_.

kidding. arouna

Real life on the stage

by SHERELE MOODY

ULLYING, self image,

family conflict and peer
pressure are a way of life
for many youngsters, says playwright and performer Rachel
Campos.
Campos is one of the faces
behind the two-year-old Odd
Socks Theatre Company.
The play Odd Socks and Neat
Hair has been seen by hundreds
of Victorian school children,
The play explores how children, parents and teachers deal
with bullying and self esteem by
telling the story of Brad who
taunts and teases his classmate
Marcus.
Campos and her partners
Melissa Ray, Tess Hewitt and
Julie Goss, perform in the shows,
publicise them, write scripts,
design costumes and sets and
organise transport'and accommoOdd socks: Melissa Ray, Tess Hewitt,Rachel Campos, and Julie Goss.
dation.
Campos said the company
stemmed from a community
theatre course she completed at
Swinburne University,
"I wanted to do educational
theatre and because 1 suffered
from bullying myself as a young
student 1 decided to combine my
experiences and create a script,"
she said.
"We get our bookings through

our publicity, which is faxing

schools as many times as we can.
"Schools are reluctant to make
a booking if they don't know
your name but once they have
seen the show they realise how
fantastic it is and we've actually
got a lot of bookings through
word of mouth."

Campos said audiences usually

related to and enjo)"ed the show.
"The play is very kind of
cartoonish. We use big characters
that are very exaggerated," she
said.
"The children really love it,
they really get into it and we
change the performance for-each
grade so we cater to the chilThe play's topics are dark but dren's age. The issues, like lack

Picture: WILL SAL TER

003WSS03

of self
andnow
bullying,
are1
the
sameesteem
for kids
as when
went to primary school.
" It's just the language and the
music that have changed.
"We find we really have to
keep up with what's in musicwise because if you've got bad
music they'll scream out 'turn it
off' ."

MELBOURNE.YARRALEADERJuly 17, 200~~

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