“You haven’t seen anything like this before on the Island,” declared scriptwriter and actor Nicholas Bergquist of the up-coming Saltus Grammar School production, ‘Tulssa Academy Experience’, “It’s a whole new experience, and entirely different script.”What makes the play, written by Saltus drama students and teacher Rebecca Dorrington, unique is that the audience moves as the plot unfolds; “the set revolves around the play,” according to Marcus Smith, a Year 10 actor.The play comprises four or five interwoven plots revolving around the production of a high school play, and the drama that goes on behind the scenes, including the struggle between the headmistress and the director over who will play the leading lady. The audience member is taken ‘on tour’ of a school for the arts, Tulssa Academy, in the weeks leading up to its annual dramatic production, and while on the tour gets snippets of what happens on a weekly basis. Thus the audience is on the move, as each scene is performed in a different location within the school building.The idea of a moving play is not entirely original; however, it is the first time such a production has been put on as a school or local production, Mrs Dorrington believes. The concept arose from the fact that there was some discussion of the Saltus auditorium being renovated, leaving the Drama Department without a venue for an annual production. In the end, the renovations did not go forward, but the moveable play did.The play also offered GCSE drama students an opportunity for scene writing, and “writing a play is much easier than a musical,” Mrs Dorrington wryly observed.Year 11 scriptwriter Katie Witkowski found the most challenging aspect of the process, “trying to make up a script that explains things in a real, natural way and doesn’t sound cheesy.”Nicholas outlined the writing process, starting with the most difficult part: “tying to find the initial idea for the play” which involved “a lot of brainstorming to figure out what we really wanted.” The script evolved through rehearsal as actors gave feedback on what worked and what didn’t, and the scriptwriters stayed behind after each rehearsal to refine it.“It ended up pretty well,” Nicholas declared.Katie is also pleased with the result of the combined efforts of the eight scriptwriters. “[Initially] I didn’t think it would work, but I’ve enjoyed how it’s all come together. It really seems how a school production would be put on,” she observed.Actor Marcus Smith, who has been in the last three Saltus productions, plays Josh, one of the good actors who receives news that his dad is in a coma, news that takes its toll on him as the play progresses. Marcus is impressed particularly with the authenticity of the script. “It’s written for you [teen actors]. A lot of the language you use is stuff you would use rather than dialogue a character would say, so it’s more relatable.”“There’s a lot of different story lines,” Marcus continued, “and a lot of the scenes are fun particularly the audition scenes.”“The play showcases a lot of talent at Saltus,” he concluded.“It’s been really interesting to see the students get involved, to develop the performing arts at Saltus,” Mrs. Dorrington summed up. “It’s been exciting to see the students become aware of and engaged in the whole process. It’s been quite a challenge to work out the script and space and deal with the fact that the audience is all around all the time so the actors can never drop out of character.”Because of the challenges of a “touring production”, audience size will be limited to 25. The production will run February 24 to 27, with two performances each day. On February 24 and 25 they will start at 6.30 and 8pm; on February 26 and 27 they will start at 4pm and 6pm. Tickets, $10 each, are available from the school receptionist. Telephone 292-6177.