Performing in Shoelace Chaser

As you scroll down the page, look at the production photos by Jacinta Keefe, listen to the short audio interviews and read the thinking prompts. Familiarise yourself with how expressive skills, performance skills and dramatic elements are used to shape and enhance meaning. 

 

Scene 1

Thea and Syd meet for the first time at the athletics track.

• How does Elliot Wood use gesture and voice to depict Syd's excitement in this opening scene?
• Leigh Lule describes Thea as the ‘polar opposite’ to Syd. How is this contrast between the characters created through expressive skills of both actors?
• How does the dramatic element of space symbolise the relationship between Thea and Syd in this opening moment?

Scene 2

Fion and Thea discuss Fiona's new business idea.

 

• How does Zoe Boesen use her expressive skills to represent her character Fiona in this scene?
• How is the performance skill of energy used by Zoe Boesen and Leigh Lule to demonstrate the relationship dynamic between mother and daughter?
• What mood is created between Thea and Fiona, and why is this important to the story in this opening scene?

Transition between scenes 3 & 4

Thea and Syd train in a series of movement sequences.

• How do the actors transform time and place through Thea and Syd's training montage and why is this important for their characters and story?
• How does rhythm and timing change over the course of the three movement moments in this montage sequence, and to what effect?
• How does Elliot Wood's expressive skills help show a shift in Syd's attitude towards training over the course of the montage?

Scene 7

Syd has a panic attack before a race.

• During Syd's panic attack, what mood is established and how?
• How does Leigh Lule and Elliot Wood's use of expressive skills and performance skills help represent their characters in this moment?
• How is the actor-audience relationship manipulated in this moment and to what effect?

Scene 13

Fiona and Thea speak on the phone.

• During this phone conversation between Fiona and Thea, how does Zoe Boesen use expressive skills to communicate Fiona's physical pain?
• Leigh Lule describes Thea as being 'at breaking point' during this scene. What facial expressions does Lule use to show this?
• Analyse the interrelationship between the production area of lighting design, the dramatic element of space and the performance skill of actor-audience relationship demonstrated in this scene.

Scene 17

Thea and Fiona argue.

• How is the dramatic element of climax manipulated in this scene and to what effect?
• Analyse how tension is sustained and broken during this scene, as mentioned by Zoe Boesen.
• How are two expressive skills and one performance skill used by Leigh Lule and Zoe Boesen to manipulate mood?

Scene 23

Thea, Syd and Fiona come together before the big race in the final scene.

• Leigh Lule describes the characters as being on ‘the same page’ in this penultimate scene. How do expressive skills impact mood and actor-audience relationship in this moment?
• Compare and contrast the use of space in this scene with Scene 1 – where Thea and Syd meet at the athletic track for the first time – and analyse how space is used to communicate meaning.

Closing moments

Thea prepares for her big race in the closing moments of the show.

• Leigh Lule describes this scene as ‘mirroring’ the opening scene (titled Prelude in the script). Analyse how two expressive skills and one dramatic element are used symbolically in this moment.
• How is the actor-audience relationship manipulated in the final moments of the show?
• Analyse the use of focus in this scene. How do production areas like lighting and sound also impact focus?