JULIA Boyd's dedication to her passion has paid off, after she was selected for OnSTAGE, a showcase of the state's best HSC Drama performances and projects.
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Ms Boyd, 18, attended Merewether High but studied Drama through Finigan School of Distance Education and her "amazing" teacher Debbie De Graaf.
"Drama has been a key part of my life for the past seven years and it's something I do pretty much every day, something I work [at] really hard to challenge myself and make myself a better performer, so I knew in my heart that doing Drama as a subject would be very fitting for me rather than a science or something else."
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Ms Boyd will deliver the monologue she performed for the HSC - by a character in the 1673 French play Le Malade imaginaire or The Imaginary Invalid - six times over the next six days, when OnSTAGE is held at the York Theatre in Sydney's Seymour Centre from February 4 to 10.
"I'm absolutely stoked," Ms Boyd said of being selected. "I'm incredibly proud, especially coming from a distance education school it's a little bit more difficult or more complicated to do Drama and to know my performance stood out so much makes me feel pretty special.
"It has totally been a surprise. I really wanted to do well in Drama but OnSTAGE is really selective so I didn't even think it would be on the cards for me."
She said the monologue was a "farcical" representation of an "old and cranky" character, Professor Argan.
"The monologue was me using really absurdist and exaggerated movement and speech to show a bit of his dissent into madness and his hypochondriac nature... I transformed it and did my own thing with it."
Ms Boyd said she created the performance over eight months.
"Once you've taken a few months off it's kind of like coming back to a friend. It feels very sweet to say hello to that friend again."
Ms Boyd said she had been involved with Hunter Drama's classes and shows since 2019 and Upstage Youth Theatre in Maitland for three years before that.
She is taking a gap year to work, get involved in the theatre community and develop her skills. She will audition for theatre schools next year.
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Helen Gregory
Helen Gregory joined the Newcastle Herald in 2010. She is the masthead’s education reporter and has written for the H2 and Weekender sections, as well as across a range of issues. Helen is a Walkley Award winning journalist and was also part of the Newcastle Herald team that won the United Nations World Environment Day Media Award for Environmental Reporting.
Helen Gregory joined the Newcastle Herald in 2010. She is the masthead’s education reporter and has written for the H2 and Weekender sections, as well as across a range of issues. Helen is a Walkley Award winning journalist and was also part of the Newcastle Herald team that won the United Nations World Environment Day Media Award for Environmental Reporting.
