There’s a lot changing at Rebus this year. The Canberra theatre organisation is heading into a rebrand and Amy Orman, the iDrama and Programs Coordinator, tells Jo Falvey from STUN that the word she keeps coming back to is ‘rebirth‘.
“I think we’re in a time of rebirth for Rebus,” Amy says. “There’s been a lot of change in the past year, and we’re about to go into a rebrand, which is very exciting redefining what Rebus really means.”
Acting Out: On Screen, the school holiday filmmaking programme for LGBTQIA+ teens, is now in its sixth year.
The programme almost didn’t survive its early funding cliff. “Initially they got funding from a specific organisation and then that funding ended,” Amy explains. “But they kept going with the programme because it meant a lot to the team.” Last year it was kept alive through Hands Across Canberra and Give Out Day it remains a free programme for teens, which Amy says makes getting the word out even more important.
New Director, Full Circle Moment
This year brings a changing of the guard. The programme’s long-time filmmaker, based in Melbourne, was unavailable, opening the door for Sydney-based director Oliver Levi-Malouf (aka Etcetera Etcetera) to step in. Oliver wears many hats: entertainment manager at the iconic queer venue The Imperial in Erskineville, Sydney, and a performer regularly enlisted for major brand campaigns as well as their own touring shows. A graduate of the Australian Film Television and Radio School (Sydney), Oliver steps into the role with a personal history here, having grown up in Canberra and made films as a teenager.
“Oli grew up in Canberra and was a filmmaker here as a teenager,” Amy says. “There’s this full circle moment that they can come back and coach teens in a similar way. It’s really wonderful.”
Four Days, One Film
Structurally, the programme is straightforward: team building, writing, directing and filming, then editing. The first day starts with the essentials of theatre, because, as Amy laughs, “Everyone loves a drama game.” From there: “They’ll have a day of development where they write their script. A day of filming where they direct and do all the hard stuff, then a day of editing, and a little presentation on the final day.”
Held at Gorman Arts Centre, which is going through a renovation at the moment, Amy says the space itself is fair game for the teens’ imaginations. “The teens come to the table with their own creative ideas,” she says. “They’re in charge of what they want to do.”
Holding Space
For Amy, who is new to Rebus, the significance of the programme goes beyond the four days on the calendar. “Creating spaces for LGBTQIA+ teens is so important,” she says. “From my musical theatre background I’ve supported queer teens across various cohorts but I’ve never been part of a program that’s exclusively for them. I think that’s so special, to hold that space.”
Support runs deeper than the workshop room. Meridian is supplying a wellbeing officer on-site for the duration and Rebus’s iDrama facilitators, who are both co-facilitators on the Acting Out: On Screen program, are well-practised in supporting participants with disabilities and are on hand to help with accessibility needs, including into the main space at Gorman.
Oli, alongside three facilitators plus two assistants, who are all LGBTQIA+ identifying, will run the program for a cohort capped between ten and 15 teens. “The emotional wellbeing and support of this particular cohort was made really clear to me by the people who ran it before,” Amy says.
A Legacy Worth Continuing
One former participant is now working professionally with Rebus on Stages of Empathy, a forum theatre programme that takes performance into workplaces to challenge thinking and expectations. “They’ve been part of Acting Out: On Screen with Rebus and then gone on to do professional work with Rebus,” Amy says. “That’s so wonderful.”
The focus now getting the right teens into the room. In Oli’s own words, on why they’re excited to be part of Acting Out: On Screen: “With this program we aim to inspire the next generation of Canberra creatives to take control and feel confident in producing authentic work that reflects who they are. This program will cover the importance of developing your own unique creative voice, how to speak the language of visual storytelling and how to execute that using innovative filmmaking techniques. Being able to access the freedom of creativity and the community around the arts is so important especially for young LGBTQIA+ people. A lot of the time, it was the only way I could process the world around me and I look forward to helping these young people start sharing their big stories with the world!”
Acting Out: On Screen runs across four days these school holidays at Gorman Arts Centre. Enrolments are open now for a cohort capped at 15 participants aged 12–17 , running from Tuesday 6 October to Friday 9 October from 10am to 4pm.
https://ainslieandgorman.com.au/whats-on/holiday-programs/acting-out-on-screen/
