Holy Cross College Presents ‘The Monologue Show’

With the unique nature of events that 2020 has brought, this year’s College Production also took on a modified structure. With live show Oliver Twist being postponed until 2021, the College approached US playwright Don Zolidis (with whom we have worked before on An Unspeakable Triumph of Supreme Brilliance in 2017) for the rights to his episodic script ‘The Monologue Show’. During the height of the pandemic, Zolidis moved to granting access to all his plays for adaptation to digital platforms. With the access to technology that Holy Cross College possesses, the script was a perfect fit.

The process began in late March with students being allocated monologue scripts which, when pieced together would follow the story of an inept Drama teacher attempting to hold together a Monologue showcase with his students online. Initial rehearsals took place via Microsoft Teams and See Saw with students taking part in video conference sessions and receiving real time feedback. With filming guides put together by staff, students were then given creative control over their costuming, set, backdrop and filming location.

As school returned in Autumn Term, some live rehearsals took place individually and in pairs as well as digital communication continuing as students begun to reach the finalised product. We then secured the services of former Holy Cross teacher Miss Jess Vaini of JV Photo & Film to assist with the editing process.

What resulted was an incredible achievement and one of which we as a College are particularly proud. The energy, commitment and agility displayed by students was astounding and demonstrated excellent resilience.

On Friday 26 June, the College held a cast premiere night which was a classy event complete with red carpet, mocktails and students dressed to impress. The cast were treated to a screening of the show and a pizza dinner courtesy of our long time sponsors at Crust Pizza Ellenbrook.

On Saturday 27 June, the show debuted online with a YouTube premiere and families gathering at home to view this year’s production. The show received close to 500 views in 24 hours, a huge achievement for all involved.

This year’s production could not have taken place without the dedicated staff and student team. I would like to thank the Holy Cross College Senior Leadership team as well as all staff who assisted throughout the process and on premiere night. Thanks also to Jessica Vaini for her editing work and Garry Soetano and the team at Crust Ellenbrook for their support of this event.

Mr Chis McRae
Learning Area Coordinator (The Arts)