When Students Outstage the Teacher (literally!) It’s less than two-month old, but it’s already acting without adult supervision: the Student Actors Society is soon debuting on the Gibraltar drama scene with its own production, comprising some sketches directed by Mark Viales, followed by the one-act dark comedy “Bang Bang You’re Dead”, about a teenager who shoots his parents and five schoolmates, to be then haunted by his memories of them under the form of physical manifestations. The society is partly the brainchild of Philosophy, Politics and Economics student (and now S.A.S. president) Matthew Pallas, a talented and well-known actor in the student drama circles, who at the beginning of July e-mailed his friends the suggestion of staging an adult-free show targeted to an all-ages audience. The idea got such an enthusiastic response that he found himself in the most demanding part: the first-timer director of a cast that, despite their young age, feels at home on stage. And when Matthew Nuñez, who unfortunately couldn’t participate in the project, suggested American playwright William Mastrosimone’s Bang Bang You’re Dead, a riveting play requiring a quite minimalist set, where the essential props are just a book, a bottle of ketchup and a box, the costumes are black outfits in the first part and white in the second, and most of the gun action is mimed, the group accepted the challenge and committed to trice-a-week rehearsals at the Ince’s Hall courtyard. Matthew Pallas, who discovered his passion for drama at a very young age, starred in a number of school productions, and was involved in lunchtime drama workshops at Bayside School, is adopting the so-called non-directional blocking approach, which means he actually asks the cast to express what they think their characters would do in that particular situation, and then he evaluates all ideas to have the final say on which is the more effective, more dramatic without slipping in melodramatic. The Student Actors Society comprises at present some twenty members, aged between 16 and 25, but it is open to anyone in that age bracket or slightly under or over, even to participate in one production only — and there’s no membership fee. The group is closely monitored (and occasionally helped) by the Gibraltar Amateur Drama Association president Joe Gomez, who is always keen on watching over with paternal eye and encouraging fresh talent, and by ‘guru’ producer Iris Guilliano. Anyone interested in joining the Student Actors Society should contact 77445.

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