Last week it was a case of putting oneself in someone else’s shoes in more ways than one. I was back at my old school, St Mary’s College putting myself in student mode to do a story on putting oneself into another’s shoes by way of involvement in the innovative drama workshop initiated by drama teacher Leah Smith and NIDA graduate Olivia Simone, which was played out (pardon the pun) during the school holidays.
For some years now Olivia has been visiting St Mary’s College working with their drama classes. This year the workshop took a different form and Leah tells me a first for Tasmania in its more inclusive affair with the school hosting and welcoming students (grade 5 upwards) from a number of schools, including St Aloysius School and MacKillop College as well as other public and private schools. Accompanying Olivia for the workshop was her co-tutor, ‘House Husband’s actor Gyton Grantley.
The workshop’s aim was to give students, both aspiring actors and those wanting to develop their confidence and communication skills an opportunity to experience acting for both film and stage, including honing skills like acting to the camera and becoming knowledgeable on the technical aspects such as the utilization of light.
After completion of the first day of the workshop I caught up with Gyton Grantley for a brief chat. The name Grantley means ‘tall, big or large fields’ and this does indeed apply to Gyton. He is an instructor of the ‘large fields’ of acting, in all its representations. Guyton confides what may please Tassie Times readers, that he is in fact a Tasmanian, with his grandparents originating from Launceston.
Gyton was introduced to acting when his parents sent he and his brother to speech and drama lessons to help them speak confidentially and gain social skills.
The advice from Gyton for aspiring actors is to not to enter acting to be famous but what he considers the most important thing for students to remember,’ to bring truth to their performance’.
The workshop was presented by Olivia’s ‘Off The Beaten Track’ company which aims to bring opportunities for acting experience to regional areas that may not have access to experiencing NIDA courses. Off The Beaten Track can be contacted on [email protected].
Paula Xiberras
