The school's 2021 captain Maya Tolliday and 2022 school captain Megan O'Beirne are among just 20 drama students from across Victoria to win places in the Top Class 2022 concert series.

Next week they will perform at the Playhouse Theatre at the Arts Centre Melbourne showcasing the works they developed for their final VCE Drama assessments.

"I spent a fair chunk of last year, a solid term or more, developing a solo using all the things I've learned from year 11 and 12 ... just me as a performer with my own work," Megan said.

"To have it recognised as one of the top in the state is absolutely incredible, not something I expected."

Performers had a choice of 10 different structures within which to devise their performance. Megan chose statue, and had to create a solo performance based on a real statue in Victoria that breaks free from its plinth to make a plea to a divided community arguing whether the damaged statue should be repaired and remain, or discarded because it is no longer relevant.

She chose the well-known Three Businessmen Who Brought Their Own Lunch statue on the corner of Swanston and Bourke streets in Melbourne, focussing on John Batman.

"He's the most well known of the three and in his past, even though he tried to cover it up, he was a contributor to the genocide that happened when European settlers came to Australia, to Victoria, to Melbourne and I wanted to focus on that and whether he was relevant or deserving," she said.

The state's top scoring VCE Drama students, who had study scores over 40, were invited to audition for Top Arts with 20 performers selected for the showcase.

"Our school is being represented at a state level not once but twice in the Melbourne Arts centre in front of sell-out crowds who are there to witness the best of the best in VCE Drama excellence," said Damascus College performing arts coordinator Andrew Seeary.

IN OTHER NEWS

"Being invited to audition for Top Class is an honour that only a small percentage of VCE Drama students get to experience. Gaining a spot on the stage is an even rarer accomplishment, especially when you consider the number of students from the state who are vying for a slot.

"But to have not just one, but two students excelling in this way, and for them both to also be leaders within our college community is a one-off honour that we are not likely to see again."

Mr Seeary said both girls not only had a history of performance within their educational curriculum, but had been involved in extra curricular performances and productions to extend and showcase their talents, while also finding time to be school captains.

Maya is now studying Biomedicine at Deakin University while Megan is doing year 12 and taking English, Science, Maths, Religious Education, and Languages.

Our team of local journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the Ballarat community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: