Theatre Artist Alice Osborne and Composer and Film maker James Brown collaborated with Class 4/5L and classroom teacher Ana Langi from Lansvale Public school to create this spectacular film about friendship, adventure and the imagination.
This work is of 2020. It was meant to be a theatre performance. Half way through, we realised there was no way we could plan for a performance at the Opera House, so we decided we’d make a film instead. When we began in June, the children had spent more time at home on zoom than they had in the classroom. So in the film, they go through a portal and enter a virtual world. We made the work using the resources we had at hand: paper, masking tape, bamboo, the playground, the school’s green screen studio, and the boundless imaginations of 4/5L. The children made puppets without a plan. They worked instinctively. Three images emerged: a mythical paper girl with an origami head, a bird with a flock, and a monster. We took the origami girl and enlarged her. From there, our story began to build. At the beginning, we didn’t question where we were headed. We tried to remain present, examining the moment and harvesting the treasures. We asked lots of questions, and we answered them as best we could, relying on our instincts and imaginations. We stepped forward and stepped up. We used our voices. Bouncing off conversations around recycling, landfill and the environment, as well as COVID of course, we let the ideas integrate with the images the children had made. In the script the children wrote together, they tell the adults watching not to go towards the monster, but to go the other way. Seems an important point for this moment, on this planet. Starting now, will we go in the wrong direction? Or will we GO THE OTHER WAY?
– Alice Osborne (Director)
CREDITS: Writers, performers, puppeteers, and puppet makers Andrew Duong Aramoana Hoang Wiki-Te-oi Bao Truong Christine Duong Crystal Lam Evan So Isaac Chiam Ivy Huynh Ivy Tran Jason Tran Justin Le Kayden Khuon Kayla Ho Mahdi Khalil Michelle Cam Mohammad Reza Molika Tia Myah Quach Mymy Tran Natalie Choup Nathan Ngo Nelson Khun Phuong Tran Riley Pham Ryan Nguyen Sam Lu Selina Nguyen Tayla Vi Thi Nguyen Tommy Hua Tracey Nguyen Wai Shum
Director Alice Osborne
Video Design, Illustrator, Composer and Sound Designer James Peter Brown
In collaboration with Anamosikaka Langi
This project was part of the Sydney Opera House Creative Leadership in Learning program Lansvale Public School Class 4/5L