night [31 August].
The students’ fortunately fictional roles in the second year production, Blackrock by Australian playwright Nick
Enright, requires them to feel and respond to some very challenging emotions according to their tutor Ross McKellar.
Blackrock is a modern Australian classic exploring how a group of teenagers and their community deals with a horrific
incident at a drunken beach party. The fallout touches everyone, changes young lives forever and further divides the
close knit community between the haves and have-nots.
“It takes a lot of guts and trust to not push for a final result. With acting you don’t want to go to the end result,
you want to go through the process and feel what you feel,” Ross said.
“To do a production like this and feel stuff on a personal level and allow that to show to classmates and audience is an
achievement. I’ve got to congratulate them on moving away from showing to experiencing.”
“It’s a damn good play. The students are doing such a good job with what could be difficult if it was not handled well
with a mature and positive outlook.”
Peoples’ responses to tragedy are not dissimilar to what we experienced after the earthquakes Ross said. “Some people
hid and some people picked up a shovel.”
Find out how the young actors cope with tragedy when Blackrock opens tomorrow night at the NASDA Theatre, Madras St Campus CPIT, 31 August to 5 September at 7.30pm (4pm on Sunday 2 September). Tickets are $18 (seniors, CPIT staff and students $12)
available on www.ignition.ac.nz/index.php/page/display/568.
ENDS