A DYING teenager's plea to a female friend for a lasting memory to take to his grave will generate some heat in Dubbo's Wesley Community Centre across four nights this month.
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Wesley House Players' latest production of Away by Australian playwright Michael Gow includes a scene between characters Tom and Meg that director Kate Bain calls "very intense".
"The whole scene you're thinking are they going to. It's a great point of tension... you think is she going to say yes," the director said.
Jason Wallace, 24, plays the role of leukaemia-stricken Tom while Hannah Richards,19, portrays Meg.
The well-established and energetic theatre company's bid for school students to join audiences at shows from 7.30pm this Friday and Saturday, March 13 and 14, and again on March 20 and 21, hints at the outcome of the young friends' interaction.
Ms Bain, a teacher at Dubbo Christian School, has returned to directorial duties for Wesley House Players with Higher School Certificate (HSC) students in mind.
"I put my hand up for it because I knew that I wanted to give my class a chance to see the play," she said.
Away is a prescribed text for the HSC in keeping with its stature as one of the most widely produced plays in Australia.
It tells of three troubled families holidaying at the beach at Christmas 1968.
After a storm they are thrown together to face enduring social and emotional challenges such as death, racism, class and relationships.
Ms Bain expects even those who have already read the play to embrace and enjoy the performances this month by a cast of 15 that have been stretched.
"For some of the actors there's been a lot of growth, like taking risks in performance that they might not have done before," she said.
The director said a "short rehearsal period" had maintained enthusiasm and energy among the cast for the production that was benefiting from the commitment and talent of a small number of crew members who were making "sets come alive".
Tickets to Away can be purchased online at www.trybooking.com/121048 or in-person at Dubbo's Snazzi Scrappin and Beads, 31 Bultje Street.
