The winners of the 2005 Optus and Bell Shakespeare Make A Scene Competition were announced today by Stephen Cameron, Optus Corporate Marketing Director and John Bell, Artistic Director of Bell Shakespeare.
The winners are:
Camelia Mowbray, 16, from Penrith High School in New South Wales, National Prize;
Caitlyn Livingstone, 15, from Lilydale District School in Tasmania, Encouragement Prize;
Hannah Sutton, 15, from St Arnaud Secondary College in Victoria, Visual Arts Prize;
and Tim Sleeth, 16, from Whitefriars College in Victoria, Digital Design Prize.
Optus and Bell Shakespeare invited students Australia-wide to interpret a Shakespeare phrase and visually represent it in a modern way for the Make A Scene Competition.
Students were asked to be as creative as possible – using a variety of mediums including painting, illustration, drawing, photography, comics, digital design, screen saver, flash animation, game or mixed media presentation.
The winners were chosen from 1600 entries by a judging group comprising John Bell, Artistic Director Bell Shakespeare; Nicholas Harding, Artist and Archibald Prize winner; Dr Penny Jools, Clinical Psychologist and Psycho Therapist; Kat Mercer, Art Director M&C Saatchi, Sydney; Matthew Cumming, Digital Creative Director M&C Saatchi, Sydney; Craig Chaplin, Creative Director, Jack Morton Worldwide; and Tanya Menzies, Arts and Community Sponsorship Manager, Optus.
Camelia Mowbray was awarded the overall National Prize for the most original and creative entry, for her entry of ceramic masks exploring domestic violence, using the phrase "Tell truth and shame the devil" from Henry IV. She receives the latest Optus Pre-Paid mobile phone, an AIWA Micro Hifi sound system, an iPod shuffle and $5,000 in cash.
Camelia's supporting school Penrith High School receives an additional $10,000 to spend on education or community services.
"I am most appreciative of the generosity of Optus and Bell Shakespeare in so strongly supporting our school students and our schools," said Wendy De Paoli, Principal, Penrith High School. "The opportunity to take on creative challenges and participate in projects which take you outside the school context is such a valuable experience for our young people.
"We accept with great pleasure Optus' $10,000 cheque to the school as part of this prize. This a very substantial amount and will enable us to greatly enhance the resources available for our drama students, especially in the area of sound and lighting equipment that we have been keen to upgrade for some time."
Last year's supporting school, Wycliffe Christian School in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, used the money donated by Optus to refurbish the visual arts room.
The Encouragement Prize for the second most original and creative entry of a robot was awarded to Caitlyn Livingstone for "What a piece of work is a man" from Hamlet. Our first Tasmanian finalist receives the latest Optus Pre-Paid mobile phone, an AIWA Micro Hifi sound system and an iPod shuffle.
Hannah Sutton received the prize for Visual Arts for "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse" from King Richard III and the Digital Design award went to Tim Sleeth for "To be or not to be" from Hamlet. They both receive the latest Optus Pre-Paid mobile phone, an AIWA Micro Hifi sound system and an iPod shuffle.
"As Bell Shakespeare's Principal + Education sponsor, this partnership enables Optus to contribute to the expansion of Bell Shakespeare's education activities. The Make A Scene Competition encourages more young people to discover how relevant and contemporary Shakespeare's works are," said Stephen Cameron, Optus Corporate Marketing Director.
"This year the entries were again of a very high standard. Two entries received a Highly Commended Award – the first going to William Alesandro Blandino, 11 of Hoxton Park, NSW. The second Highly Commended Award went to the Year 5 class of John Colet School of Belrose, NSW for their mixed media entry. This entry was submitted as a class project," Mr Cameron said.
"The diversity of subject matter and media in this year's entries was amazing, with a large number using new media technology. Students put an enormous amount of time and effort into their entries. There were some recurring themes among the entries – mental health, abuse of power and greed, war, terrorism, domestic violence and the environment, in particular drought."
"The standard of work is remarkably high and shows both awareness and concern for issues like domestic violence, international terrorism, degradation of the environment and racial discrimination," said John Bell, Bell Shakespeare Artistic Director and member of the judging panel.
"There was a very high degree of skill, creativity and sophisticated comment on contemporary society, using Shakespeare's insights. With so many works of excellence in various media, it was an extremely hard choice to make. Many more prizes could have been awarded, so outstanding was the talent on display."
To view the winning entries, visit the Make A Scene Picture Gallery at: http://www1.optusnet.com.au/offers/makeascene/txtgallery.html
For more information:
Simone Bergholcs, Optus Corporate Affairs, Phone: +61 2 9342 7846 or 0412 206 602
Tatia Sloley, Bell Shakespeare publicist, Phone: +61 3 9419 8837 or 0403 305 395