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Gilmont’s New Stage Dramatics
presents
One People, One Flag, One Destiny
BANJO
A Nation Searching For Itself
 | PREPARATION |
This play works best if some preparation has been attended to. Please ensure that all teachers receive a copy of these notes as soon as possible so they can look at the various opportunities for exploring various themes. There are listed bellow ideas for the Art Room, History, English and Drama.
ASK ABOUT our workshops to explore follow up opportunities.
| OVERVIEW (Past - Present - Future) |
Due to the fact that this play is constructed out of many separate works of A. B. Paterson, there are many different areas of the curriculum that can be explored. It is impossible to begin to cover all of these areas so we have tried to focus on the major controlling themes that link these pieces into a whole work. Overall, BANJO is about looking at our past, to understand our present and build dreams of the future. The play explores elements of our past including war and life on the land, as well as offering discussion opportunities about the style of, and the historical context of the writing. Concepts such as oral history, federation, change in society, race and culture all evolve as relevant areas of study.
| STRUCTURE OF THE PLAY |
The play combines Paterson’s journalistic narratives, his war correspondence and his poetry. These separate pieces of writing are linked using a combination of literary and theatrical devises along with music. Whilst it is technically "non lineal" the play does take the audience on an historical journey beginning in 1886 and moving through to the early part of the twentieth century.
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PREPARATORY ACTIVITIES |
ENGLISH / LITERATURE / SOCIAL SCIENCES
Video; After viewing "Breaker Morant" discuss the attitudes of the Australians to the English during the Boer War. This forms a good comparison point if you are interested in discussing Australian attitudes and the forces behind the Federation Movement.
Read the Poem "Maxims of War" and discuss the attitude that Paterson may have towards the English. Ask students to think about the difference between the voice of the poet and the character who is speaking in the poem. What nationality is the character?
How could the experiences of Breaker Morant and of those suggested in Maxims of War and the following poem "Our Own Flag" assist the pro federation argument.
Kopje (or Koppie) = A small Hill (in south Africa)
(copy attached)Overview
Our Own Flag was written in 1900 at the height of the troubles in South Africa. Having been to South Africa as a war correspondent Paterson had seen the horrors of war first hand. He had seen Australians die for a cause about which they had no understanding. He saw them die fighting for England, under the English flag. Contemporary thinkers will see the parallel of Paterson’s arguments to the current republican ideals and the belief of many that the Union Jack should not be part of our flag. Whilst it may be arguable that Paterson, if he were alive today, may agree with this, at the time his argument was far more basic and perhaps profound. At the time he wrote this poem Australia was a number of separate self governing colonies of the English Empire. There was no Australian nation, no Australian constitution, no Australian flag. (In fact we used the Union Jack!) This poem can be seen as a plea for identity. Even then, in 1900, the Southern Cross had been given strong focus as a symbol of the land down under.
Classroom
Discuss the elements of the Australian Flag including the Union Jack, The Southern Cross and the Star representing the states.
Discuss what students think is significant about our flag
Design and create a new Australian Flag
Read the poem "Our Own Flag" and discuss the attitude of the character towards the English.
Why does it seem so important to Paterson that we have our own flag?
How does Paterson’s plea for an Australian Flag relate to the issue of Australia’s Federation?
Would Paterson be in favour of Australia becoming a Republic? Would he have voted Yes or No?
Discuss what the past means. This can be as broad as world history and dinosaurs through to your grandfathers life or what you had for Breakfast.
Discuss what "the present" can mean. It can mean at this split second, or this year or in this life time.
Discuss the future. Not only when it is but in context of the past and present. How will the past and present affect the future. This could relate to inventions such as the wheel, electricity or computers or perhaps how what we did in yesterdays class has allowed us to do what we are doing today which in tern, like a building block, informs what may happen tomorrow.
Exercise 1. Past
Explore parts of your own history by interviewing a grandparent or senior citizen. (see Drama - Creating Your Own Work)
Construct a contemporary story or poem that explores this information or other memories from your past.
Exercise 2 Future
Either on their own as a writing exercise, or in groups, students explore their ideas about their dream for the future. What would their future have in it? This can be extremely creative such as regular holidays on the moon or it could be drawn back to issues such as racial harmony, world peace etc. Banjo had a dream that the world would live as "One vast united brotherhood".
Paterson, in his writing, was first and foremost a journalist. His poems and descriptive writings were almost always written for publication in the newspapers to comment on or describe current issues.
Read "Mulga Bill’s Bicycle" and discuss how this work could be seen as journalistic. Banjo has observed the difficulty the locals are having with this new invention. Is this approach repeated in other poems? DO you think there is a part of Banjo himself in Mulga Bill?
"Spoken Decor" paints the environment with words, with the language. Students can be given written or spoken exercises that ask them to explore and expand their "spoken decor"
Each student stand up and describe an image of their childhood. e.g. - the beach where they have been on holidays (This fits into the exercise earlier on PAST)
Read "Clancy Of The Overflow" and Describe how Paterson romanticizes the Australian Bush.
Compare your experiences of the Australian landscape and its people to that of Paterson’s. How are they similar and how are they different?
ART students could create images based on the poems, either the landscapes, the characters or the moods that Paterson creates. "Clancy…" is great for this. (refer to design your own Flag)
THEATRE STUDIES
The creation of the play, BANJO, has used a variety of techniques. In its simplest sense it is a series of monologues linked together by common threads of character, story, place, and mood.
In rehearsal and performance the use of visualization has been paramount. The descriptive prose of Paterson is extremely visual and thus using these visions as an acting tool has been obvious and vital.
Sense memory work on a number of levels. 1. Get students to remember a time and place that is very visual to them - such as a day at the beach. Get them to close their eyes and describe the place in absolute detail, including the feelings of warmth and wind and sounds. The next step is to get them to repeat the same exercise with their eyes open. Insist that they focus and actually see the place.
The greatest learning experience students will have from this is that they cannot describe a place until they see it in their mind. No words come into their minds until the images are there. When seeing BANJO performed you will see this happening many times. The imagery forms part of the subtext, and like in real life, the thoughts, feelings, ideas and images all occur before you speak. In this way, the use of text is not about learning lines but rather about learning images.
(This can lead to a terrific writing exercise as well)
CREATE YOUR OWN WORK
Students interview one of their oldest living relatives about childhood memories. With this information students choose material and develop monologues based on the idea of a "grandparent" telling his / her story. Following this students then look at their own memories of childhood and construct links with the grandparent’s story. The third and final section can explore the culmination of the two links and analyze their relevance for the present and possibly build ideas about future aspirations. Whether this is explored in poetic form or free verse is totally dependent on the curriculum requirements. My preferred recommendation is that this type of activity or any variation on it, is a combined English Drama exercise.
CHARACTER
All characters in BANJO have been developed through method based sense memory techniques. The senses are engaged by recalling internal memories (pain) or external influences (sunshine) and visual memories (a blue sky) and by placing the actor within these moments a character evolves.
Walk around the room with a really sore leg, see how it affects your movement. Pain is a great sense memory exercise as it generally offers a very visual reaction. Students should try to remember a time they were hurt, for example a cut finger. Recall the pain. Then place that pain on their leg. The focus is on the leg and the pain. They then can do an improvisation and the teacher must always side coach to ensure the focus remains with the pain. The warmth of the sun can be another sense memory exercise. Feel the sun on your back. Then do an improvisation. Teacher keeps side coaching "feel the sun" see how the improvisation is affected by the warmth. See how the warmth affects the character. Note: these improvisations can be complex drama based exercises or they can be simplified by asking students to tell the class what happened on their favourite TV show last night.
VOICE
With over 24 characters in the play it becomes a great example of vocal techniques. Look at the use of, pause, pitch, pace, as well as the way the "place" is involved in creating the voices.
EXERCISE
Explore voice and where it comes from. How do you manipulate the voice to create different characters. Vocal dynamics. Look for how the choice of sense memory material may affect the voice. If the actor feels the warmth on their back how does it affect the voice? (perhaps it slows down, seems more relaxed) If they are in a dark cold room, how does it affect the voice? In this way, the characterization, including the vocal qualities, come from the sensory choices that lead the work. The place, the time and temperature all have a heightened meaning in the actor’s creative process.
PROPS
The dramatic structure of BANJO was at times lead by using props that could appear in two scenes and allowing the prop to be the link. This technique is borrowed from films which use both music and object to move from one moment to another.
EXERCISE
At the beginning of BANJO, the actor touches a hat, and the memories linked with that hat take him to a particular time and place. As he sits at a desk and picks up a letter he is taken even further to a more particular time in that place and he can begin, only then, the words "I had written him a letter…"
Examine Objects that can assist you in telling your story. In BANJO, props include stationary, a letter, numerous hats, a saddle, a cloth, a series of boxes, a hammer, a photograph, a piece of wire…etc. Explore how an object can lead the scene by taking the imagination to where it needs to be.
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SCRIPT & CD FOR SALE
For reviews and mail order details click here 
Many of the works performed in this production are very difficult to locate and so we have made a point of making the script available at a small cost. The script, as well as our studio recorded CD of the performance is available either by mail order or on the day of the performance. Scripts are $7 and CD’s are $25. Postage is $4.95
Make your cheque or money order payable to:
GILMONT’s New Stage Dramatics
Send to: Box 749, Mt Waverley, Victoria, 3149.
Phone 03 9561 7218, Mobile 0411 512 765, fax 03 9561 7316
For a copy of the order form please go to the BANJO CD page
1900Firstly, when fighting the Dutchman, make it a cardinal rule -
Think he’s a rogue if it please you: never believe he’s a fool.Never be needlessly reckless - he who does this is a dunce -
Stopping a bullet is easy - but you don’t stop ‘em well more than once.Make better use of your cover - don’t ride about in full view.
God made the kopjes for Dutchmen - likewise he made ‘em for you.Parties of twenty for scouting - easy to see and to smother:
Neither can fight nor keep hidden - neither one thing nor the other.If reconnoitring a kopje, you feel the least shadow of doubt,
Send up one man to inspect it - send up a Rimington scout!
Don’t send a troop as a target for Dutchmen to hustle about.Never hold more than you’ve need of - kopjes all round you are strown.
If they can’t help you, they’ll hurt you - leave ‘em severely alone.If you should find a position when it would suit you to fight,
Keep it! Don’t shift! If you leave it, the Boers will come down in the night.
Then you’ll go back and they’ll shoot you - and serve you most damnably right!Why should you load up with "Bully," bringing your transport to grief?
Look at the veldt all round you, stocked with the primmest of beef!Finally, never get jumpy - e’en though the fighting is hot!
Think of how often you’re shot at - think of how seldom you’re shot!
They mustered us up with a royal din,
In wearisome weeks of drought.
Ere ever the half of the crops were in,
Or half of the sheds cut out.‘Twas down with saddle and spurs and whip
The swagman dropped his swag.
And we hurried us off to an outbound ship
To fight for the English flag.The English flag - it is ours in sooth
We stand by it wrong or right.
But deep in our hearts is the honest truth
We fought for the sake of a fight.And the English flag may flutter and wave
Where the World-wide Oceans toss,
But the flag the Australian dies to save
Is the flag of the Southern Cross.If ever they want us to stand the brunt
Of a hard-fought, grim campaign,
We will carry our own flag up to the front
When we go to the wars again.
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