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ARTS & CULTURE
World stage beckons acting talent The world stage beckons for Charles Sturt University (CSU) students who are successfully pursuing international acting ambitions and honing their skills for bigger audiences.
 Alison Kohlhardt is leading the latest charge by CSU graduates onto the international stage.Recently graduating in acting from CSU, Alison has been living and working in Hong Kong with local theatre company Dramatic English while also teaching drama to Chinese students.
“It is really exciting and fun and interesting to teach these children. Of course some days are harder than others, particularly because of the cultural and language differences, but every day I learn more about myself and acting while teaching these children."
Ms Kohlhardt also auditioned for the play The Real Suzie: A Tribute to Sex Workers in Hong Kong. She was cast as Vittoria, a sex worker, brought over from Russia to work in Hong Kong. The story is based on the legendary novel The World of Suzie Wong by British novelist Richard Mason. The Real Suzie updates the story in a play whose two main characters are an English artist and teacher and a sex worker. It is set in contemporary Hong Kong with monologues and sketches on the city’s sex industry.
Alison says she is really enjoying working on a production, especially in another country. “It was a great opportunity and I feel privileged that I was involved”.
After developing performance skills at the University’s Wagga Wagga Campus in inland NSW, Seth Leslie also moved to Hong Kong to develop his acting career.
 Seth worked simultaneously on two productions for Red Room Productions and Phoenixation Productions and joined Alison Kohlhardt as a cast member of The Real Suzie, securing the lead role.The production played before packed houses throughout last May as part of the Hong Kong Fringe Theatre.
Seth’s second production is the Hong Kong premier of Yuri Baranovsky's 11 Variations of Friar John's Failure, a contempary poke at the world of Shakespeare. Both productions were performed at Hong Kong’s Fringe Theatre.
He hopes to return to Australia in August to perform a final play for Charles Sturt University as a completion of his Honours degree in acting.
Third year CSU theatre and television design student Aleatta Prendeckij has returned from New York, USA after completing an internship with the 3 Legged Dog Theatre and Media Group, an experimental arts, non-profit group based in Downtown Manhattan.
 Well known throughout New York for their work with a technology known as the 'eyeliner', 3 Legged Dog's productions aim to merge art and technology seamlessly. By projecting high definition video onto an invisible screen in front of the stage, characters and objects are able to appear, move, fall and disappear from what seems like nowhere.
Aleatta worked as a costume design intern on the production Losing Something. She says, “The work I completed there was unlike any other work I had done before. Working in such a high-scale environment was both challenging and rewarding.
"I was able to make many contacts, expand both my mind and abilities as well as enjoy an incredible city. A definite highlight was appearing in a photograph on the New York Times website after a journalist came by for an interview on the company's work."
Aleatta says, “All in all, the New York internship is definitely the best thing I have done for myself! To any students tossing up whether to go abroad for work experience, start packing your suitcase now!" ends Author: Peter Andrea Publication Date: 05 Nov 2007
Editor's Note: CSU runs acting and theatre design courses on its Wagga Wagga and Bathurst campuses: Media Note: For interviews and print quality pictures, contact CSU Media. Related Images:  |
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