Harlequins Players
The Harlequin Players is an important and valued part of the MITS culture. By fostering a love of the stage in young Mount Isans, this theatre tutorial program ensures that the society continues to have members in the future. Through the instruction of qualified teachers, both junior and senior students learn the skills necessary (backstage work, verbal control etc) to produce shows.
But Harlequins is not just a theatre production workshop; students are exposed to different ways of thinking, movements in the art of theatre and how this is reflected in methods – the 2006 program being a prime example of such. The senior students engaged in producing their own Brechtian-inspired show about what it means to be a teenager. Exploiting the techniques learnt throughout the semester, they wrote and directed their own pieces, utilising both multimedia and engaging symbolism. Even though this art form was foreign to many of the students, the style was still embraced and enjoyed by all.
This positive attitude has been evident throughout the existence of the Harlequins Players. Twenty years ago, the group (larger then) performed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with much success. And several plays, like Dags, are such favourites that they’ve been produced again and again with different groups.
