Hunter Catholic school students’ moral compasses have been put to the test in this year’s ASPIRE production, 365 Questions, Issues and Good Deeds.
The Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle performing arts program, which can be likened to the public schools’ annual Star Struck showcase, hones students’ creative skills in areas of singing, dancing, acting, music and scriptwriting.
Led by artistic director Anna Kerrigan since its inception eight years ago, ASPIRE gives young people a vessel to explore issues that are relevant to them.
This year’s production highlights topics such as mental health, gender equality, dares and vlogging.
Singer and actress Chloe Anson-Smith, who is in Year 11 at St Francis Xavier’s College Hamilton, says the show’s theme has helped her be more compassionate.
“My character is always happy, always trying to uplift others,” she says.
“In one of the songs I sing, Proud, it’s all about making someone feel proud and showing them that you don’t need recognition to do good deeds.
“It’s showed me I can make others feel happier even by smiling and making someone’s day.”
It is this ethic Kerrigan is most proud of as artistic director.
“[Young people] are prepared to work really hard,” she says.
“I think young people get a bad rap a lot of the time as being this generation of people who don’t care but they actually care an awful lot and often it’s us adults who don’t listen very well.”
365 Questions, Issues and Good Deeds is no ordinary school play, with the diocese investing significantly in quality sound, lighting and production teams and treating its cast of 150 students with the same level of professionalism that would be expected of them in the real world.
Three of the six scheduled shows at Newcastle’s Civic Theatre from Wednesday 31 July to Saturday 3 August have already sold out.
Tickets to those sessions still open are available via Ticketek.
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