The Words of Others
Drama with a Difference is proud to present the world premiere of “The Words of Others” by acclaimed dramatist Wayne Tunks, as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival.
17 short plays starring 19 teenage actors. These are stories of growing up, self-acceptance and how the words of others affect us. Writer and teacher Tunks sat down with his class and spoke to them about the problems they face today and went away and wrote these moving and funny plays. Stories deal with serious issues such as body image, cyber bullying and violence against students who are different. Light hearted takes on serious issues also are featured, like the rumour mill starting small and blowing out of proportion and the girl who decides her best friend may just be getting too mean and needs to get away from her fast. “The Words of Others” will show you what it’s like to be a teen today.
Drama with a Difference is one of Australia’s most respected independent drama schools. Spanning over 20 years, Drama with a Difference has an impressive industry record with a list of successful past and present students. Writer and director Wayne Tunks is one of the country’s leading dramatists, his most successful work includes “The Subtle Art of Flirting”, “We’ll Always Have Wagga” and “The Bridesmaid Must Die!”. Together they’re excited to bring this great production to the stage, starring 19 amazing young students in this great production. Actors range from 12 to 17 and are all Melbourne based performers.
“This has been a thrilling production to be involved with. It was great listening to the students talking about the important issues to them about self-acceptance and then go and write some plays for them. Seeing them bring these characters to life is truly rewarding. While the work is issue based, these plays are also very entertaining and will appeal to people of all ages,” says writer and director Tunks.
Feedback/Comments
The teenage classes of Drama with a Difference performed with conviction and with a genuine ownership of the themes explored in Wayne Tunk’s The Word of Others. The performance incorporated 17 short plays that were also tightly directed by Wayne Tunks.
The play explored the impact of bullying in all its forms.
I found the final scene particularly moving when each of the young performers faced the audience and confessed the worst things that had been said to them (some of the actors couldn’t complete this tasks because it was too painful or too obscene) and the best things that had been said to them.
While the devastation of bullying was certainly presented well, Wayne Tunk’s script also provided scenes that showed empowered young people taking a stand, refusing to be complicit in cruel actions and challenging those who were.
Congrats to a great group of young people under the strong direction of Wayne.
A fine ensemble performance by this group of young actors. The dialogue was meaningful and real. Thoroughly enjoable.
Thought provoking and thoroughly enjoyable