Video transcript
Tales from the Wild Bush – cast interviews

[intro music]

JEREMY: On a personal level, especially coming into this year, I normally feel like devising is not my strong suit. I really like having a script that's already there to work with. But the process that we went through in just improvising scenes and then taking those and then having our directors take them home and compose scripts out of it, then we could put into practise and see if it worked, it was a really Good method of devising that I really liked. And I feel like that's really good and I can use it in future, especially in the upcoming GP.

DECLAN: It's very cool to create a whole world and reminisce over your childhood as well. I'm still technically a child, I'm 12. But I mean, it's cool to think back to when I was even younger. And it must be very interesting for people much older. But I think it's nice to work with loads of different ages to come up with all these great ideas, which is quite cool.

ZEYNEP: Well, the process in its entirety was very interactive, and I feel like it really helped us connect with the play itself because it was in simplest terms something we helped create. And then to see that actually coming to life and actually becoming something full that can be shown and given to other people is just a magical experience.

LIVINIA: It's been quite interesting. I love the process of it and working with people who you've never met before. It's really nice because you get to see how they all work.

EVIE: I've really liked it because we've got people from Year 7 to Year 12. So it's a really big range. And it's good to work with people, and we've become like a family because we spend so much time together.

ALICE: We thought about books we like when we were little kids and then we brainstorm. And a lot of stuff was about Australian and the Australian landscape and the animals. And then we did life lessons and we all brought it together into the play.

NOAH: I think it's going to be really great for kids to see this because it's going to teach them a lot about what it's going to be like and it shows how to help them with these situations and how to deal with it. And characters like mine, Tyler, may not be the best people, but they can still learn from their mistakes. So hopefully kids can learn how to help other people with their mistakes and fix their own.

GIRL: I think also some of the skills we learnt would be like stuff we take further.

MAYA: The fact that we got to collaborate with so many new people and hear their views on characters and the way we should go about making the show, it was just really fun to get to work alongside different people and work with industry professionals as well here at NIDA.

LIVINIA: When we did our little skits or something, Robin, Emma would take parts of that into the actual script which made it more like collaborative with us, which was very good.

OLLIE: Yeah, we came in every week and they'd have a base of what we would all think it would be about, and they told us to make up a little storyline about this little story and then we'd just perform out.

KASSIDY: I think as the Year 12 student, it's been so beneficial wanting to go into acting after school, to get to experience such a professional set, and also having our own little family has been really fun at the end of the day.

KATELYN: It's really fun, because I got to choose my own accent, my own voice for the character and how they're going to act. Me being the huntsman, I've got legs coming out of the side of my body. But yeah, it just really helped me get into character and even just moving with the legs, just really adds to it. I think it adds comedy as well for the kids.

MAX: Well, it's definitely very different when you're performing in front of kids because you've got to really articulate your words. And when you're acting out, you've got to have more explosive movements because they're younger. They need a bit more help learning the storyline. So more effort goes into helping kids understand your show. But when you create those movements and you get the laughs out of the kids, that's when you know you've done a great job.

DECLAN: Generally, I think one of the things we're trying to go at or one of the things that Rob and Emma were trying to develop is that sense of morals and lessons through the play. So it's like a teaching thing. And I'm hoping that when the kids watch the show, they're going to really like it and get inspiration from it to, I guess, be a better person. I know that sounds a bit cheesy, but I just hope that's what's going to happen.

EVELYN: Well, honestly, I think the kids will really be taken away by all the visuals we have in the performance, especially the costumes, I think it creates a great visual image. And I feel like that's something that they will remember about the piece, is all the colourful lights, and the fur, and all of that. It's really cool.

JEREMY: There are three separate fables, each with a different moral message. But I feel like what everything comes back to is this idea of a sense of belonging and having people that are there for you and being there for other people. I feel like that's the core message that ties the whole piece together. And I feel like that's what kids can take away from this.

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