To tell the story of Theatre Camp, first we must travel back in time to Year 10, 2024. Two weeks into the school year, my timid cohort had just returned from Year 10 Camp. I'd probably had one or two theatre classes by this point, and I was beyond excited by these rumours of a 'theatre camp' that was floating through the hallways.
Imagine my sorrow when the Year 11 and 12 Theatre students left without us (me). But, suffice to say, I thought that there was no one more ready for this camp than myself.
This camp was styled to focus on developing our skills as theatre-makers. The first thing we learnt, was the Japanese Theatre training form Suzuki, and the second, the Japanese Avant Garde theatre style Butoh, with assistance from the Teacher/ Artist/ Legend/ Multi-genius Simon Tate. But the final, and perhaps the most important thing we were to develop, was our ability to work as a combined ensemble of year 11 and 12 theatre students— for on the last day of Theatre Camp, we would find ourselves in groups creating our very own Butoh piece (Haunting white makeup and all).
Now, as a forewarning, I have not done Pilates before. I am not sure how much relevance this bears, but for the Utah moms out there who have never heard of Suzuki, a line of correlation between the two could indeed be drawn. In Suzuki, we fundamentally learnt how to squat, using the power of our core, to the song Bring Sally Up. If you've heard this song, then you might understand a fraction of the pain we went through. Regardless, many of us found this to be incredibly helpful in building up out leg strength (and honestly, our posture). After learning the basics, Tate guided us through how to walk in a manner that looked like we were on a travelator, and how to stomp without moving our upper body at all. As a whole, Suzuki required a lot of mental fortitude and focus, which proved to be incredibly valuable skills going into Butoh theatre.
Now, to define Butoh theatre, you need to let go of the word 'define'. Butoh cannot be forced into one box, and told that it is Dance, or Physical Theatre, or Absurdism. Butoh is everything. There is no wrong way to do Butoh, because everything is Butoh. To practise Butoh theatre, we had to know how to be Summer, Autumn, a Tiger, or a Monkey—But to not move the way a Lion would move, but rather the way a Lion's internal spirit moves. Makes plenty of sense, right? In contrast to Suzuki, we had to completely let go of our egos, of everything that made us aware of those around is. Judgement is harsh. There is no room for judgement or harshness in Butoh, just infinite possibilities.
After our introduction to Butoh, we formed groups to create our very own Butoh performances, based on the natural world around us. Some groups focused on the ambiguity of life, whilst others personified the cycle of a gumnut (And that's Butoh). We performed them in the dead of night (Two hours after dinner), in a dimly lit room (The communal outside area, lit by lights stolen from QACI's theatre department), of the upmost solemnity (There were numerous occasions of screaming, extremely loud music, and a terrible, terrible thing called The Butoh Scream). This task was certainly one that required us to take a lot of risks, and to be able to communicate with a group, but in all honesty when I saw those end pieces, there was not one part of my jaw that was not on the floor.
But of course, in true QACI camp style, theatre was not the only thing we did. Gilbee struck out as the Theatre Camp Bingo winner (In the first four hours, much to my dismay), and a minimum of three beach walks was held—One on which the most gorgeous Sand Crab-Octopus-Jellyfish creature to ever exist was born to life (I speak from a non-biased opinion).
Honestly, the theatre cohort would be nowhere without the genius of Ms Hague and Mr Jennings (and our honorary Theatre teacher Mr Brockman), because the work these two put into making this camp happen was beyond extraordinary. Before leaving camp, all anyone could talk about was how these skills would go on to help in their numerous Summative Theatre performances, as well as their acting in general.
But hey, that's just Butoh!
- Maggie, Year 12
