Rotary Story Writing Competition

Bridgetown Youth Theatre (BYT) has started up again for 2023, and it has started strongly with twenty-one members in the group.

BYT is run by the Bridgetown Repertory Club and aims to teach teenagers theatre and performance skills whilst they have fun and develop confidence. BYT is run weekly on Wednesday afternoons at the theatre by Meegan Cullen and Chris Shedley.

This year BYT is working towards performing at the OUCH youth festival which is to be held in August, creating a variety of performances for the night at the theatre. The annual ‘Ouch’ festival is a performing arts festival for Bridgetown youth and the youth from across the district.

Chris Shedley, as a member of Bridgetown Rotary Club, has the role for youth development, this year Rotary offered a prize of $300 towards a story writing competition.

The story writing competition’s main aim was to generate stories that could be used to develop theatre scripts for this year’s OUCH Festival.

The theme suggested for the stories was ‘empathy’ (the ability to understand and share the feelings of another).

“We were excited to be involved with the Rotary club’s story competition on the theme of empathy,” Meegan Cullen repertory spokesperson explains.

“The inclusion of suggestions for music and dance was encouraged. The stories were to have at least four or five principal characters and to include a life changing journey for at least one of the characters; the stories were to contain some level of conflict, a well-defined climax and an attempt at resolution.

“Rotary and the Bridgetown Youth Theatre then will help bring the story to the stage.”

The competition was open to young people aged 11 – 17. The stories were assessed by a panel comprised of present and retired English teachers and professional writers; Steve Bullie, Sarah Evans, Jeff Sheahan, and Chris Shedley.

“We were impressed by all the stories entered, and in the end, awarded equal first prizes to Phoebe and Abi O’Wallace,” a delighted Chris Shelley reported, “with two judges voting for Phoebe’s story and two judges voting for Abi‘s story.

“Both the sisters are home schooled; their stories were standouts in the competition.”

Abi’s story is about a recently separated family having to deal with problems a divided family must face, and Phoebe’s story is about a family moving from Melbourne to Queensland and in to a rough neighbourhood.

“Both their stories were acclaimed by the judges and it only seemed right to award both stories the winner.

“Sarah Evans provided detailed feedback on all entries, encouraging a greater use of adjectives.

“Other stories we received were also very good and we will work to bring those to the stage, Samara Leary who wrote a story ‘Food for the Family’, and Hailee Pratt’s story is a dark thriller. The stories show that small acts of kindness can change lives.”

The performances for Ouch Festival are along the lines of a talent quest, in that there are many and varied acts. Performers may enter any arts performance, be it theatre in its many forms, music, song, or dance.

Part of the philosophy of the Ouch Festival is to involve teenagers in the planning, promotion and management of the event. These processes give those involved skills that enable them to visualize, plan and implement community activities, making them valuable community leaders wherever they may end up.

This year’s festival promises to once again be a surprising display of the talent within our community.