In VCE the course is known as Theatre Studies and is playing an increasingly significant role at King David. Last year, three of its Year 12 graduates achieved full marks in their monologues and were invited to audition for Top Class.

Rachel Elberg was one. “I loved it” she reflected in between rehearsals for a Yom Ha’atzmaut concert and a production of Little Shop of Horrors. “I loved working together to reach a certain goal … everyone with a passion for performing… and the way Valentine interacted with us.” Rachel is soon to commence study at the Victorian College of the Arts — Musical Theatre.

Steven Krygger, another of the thespians from the Theatre Studies class of 2005, is currently at Deakin University studying for his Bachelor of Contemporary Arts (Performing Arts). His monologue was rated third in the State and on 22 April, he’ll be performing it at the National Theatre. A career in theatre, he says, is “a dream.”

For Valentine Peterson, head of the Theatre Studies department, last year’s results were gratifying. She considers herself “very lucky” to be working in the creative milieu of theatre education at King David and says it’s “everything I want to do.”

Not that it’s something she takes lightly. For a start, her summer holidays are usually spent in careful contemplation weighing the individual strengths of her theatre studies students before selecting a play that fits their talents, rather than selecting a play and then casting it.

Last year’s Year 12 students were particularly musical so the play The Philadelphia Story was chosen as the star vehicle. The 2006 Theatre Studies students seem to have a penchant for language and vocabulary and are more inclined to jostle with the intellectual challenges of some of the more theatrical dramatists. So they performed Pinter last year and are currently in-reheasal for a May production of The Real Inspector Hound.

Innovations abound. Salon evenings are planned under the banner of `The Stardust Theatre Company’. Past and present students of The King David School will be invited to gather and share their creative offerings which can range from a poetry reading to the exposition of a painting. Entry is available to all — but performance is a must. And a Shakespeare Twilight Evening that was held five years ago as a whimsical concept to engender a love of Shakespearean theatre has now become an annual event. This year, the pace hasn’t slowed a bit. Les Miserables will be staged as a full school musical in the Magid Institute’s new Kobritz auditorium in August.

But for now, the break is over and it’s back to the real drama. The harnessing and development of the talents of the Theatre Studies class of 2006.

Drama is offered as an elective from Year 7. Students are introduced to basic performance skills to generate ideas for creating physical and immediate drama.

In Years 9 and 10 students further develop voice work, character development techniques and the creation of a full-length production.