St Patrick's College student Josh Retallick loves being on stage - and this week it proved a successful place for him to be.
Josh competed in eight sections of Royal South Street Eisteddfod's speech and drama competition, taking home six prizes.
Advertisement
He was one of almost 300 entrants to take to the stage in 57 competition categories held over four days at Lydiard St South's Diocesan Centre.
The sections Josh competed in - death in a minute, scene for three or more, character solo, improv based on a line of dialogue, monologue taking direction, Shakespeare monologue, Australian poem and prepared speech - tested his skill at performing prepared works and thinking on his feet.
St Patrick's College head of co-curricular performance Monique Allen said Josh was one of about eight students from the school who took part in the speech and drama competition.
"We are so immensely proud of all the students that competed," Ms Allen said.
"It's great that South Street is running again and back post COVID so we will really try to build that up again over the next couple of years. It shows students there's pathways outside of just classroom drama or school drama, and it opens up a world of possibility for them beyond school opportunities and it's great to see what other students and other performers can do."
Ms Allen said the chance to network and meet like-minded peers also competing at the event was valuable ... as was time on stage.
IN OTHER NEWS
"They've been craving performance," Ms Allen said.
Royal South Street Eisteddfod general manager Tennille McLauchlan said this year's competitors had mostly come from Ballarat schools but she was looking to grow it to other schools in the region and more broadly, including Melbourne's western suburbs, next year.
"Over the last couple of years these students haven't performed face to face, in person, in real life so it's been outstanding seeing them gather their thoughts in terms of prepared speeches, performances and impromptu sessions, and perform on stage," she said.
Now just one tap with our new app. Digital subscribers now have the convenience of faster news, right at your fingertips with The Courier. See how to download it below:
