The Hypochondriac - PLC, Sydney.

Senior Drama students from PLC Sydney tackled Moliere’s biting comedy The Hypochondriac with flair and an acute sense of comic timing. The all female cast of twelve bonded closely over the ten-week rehearsal period. First year out teacher Miss Joanna Golotta was initially apprehensive about choosing a comedy, “it is a difficult thing to master, as a laugh can be buried in the smallest of things: the look in the eyes, the tilt of the head or the inflection in a word.” The cast of Year 10 and 11 students share a common sense of energy well suited to character acting and it was clear early on in the rehearsal process that this would be a special production.
PLC Sydney has a state-of-the-art 568-seat theatre. Naturally, questions were asked when Joanna decided to stage the production in the much smaller studio space normally used as a classroom. However, the intimate setting better supported the production and when the simple, yet striking set had been assembled. The Hypochondriac played to two sell out crowds and had the audiences in fits of laughter. The girls tackled a difficult and text-heavy script with style and spirit.
Originally published in the January / February 2010 edition of Stage Whispers