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to Schools Kit Page
 | By students |
| By teachers |
"Outstanding! With minimal props & costume changes, Mr Gilespie
brought A.B.Paterson to life. A wonderful selection of his work, beautifully
linked and conveying the humour, harshness, joy and tragedy of life then in
Australia & for Australians at war overseas."
Bernard O’Sullivan
Years 7 to 12
St Kevin’s College
Melbourne Australia
"The quality of the Writing is undeniable. It is humorous,
poignant, heartfelt, passionate and raises relevant issues in terms of how we
see ourselves and our country. Through his exceptional performance skills and
production choices, extensive research and understanding of the life and times
of Banjo Paterson, Karm has further enhanced the writing to produce a powerful
piece of live performance."
Beryl Birrell
Wantirna Secondary College
"The performance was flawless and so beautifully evoked Banjo
Paterson. You have obviously spent a great deal of time and imagination in
working out all the moods and actions that went with the wonderful pieces of
work that you performed."
Pam Lindsay
Head of English
St Peters Collegiate Girls’ School
South Australia
"It was most refreshing to attend a school performance which did
not presume that students only respond to material pitched at a low level. The
mixture of pathos and humour, and Craig’s (Karm’s) skill as an actor held
a year 8 audience enthralled for a whole hour.
Australian Studies classes would also gain much from such a moving
depiction of the Australian character, and the joys and difficulties of life
on the land."
Mary Rhodes
Pembroke School
South Australia
J. McGregor
Annesley College
South Australia (March2000)
"The performer was very animated - excellent use of poems & life
story and events of the time."
Student response:
"The acting brought in a sense that you were
actually there."
"I really enjoyed the play and the work put into it
was excellent and the scenery was great."
K. Haymon
Annesley College
South Australia (March 2000)
"You are a great actor"
"always convincing"
"My sides were cracking open"
"The acting was amazing"
"it was one of the best performances I’ve seen"
"Enthralling…."
"hats were superb!"
"your performance was brilliant!!!"
"funny voices and clever antics"
"it was really cool"
"it was the best thing that has come to the school yet"
(To see full reviews and further comments of Primary and Secondary students please scroll down this page.)
Secondary Student Reviews
On Friday the 30 of May (1999) the 9/10 drama classes attended a play called "Banjo" in our drama studio. The performer recited and dramatised some of Banjo Paterson's most famous works. These include The Man from Ironbark, Mulga Bill, Waltzing Matilda etc.
His staging and use of props were very effective using them to their fullest potential. Some of his props were a table with several items, 3 wooden boxes, a hat rack for his costumes and a saddle and lambs wool mounted on a fence corner.
Karm recited the poems with a lot of energy and emotion, really getting inside of the character he was portraying. In parts it was quite confrontational. I especially liked the scene from Mulga Bill where he was tialing the bicycle and ended up in the creek, it was one of the many humorous parts.
The way the music was timed with poems was excellent and would have been very difficult to do. The music itself had a very Australian feel and it worked really well. At the end of the performance Karm told how he could relate to Banjo’s works, life and times to that of his own childhood. Being brought up in the country he could really appreciate Banjo’s poems as if they were written for him personally. I thought that overall the performance was very well done.
Lucas E. Prince
Hobart Tasmania (April 30, 1999)
I thought the performance by Karm Gilespie was very strong and confident. He didn’t lack any real skills as a performer. The props and staging he used was simple and very effective in the way that he used everything, nothing was left out and he could always find a way to incorporate the props in whatever he was doing on stage. The music was effective in that it gave you an extra bit of feeling to the show. I thought that the music was particularly strong and useful in the scene where he is at war. The costuming was again simple and effective, he just took off one top and put on another, this gave that little edge to it instead of having a war scene with a white polo top he changed with the army top. He also managed to do this in a way where he didn’t have to have a complete scene change, he still had all the lights on, so when changing he was still doing something and that is particularly hard to do so I think he did very well.
The play was very entertaining and I also leaned something about Banjo and his life, so well done.
Anon. (year 9/10)
Hobart Tasmania (April 30, 1999)
I thought that Karm did a really good job, he was very confident and he always stayed in character. Karm’s use of descriptive language was outstanding. I loved how he switched roles of character so easily and in a way that made the play still look effective. I also liked the way that the music was played into the story. The music lifted the performance that little bit higher. Karm’s use of props and space were also really good, he didn’t have heaps of props which was good in a way because it didn’t become so complicated. I think that Karm’s performance has taught me quite a few things that I didn’t already know.
Anon. (year 9/10)
Hobart Tasmania (April 30, 1999)
On Friday morning, our 9/10 drama class, amongst others watched a fairly entertaining performance on the works of Banjo Paterson….Whilst performing these poems, Karm dramatised them, and by using a few effective props, they were very well portrayed. The props were around seven hats, two shirts, a table, some crates, and a small fence which were all used as many different objects, e.g. a table as a bicycle, and a fence as a horse.
The use of music was effective, with snippets of ‘Waltzing Matilda’ and other Australian-sounding music. The music was used at appropriate intervals, as were the sound-effects. The sound effects were few and far between, the only ones really being the gunshots during the war scenes. But when these came around, they were very effective and striking.
Lighting was fairly simple, usually just one light on the stage, but during the war scenes, they flashed red, orange and green, giving the war scene more effect.
Karm used some of the poems that paralleled his own country life which was symbolised in the poetry he chose.
Anon. (year 9/10)
Hobart Tasmania (April 30, 1999)
Primary Student Reviews
Thank you for your enthralling performance. I found it funny, sometimes sad and serious but always convincing. I especially liked the part about the war where the men we saying "Oh it’s gone straight through the body" and "I wouldn’t care so much if it weren’t for my wife." You made it seem humorous when actually it was very sad. "Mulga Bill on his bicycle" I thought was the most clever scene because of the acrobatics. You really brought the poems and stories to life. Thank you for coming to my school.
BA Townsend (year 5)
Mc Laren Vale Primary School
Room 15
9th March 1998
(Thanks for a great letter, for some one your age this is extremely well written, I appreciate your efforts and your comments. KG)
Thank you for showing us your play. My favourite poem was the Melbourne Cup. I like the way you can get a poem 100 years old and make a play of it. You are a great actor.
Owen Morton (year 5)
Mc Laren Vale Primary School
Room 15
9th March 1998
(I like that last sentence a lot. You obviously know what you are talking about. J J KG)
Thank you for performing at our school. I liked the Melbourne Cup Poem best. Your voice suited the music and your actions were great! The way you changed your costumes were good and your hats were superb! The way you changed your setting round was also very good.
Overall your performance was brilliant!!! I think lots of kids will like it.
Max Daly (year 5)
Mc Laren Vale Primary School
Room 15
9th March 1998
ps The best part about your show was your acting. 2nd best is your different voices. 3rd best is the sound effects.
(Well Max, you seem to have seen a lot of things in my show. All I can say is … thanks for noticing. KG)
Thank you for performing in front of some classes in our school. I liked the Mulga Bill and the Bicycle, we have that book at home. I also liked the sound effects, the costumes and the setting (the stage was set very neatly and looked good). Some bits were funny. One last thanks.
Stephi West (year 5)
Mc Laren Vale Primary School
Room 15
9th March 1998
(I hope you continue to include books of BANJO in your home library, and by the way, I loved your drawing, it really captured the whole picture of my show. thanks for the effort. KG)
Thank you for performing at our school. I particularly enjoyed the French bullet stopper part. As well as the Ironbark man having a shave with the boiling wrong end of a shaver. The Mulga Bill Bicycle and Melbourne cup was two of the best parts of the performance. the story of Willy was quite sad. It was amazing how you memorised the whole performance. The performance was great. I bet many people will enjoy it.
Tim Hunt (year 5)
Mc Laren Vale Primary School
Room 15
9th March 1998
Tim, thank you for your letter and I particularly like your drawing of young Willie’s hat on the fence post. It seems to symbolize so much about that poem and tells how you understood the sadness.
I enjoyed Banjo very much. It was great the way the characters were changed just by one hat. I am impressed the way he learnt 20 poems off by heart. My favourite was the poem about the war because I liked the way he changed his voice to an Englishman. He did a very good job and I hope he comes back again. All round I thought it was the best thing that has come to the school yet.
Boy (aged 13)
Aberfield Hub Primary school
March 1998
I really enjoyed your performance. It was great. My favourite parts of the show were when you jumped on the crate and did the Melbourne Cup poem, and the poem on the war. My sides were cracking open at some stages because of your funny voices and clever antics. I especially liked the voice you did in the war poem. How did you remember all 20 poems? I never could have done it. I thought it was really cool how you used one thing to change the whole setting. Good work.
Boy (aged 12)
Aberfield Hub Primary school
March 1998
I enjoyed the performance because of the way comedy was put into just the right places. My favourite poem was "Clancy of the Overflow". I liked the props because they added a very interesting effect. The acting was amazing and so was the fact that he could remember all those poems. I really think it would be hard to keep a straight face when every one is laughing at you all. Overall, it was one of the best performances I’ve seen.
Girl (aged 11)
Aberfield Hub Primary school
March 1998
I thought the show was great. Our class has been researching Banjo Paterson poems and it was great to hear and see most of the poems we read. My favourites were Man from Ironbark, Mulga Bills Bicycle, The War one, The Melbourne Cup and Clancy of the Overflow. The way you performed the show with the props and hats was great.. I would really like to see the show again. My dad loves that kind of thing, I’m sure that he would love to see that too. It shows that you have been doing that routine for six months, and more. It also shows that you have been acting from a very young age. I really enjoyed your performance.
Courtney Edwards (age 11)
Aberfield Hub Primary school
March 1998