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Synopsis
Sun Runners is an immersive audio adventure that takes you to the edge of the galaxy from your living room. Created in collaboration with Audioplay, the story will see you dodge asteroids and fight brain sucking aliens as you race around the sun.
I’ve been creating audio driven theatre works for the past decade and in the last couple of years that has morphed into Audioplay. Sun Runners is the most complex Audioplay experience we’ve rolled out to date – we’ve built out the experience to include a visual world that works alongside the audio.
Audioplay taps into the way I used to play when I was a kid. Everyday objects and spaces sub in for imagined worlds. And these imagined worlds are detailed and serious – I try to stay true to the seriousness of play in the way Sun Runners is performed – the stakes are high, the drama is real. This is the spirit that underpins Sun Runners.
When we’re plotting the stories for the episodes it’s always a juggle between finding plot points that are good for the story and thinking about how that is going to translate into activities in the real world. We hope that Sun Runners is going to translate into homes of all shapes and sizes as the characters roam through space all over the house.
James Peter Brown composed the music. We leant into a retro synth-based score to give a nod to the nostalgia of the world and also just because that kind of music is so damn fun.
Directing from afar
Director Zoe Pepper is based in Perth and directed South Australian actors via Zoom in order to create Sun Runners.
Creator, Director, Co-writer
Zoe is a writer and director for film and theatre. After ten years as one of Western Australia’s top theatre directors, she was selected for Screenwest’s prestigious Feature Navigator program. In 2018, Zoe completed two web series, LIFT, a Mad Kids production starring Lucy Durack and directed by Zoe which aired on 10peach, and The Big Spaghetti, which Zoe directed and co-wrote. In 2019, The Big Spaghetti premiered at Slamdance Film Festival and Zoe was awarded an Australian Director’s Guild Award for best direction in an Online Comedy Series.
For theatre Zoe directed and co-wrote The Irresistible, which was nominated for Best Play at the Helpmann Awards. Zoe has directed for Black Swan State Theatre Company, Perth Theatre Company and Sydney Theatre Company. She was a recipient of the Australia Council Creative Australia Fellowship. She studied film directing at AFTRS, acting at WAAPA and performance at the Ecole Philippe Gaulier in Paris.
Producer
Gemma is a creative producer with 20 years’ experience working across a diverse spectrum of creative projects; including theatre, festivals, new media and policy/program development. Gemma has a long history producing theatre and events in Australia, working for companies including Marrugeku, Stalker, Erth, Sydney Dance Company, the Enlighten Festival (Canberra), Geelong Performing Arts Centre, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) and Side Pony Productions. Most recently Gemma produced the 2019 Australian tour of Side Pony Productions work The Irresistible, which enjoyed sold-out seasons at Dark Mofo, Sydney Opera House and Geelong Arts Centre.
Co-Writer
Clare is a writer and puppeteer. Much of her work involves shadow puppetry or live cinema. Her recent work includes Tale of Tales, The Double, and The Beast and The Bride. Clare trained in puppetry in Sydney, Perth, and Bamberg, Germany. She is a graduate of the FirstHand program at Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, and the Black Swan Emerging Writers group. She has performed with The Last Great Hunt, ATYP, Barking Gecko, and Siren Theatre Company. Clare was awarded All Ages Theatre Development grant from Barking Gecko and The Blue Room Theatre in 2019 for The Children Grim and Wild which is currently in development with The Last Great Hunt. She was the artist in residence at Spare Parts Puppet Theatre in 2020.
Composer
James Peter Brown is a Sydney based composer who has worked collaboratively with companies both locally and internationally to produce soundtracks for performance, film, animation and games.
He has extensive experience working in collaborative, multi-artform processes and has formed ongoing artistic relationships collaborations with artists and companies including: Bethesda, Victoria Hunt, Jane Campion, Adult Swim, The Australian Ballet, Sydney Dance Company, William Yang, George Khut, Matthew Day, Hans Van Den Broeck (SOIT), POST, and Urban Theatre Projects.
Actor
Elizabeth is a South Australian based performer. She completed her training at the Flinders Drama Centre.
She has worked on Gods of Strangers, Jesikah, Volpone, Red Cross Letters (State Theatre Company South Australia), Emil and the Detectives (Slingsby Theatre Company), Yo Diddle Diddle (Patch Theatre) and Grug and the Rainbow (Windmill Theatre Co). Elizabeth was a deviser and performer in Stories in the Dark, which won the InSpace Development Award at the 2017 Adelaide Fringe. She has been involved with many local independent theatre companies, including ActNow Theatre as a performer and board member. Elizabeth joined the main cast of Danger 5 for the series return on SBS, and has appeared in other locally made television productions and commercials.
She has been a proud member of MEAA since graduating, and was recently made president of the South Australian Branch of Equity.
Actor
Since his graduation from Flinders Drama Centre in 2014, Antoine has had the privilege of working with companies from all tiers of the Adelaide Theatre industry.
His credits include Tartuffe and Long Tan by State Theatre Company and Brink Productions, Delugethe premiere work by Tiny Bricks for the Adelaide Festival, Schmidt by Back Porch Productions, Eurydice by Foul Play Theatre, Eyes by Sandpit , Beep by Windmill Theatre Company, and Yo Diddle Diddle by Patch. Antoine most recently performed in A View From The Bridge with State Theatre Company SA.
He has composed original music for The Wolves and Strata/Forgiveness (Rumpus) and the web-series Honey, I’m Home (Windmill Theatre Company).
Actor
Anna is a theatre graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.
She has performed extensively with State Theatre Company South Australia, and was part of their Ensemble from 2017-2018. She has worked with isthisyours?, NowYesNow, Griffin Theatre Company and Bell Shakespeare among others.
Anna has worked as performer and director on several children’s musicals and started children’s theatre company Gaia Theatre, where she has worked as performer, producer and writer. She has also worked extensively with ABC Audio as a producer and voice artist in radio dramas and audio books. Anna hosts the children’s story podcast Kid’s Story Room.
Actor
Nathan has worked extensively in theatre, both nationally and internationally. He has toured Asia, USA, and all across Australia, working for companies such as Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, Windmill Theatre Company, State Theatre Company of South Australia, Griffin Theatre, Malthouse, Bell Shakespeare, Brink, Slingsby and Patch Theatre Company to name a few.
Nathan was a member of the State Theatre Company Actors Ensemble for 2017 and 2018.
Nathan is an Adelaide Theatre Guide and Adelaide Critics Circle Award recipient.
Audioplay is a brand-new audio experience for kids created by the award winning team at Side Pony Productions. Audioplay lets kids step into the story and be the characters that they love, complete with a blockbuster soundtrack. Audioplay experiences can be found at festivals far and wide as well as being available to download to play at home.
Audioplay uses mobile technologies to create immersive and thrilling storytelling experiences for children and young people to engage with. Blending elements of gaming, live storytelling and play, Audioplay strives to use technology to create alternative at-home entertainment, wholly reliant on screens, while acknowledging the power and impact of technology on the way we create.
Side Pony Productions, the team behind Audioplay, have over 15 years’ experience creating innovative and engaging theatre. Side Pony strives to make innovative theatre that is an engaging, smart celebration of humanity. It’s better than screen time… it’s Audioplay.
Drawn Space
Audioplay worked with illustrator Ivano Granato to create custom artwork for every episode of Sun Runners
Olli is the youngest Sun Runner there ever was. A fearless pilot who will stop at nothing to win the race, protect her brother and go on an adventure.
Gamma is Ollie’s best friend. He’s a bit of a worry wart and can be overly cautious, but he’s the best navigator there is.
Welcome to Sun Runners, a co-production between Windmill Theatre Co and Audioplay. Audioplay uses mobile technologies to create immersive audio-adventures for listeners to engage with at home.
Using the purpose-built Audioplay app (available on iOS and Android), Audioplay combines elements of gaming, theatrical storytelling and interactive play to create thrilling experiences for listeners.
Sun Runners will take you on a heart-stopping race around the sun. If your school is based in South Australia, you should have been sent an email with a special code that will unlock all six episodes of Sun Runners – be sure to have that handy, you’ll need it when setting up the app.
In addition to this guide, we have also created some communications templates for you to pass onto parents and/or guardians in you community. Click here to access an editable pdf version of a letter that can be passed on to your community members.
Central to the success of Olli and Gamma is their dedication to each other. Their friendship sustains them on their journey across the universe and, without each other, they wouldn’t be able to complete the Sun Run.
Olli and Gamma escape many an interstellar calamity to be able to participate in the Sun Run. It’s their fearless perseverance and resilience that enables them to not only overcome adversity, but to thrive in the great race.
At every level, Sun Runners is a celebration of the possibilities of technology. Olli and Gamma utilise tech to race in the Sun Run and listeners utilise tech to participate in the narrative. Sun Runners is a great lens through which to (re)think our relationship to technology and how it inhibits and enables creativity.
Olli is taken over by a hydronian who possesses her and tries to sabotage her chance at winning the Sun Run. Science Fiction is an inquisitive genre – one that uses space and UFO’s to make us think about the world we live in. What is sucking our minds away from us? What is changing the way we think and feel about the world around us? Is anything polluting our minds?
Breaking it Down
Keep scrolling for a full episode by episode breakdown of the series that will help you integrate it into the classroom.
Sun Runners is an immersive digital theatre experience that uses mobile technology to plunge listeners into an immersive a sci-fi epic. This study guide has been crafted with the intention that students complete episodes at home, with class-time dedicated to analysis, dissection and play.
However, if you would like to complete an episode of Sun Runners during class-time, we have outlined the different materials and locations within the home that listeners will need to access. This will require headphones and a device for each student.
You may be able to recreate these at your school using substitutions (ie: Sun Runners calls for listeners to open a fridge – you could direct students to a cupboard or doorway that functions similarly in the choreography of the story). You may also need a large room where multiple groups may be able to play at once.
Episode Synopsis:
Olli is an amazing Sun Runner. Deep in space she trains hard with her mentor Syzygy. It’s a test of speed and endurance where she’ll learn everything there is to know about the Sun Run and the shadowy enemies that she must evade to win the race.
Additional Info:
This is a one player episode where listeners play as Olli. The episode duration is 18 minutes.
Equipment Required:
Locations:
The first episode serves as an introduction to the story and, also, the mode of storytelling that is to be experienced throughout the series. If completing episode one at school, any multipurpose space with the above listed equipment (and enough room for listeners to move around) would suffice.
Episode Synopsis:
Gamma is on a mission to find out if the brain sucking Hydronians are on board the space station. Hydronians are extremely dangerous. Be sure to avoid them at all costs.
Additional Info:
This is a one player episode where listeners play as Gamma, Olli’s best friend (and expert navigator). The episode runs for approximately 17 minutes.
Equipment Required:
Locations:
Episode Synopsis:
Olli and Gamma go to the Sovereign Mother’s nest to get the radioactive fuel they need to power their Sun Charger. This episode gets very intense very quickly, with listeners asked to use their best stealthy skills to avoid one very angry dragon.
Additional Info:
This is a two player episode where listeners can choose to be Olli or Gamma. This episode runs for 18 minutes.
Equipment Required:
Locations:
Episode Synopsis:
Olli ventures out on her own and risks her life by answering a distress call from Jupiter, home of the Hydronian controlled Diamond Dogs. It’s a big challenge not to get bitten and will take a fair bit of howling (really!).
Additional Info:
This is a one player episode where listeners rejoin Olli’s on her journey. The episode runs for approximately 18 minutes.
Equipment Required:
Locations:
Episode Synopsis:
Gamma treks across Neptune to the Wizard’s Eye to find the Celestial Ice he needs to heal his laser burns. Beware… things get pretty trippy (and very intense) when a wizard is involved.
Additional Info:
This is a one player episode where listeners rejoin Gamma on his mission. The episode runs for approximately 15 minutes.
Equipment Required:
Locations:
Episode Summary:
It’s the day of the Sun Run, but the brain sucking Hydronians are trying to sabotage the race. Be ready for some serious speed and subterfuge in the sparkling finale to the Sun Runners.
Additional Info:
This episode requires two players and runs for approximately 18 minutes.
Equipment Required
Locations
Sun Runners is a new type of theatrical experience. Through the use of mobile technology in the Audioplay app, the experience blends elements of gaming, interactive play and live storytelling to create an immersive experiencer for listeners. It’s an active form of entertainment that feels fresh, exciting and more than a bit groundbreaking.
In order to help you get the word out about Sun Runners project to students, parents and guardians in your community we’ve drafted up a pro forma letter that you can use as a basis for your communications.
The letter outlines what the project is, where it can be downloaded, and directs readers to relevant information and our FAQ page. We’ve provided the letter in Word and PDF formats below. These can be edited as necessary. If you have any questions about the project, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at education@windmill.org.au.
Let's Learn!
A series of in-class learning activities linked to The Australian Curriculum
Sun Runners is a digital theatre experience that uses mobile technology to plunge listeners into an immersive sci-fi epic adventure. This study guide has been crafted with the intention that students complete episodes at home, with class-time dedicated to analysis, dissection and play.
Headphones and a device will be required for each student and students will need to access other regular household items such as a chair or a spoon. We have outlined the different materials and locations within the home that listeners will need to access.
If you would like to complete an episode of Sun Runners during class-time, you will be able to substitute some items you do not have access to, for example a cupboard could be used instead of a fridge. You may also need a large room where multiple groups may be able to play at once.
The activities and possible assessment tasks are linked to The Arts: Drama, Australian Curriculum 9.0 across Year 3 and 4, with potential crossovers into Science, English, Geography, Visual Art, and Dance. There is room here for project-based learning, providing lots of opportunity for whole class discussion as well as independent and small group work.
By the end of year 4, students describe use of selected elements of drama in drama they experience, create and/or perform. They describe where, why and/or how drama is created and/or performed across cultures, times, places and/or other contexts.
Students use selected elements of drama when creating drama and/or performing. They collaborate to improvise and/or devise drama that communicates ideas, perspectives and/or meaning. They perform their work in informal settings.
Exploring & Responding
Developing Practices & Skills
Creating & Making
Students form pairs and find a space in the room with their partner. Teacher calls out different space themed objects and gives students a countdown from five to one. The pairs must create the object only using their bodies, variations in space (height, lying on the floor etc) and facial expressions. Students, without speaking, use movement to offer ideas to their partner. When teacher calls, ‘freeze’, students freeze in that position. Encourage students to:
Space themed objects could include alien, rocket, moon buggy, satellite, Saturn, space station, solar system, navigation instruments, airlock, the eye of Jupiter.
Extension:
Storytelling
What you’ll need: Cardboard, markers, sticky notes, pens, sensory items dependent on group needs/ideas.
Activity: Teacher leads a discussion and activity about story telling.
Possible key questions could be:
Q – How are we exposed to stories?
Q – How do we tell a story?
Q – Why do we tell stories?
Q – What are the important elements in a story?
Ask the students if they know what the word immersive means. Discuss any immersive experiences any of you have had – eg. VR headsets, game play, other digital storytelling applications.
Q – What makes these experiences different to reading a book or watching television?
Explain to the students that you are going to focus on setting and atmosphere and attempt immersion!
Arrange the class into groups of 6 or so and given them all an environment to work with (eg. Forest, Antarctica, Mars, Rundle Mall, Beach). They need to come up with ways to make the rest of the class feel as though they are in that location. They can explore different senses such as sound, touch, smell. Sight is not an option because you will arrange the rest of the class into a group and ask them to close their eyes. The ‘performing group will need to surround the ‘audience’ to perform their immersive environment.
Encourage the use of the following –
Modification:
Content Description: AC9ADR4E01
Sun Run!
What you’ll need: Craft materials, computers, general classroom objects and furniture.
Activity: Explain to the students that you are going to participate in your own Sun Run! An introduction to some of the elements of drama can happen here (e.g. movement, space, place, tension, symbol). Divide the class into 8 or 9 teams and assign them a home planet (this will depend on numbers and whether you want to include the dwarf planet, Pluto). They will do some basic research about that planet.
Students design and create a logo which they will be able to wear during the race. Their logo must reflect elements of their home planet such as colour, appearance, any defining feature, any mythological connection.
The teams will then need to work out a style of travel that cannot include walking or running! This style of movement should be influenced by knowledge of their planet and needs to be copied by others so it must be clear (eg. Moving like a flame, travelling as though made of gas, walking like a Martian with wiggly arms….)
In a circle, allow the students time to learn the movement style of each group. They will need to know these well to complete the race.
Guide the students to turn your classroom or performance space (or outside!) into our solar system. Create a sun and place it into the centre of the room (this could be as simple as sticking a picture of the sun onto a chair! Whatever works for you!). They will need to come up with a physical representation of their planet by using furniture or simple craft.
As a class, check the order of the planets and where they sit in relation to the sun and try to arrange your planets into this pattern. Make sure you have space between each planet. You will need to explain to the students that it will NOT be to scale!
In order to complete the Sun Run students will need to do the following –
Modifications:
Content Description: AC9ADR4D01
Storytelling with everyday objects
What you’ll need: A variety of everyday objects – eg. Power cord, coat hanger, ball, chair, frisbee, blanket, wooden spoon, tube and so on.
Activity: Remind students of how they used everyday objects to create the world of Sun Runners. Perhaps make a list of all the things they used and what they became. Discuss why this was effective. Talk about imagination, play and how it made the experience tactile.
Ask the students to sit in a circle (you too!) and place an object into the centre of the circle. Let’s say it is a power cord. Students must enter one by one and interact with the object as though it is anything but a power cord, using their bodies and voice to let us know what it is without directly naming it. It could be a snake, a tie, a puddle of water, a dog lead and so on. Once the idea is clear to the others, someone else has a go.
Repeat this with another object. See if the students can come up with the ideas more quickly and encourage them to interact with the object even more.
Arrange students into groups of 3-5 and give them all an object. Using butcher’s paper or a computer, they must brainstorm and come up with as many different things their object could become. Students can then choose 5 of their ideas to create a short scene, with the object continually changing throughout the scene. The scene must make sense!
Modification/extension:
Content Description: AC9ADR4C01
Sun Runners is a digital theatre experience that uses mobile technology to plunge listeners into an immersive sci-fi epic adventure. This study guide has been crafted with the intention that students complete episodes at home, with class-time dedicated to analysis, dissection and play.
We have outlined the different materials and locations within the home that listeners will need to access. Headphones and a device will be required for each student and students will need to access other regular household items such as a chair or a spoon.
However, if you would like to complete an episode of Sun Runners during class-time, you will be able to substitute some items you do not have access to, for example a cupboard could be used instead of a fridge. You may also need a large room where multiple groups may be able to play at once.
The activities and possible assessment tasks are linked to The Arts: Drama, Australian Curriculum 9.0 across Year 5 and 6, with possible crossovers into Science, English, Geography, Visual Art and Dance. There is room here for project-based learning, providing lots of opportunity for whole class discussion as well as independent and small group work.
By the end of Year 6, students explain how the elements of drama are used in drama they create, perform and/or experience. They describe how drama created and/or performed across cultures, times, places and/or other contexts communicate ideas, perspectives and/or meaning. They describe how drama is used to continue and revitalise cultures.
Students work collaboratively as they combine elements of drama to shape and sustain dramatic action. They improvise and/or devise drama and/or interpret scripts. They perform their drama in informal and/or formal settings.
Exploring & Responding
Developing Skills & Practices
Creating & Making
Ask students to spread out through the room. Randomly choose a student to be ‘it’. The person who is ‘it’ needs to use their whole body and voice to become a space monster. They need to consider how they use their limbs, their face, their voice, their posture and how fast their monster moves.
Once they have established this, the other classmates imitate the person who is ‘it’ and they are chased until someone is caught. The monsters being chased must move at the same pace as the monster who is ‘it’! Once someone is caught, they create a new monster and the game starts again.
Encourage students to make very different choices to each other, to make it more fun but to also warm-up their bodies and voices in a variety of ways.
Character Exploration
What you’ll need: Butchers paper, scissors, collage materials, markers, computers.
Activity: Choose two students to lay down on large pieces of paper and carefully trace around them. Label one figure Olli and name the other figure Gamma and hang them up in the classroom where students can reach. These are the main characters in Sun Runners.
Explain that these characters are from the digital theatre production, Sun Runners that the students will be experiencing.
In pairs or small groups, students read the synopsis, the character descriptions and the themes from the study guide (or read them as a class) and make notes of any information they can find about the two characters.
Groups can read out their findings and one list can be made. Using sticky notes or writing directly onto the butcher’s paper depictions, two or more scribes to add this information to the figures.
Students can build on this information throughout the entire Sun Runners experience.
Extension/modifications:
Content Description: AC9ADR6E01
Creating an immersive experience
What you’ll need: Computers, paper, markers.
Activity: Students will investigate a planet in groups of 4-6. They need to find out the factual physical details e.g., Size, temperature, colour, atmosphere, dangers, landmarks and so on.
They can then use their imaginations to add fictional information such as what sounds they might hear, what creatures may live there, what dangers or surprises they might find.
Write a short narrative where the audience are the main characters Ollie and Gamma. This can be done through an instructional narration style and actors speaking the dialogue on behalf of the listener, just like in Sun Runners. Encourage the students to add lots of action and to keep the story moving forward. Improvisation concepts such as ‘extending’ and ‘advancing’ can be used upon here.
Once the story is complete and the teacher has checked to make sure the perspective is clear and that there is a lot of action, ask the students to annotate their story by marking out the following:
Students now need to build this experience by taking on characters and working out how they will make the sound effects and what music they will use. This will be much like creating an old-fashioned radio play, except that it is asking the listener to be actively involved.
Students can test their story on classmates by simply ‘performing’ the story and asking the students to respond as they did when they listened to Sun Runners. They can then fix up any moments that didn’t work or weren’t clear. Perform these on members from another class.
Modifications:
Content Description: AC9ADR6C01
Dramatic Tension
What you’ll need: A variety of objects from the classroom, computer/devices to access sound effects and music.
Activity: The teacher will lead the class in a game of ‘Beat the Bomb’. The class sits in a circle (teacher too!). In the centre of the circle there are six or seven random objects from the classroom and one of them is a bomb!
A volunteer must leave the room and the class will decide which object is the bomb. The volunteer will then be invited to return to the room.
As they enter, the students in the circle will start slowly and quietly at first, beating a rhythm on the floor. As the game progresses the beating becomes faster and louder to heighten the tension.
The volunteer picks up one object at the time, hoping to not pick up the bomb as this will end the game. If the student does pick up the bomb, the class all shout, ‘boom!’ and a new student is chosen to play.
Use this game to introduce the concept of tension. Come up with a class definition of general tension. Explain that there are 4 types of tension in Drama. These are:
Which of these types of tension were evident in the ‘Beat the Bomb’?
Why is tension important in theatre and stories? What would it be like if it was absent? Think of some examples here from well-known stories.
Using the 4 types of tension, do a brainstorm of the moments of tension evident in Sun Runners and place these moments under the heading. Allow conversation and debate.
Follow up with a practical task by asking students to work out a brief scenario in pairs. Their scene must contain at least three of the dramatic tensions. Give them some stimulus to start with such as a character type, atmosphere, incident or setting or any combination of these. Allow the use of SFX and/or music.
Watch the scenes as a class and unpack the moments of tension and how they were created.
Modifications:
Content Description: AC9ADR6D01
Sun Runners is a digital theatre experience that uses mobile technology to plunge listeners into an immersive sci-fi epic adventure. This study guide has been crafted with the intention that students complete episodes at home, with class-time dedicated to analysis, dissection and play.
We have outlined the different materials and locations within the home that listeners will need to access. Headphones and a device will be required for each student and students will need to access other regular household items such as a chair or a spoon.
However, if you would like to complete an episode of Sun Runners during class-time, you will be able to substitute some items you do not have access to, for example a cupboard could be used instead of a fridge. You may also need a large room where multiple groups may be able to play at once.
The activities and possible assessment tasks are linked to The Arts: Drama, Australian Curriculum 9.0 across Year 7 and 8, with possible crossovers into Science, English, Geography, Visual Art and Dance. There is room here for project-based learning, providing lots of opportunity for whole class discussion as well as independent and small group work.
By the end of Year 8, students analyse how elements of drama and/or conventions are manipulated in drama they create and/or experience. They evaluate the ways drama created and/or performed across cultures, times, places and/or other contexts communicates ideas, perspectives and/or meaning. They describe respectful approaches to creating, performing and/or responding to drama.
Students work collaboratively to manipulate elements of drama and conventions to shape and sustain dramatic action in improvised, devised and/or scripted drama. They employ performance skills to convey dramatic action and communicate ideas, perspectives and/or meaning when performing drama to audiences
Exploring & Responding
Creating & Making
The class will sit in a circle and the teacher (or a student) can choose a location, e.g. A spooky forest, a hot desert, the moon, Antarctica, a smelly swamp, an abandoned factory.
One by one, students enter the centre of the circle and create a strong freeze using physical and facial expression, depicting an object or character in the space. For example, if the place is the moon, a student may take up a freeze of a crater, or the earth far, far away.
When students take up their freeze they say, ‘I am a …’ and name what they are. This gives the opportunity for other students to build from the object created. For example, ‘I am a spider’s web’, and another student could say, ‘I am the spider on the spider’s web’.
As the postcard develops, actors can adjust their facial expression or pose to accommodate a potential change in the situation offered by a student adding to the postcard.
Teacher encourages students standing in the circle (the audience) to assess the postcard being created before they enter (to become the actor). How can they add to the narrative? How can they add to the mood and atmosphere of the place?
At any point a member of the audience can shout out ‘finished’ when they think the postcard has enough information.
Science Fictional
What you’ll need: Computers and/or paper and markers.
Activity: What do students know about Science Fiction as genre. Discuss the name. Why is it called Science Fiction?
What are some examples? Brainstorm a list on the board. Guide them to think about books, film, TV, art, comics, podcasts, and games. The list might include Star Wars, Star Trek, Minecraft, A Wrinkle in Time, Spiderman, Lost in Space, Deltora Quest.
In small groups students work out what the similar themes and elements are. Are there similar character types, action, objects, conflicts, settings? How do they usually end?
Come together as a whole class and create a list of elements and character types that are found in most Science Fiction.
In small groups, students can now use this information to plan, create, rehearse and perform a short scene of Science Fiction. This scene should include:
Modification/extension:
Content Description: AC9ADR8E01
Character and Actor
What you’ll need: Computers or other recording devices, possibly paper and pens.
Activity: Students respond to Sun Runners from a character AND actor perspective, focussing on either Olli or Gamma. Have a conversation about the roles the students played – they were a mix of character, actor and audience! Were there moments when these roles were discrete? Or did they always blend? What did the artistic team do to place the students in these roles?
Students are going to record an audio or video diary, focussing on one of the characters. They can ‘perform’ the diary in character and costume can be used. When they talk about acting and audience, they may choose to drop character.
They must answer the following questions:
Character
Olli:
Gamma:
Actor & Audience
Options from here can include –
Content Description: AC9ADR8E01
Understanding and making Digital Theatre
What you’ll need: Computers and/or recording devices, editing program, butcher’s paper, sticky notes, markers.
Activity:
Unpacking Digital Theatre
Ask students the following question: What elements have Audioplay and Windmill used to create Sun Runners? (e.g., Plot, character, relationship, tension, setting, dialogue, monologue, SFX, music, audience interaction etc.)
Making Digital Theatre
Using this knowledge, students can now create their own piece of Digital Theatre.
In pairs, students devise their own 2–3-minute parallel episode of Sun Runners using these conventions. This will be the story of two different characters who are also a navigator and pilot duo participating in the Sun Run.
Students develop and plan their story by working out their setting/s, characters, relationships, dialogue, and use of tension. How will they incorporate the following?
Once the planning is complete, the students can test their idea on another group by performing the ideas live. Groups feed-back to each other considering what worked well, what needed to be clearer, did the listeners know what to do and have enough to do, how it could be improved and so on.
Presenting and responding to Digital Theatre
Students now record their work, using their computers or other recording devices. The work can be recorded in one take if necessary or editing programs such as Adobe Audition can be used, recording a section at a time and layering sound and music into the narrative.
Responding the Digital Theatre
Using headphones and an audio track created by another group, students listen and experience a new episode. Ask them to consider the manipulation of the conventions of digital theatre and voice to create dramatic meaning, mood, and atmosphere.
Individually or in pairs, students write a response to the experience answering the following questions –
These responses can be shared with the creators of the episode.
Content Description: AC9ADR8C01
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Produced by Windmill Theatre Co. Developed and compiled by Drama Education Specialists Melissa Newton-Turner and Astrid Pill, Windmill Theatre Company and Audioplay.
The activities and resources contained in this document are designed for educators as the starting point for developing more comprehensive lessons for this work.
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