Above: Emma Clarke turns Cinderella’s dream into a horror nightmare during the production.By Cam Scott
KAMBRYA College students will wake to learn of their fate in the 2005 Rock Eisteddfod Challenge today.
The school made its Rock Eisteddfod debut last night at Melbourne’s Vodafone Arena in the heats of this year’s open division contest.
The school’s entry, entitled Lucidreams the Faerietale, is described by the school’s head of performing arts Jodie Doble as a grim fairytale version along the lines of the Cinderella story.
The open division allows schools a maximum of $10,000, which several of the larger and wellestablished schools spend completely.
The Kambrya performance has cost $3500 and is described by Ms Doble as a real group effort from parents, students and teachers.
“It’s the first time we’ve ever done it. The kids are all really, really excited, nervous and ecstatic,” she said.
Last week, the 102 Kambrya students taking part in the Eisteddfod were put through their paces in front of audiences from local schools as well as the harshest of critics, their own peers.
The performance opens with a storyteller and flows into a medieval street scene before a boymeetsgirl scenario leads the audience into a warped Cinderella story ending with one of the ugly sisters being the storyteller who has sent Cinderella mad.
Ms Doble is an experienced eisteddfod campaigner, having completed eight in previous years including six overseas. She says the inexperienced team at Kambrya is doing a great job.
“They’re doing really well. The team is very, very young and a lot of these kids have never been on stage,” she said.
“They’re doing a fantastic job. At Kambrya it’s about the experience, not winning.”
The challenge is also about forging international links which Kambrya has achieved with the Ashfield Girls’ School in Ireland.
“It will allow our kids to swap ideas and experiences with them. We are also hopeful for an eisteddfod exchange in a few years,” Ms Doble said.
“Then we might go for the global eisteddfod.”
