Education
Bachelor triple major in English, History & Politics, Macquarie University, Sydney, 1977; Diploma in education, Macquarie University, Sydney, 1976.
Currently studying for LLB at UNE
(Dynamic Dramatics is a combination of original playscript...)
Dynamic Dramatics is a combination of original playscripts incorporated with comprehensive and practical workshop activities and exercises. It is unique in Australia for its structure and detailed approach to the practical aspects of drama. The plays in the text range from 'Benchmarks' which involves a runaway teenager who is confronted by a sinister old tramp, to a historical play: 'Murder at Church Hill', which explores the reasons why a woman who is abused by her husband brutally 'murders' him with an axe. 'Ettie and Alf' explores the tragic-comic aspects of a loving relationship between an aged couple, whilst 'Opium and Strawberries' focuses on the everyday humour and struggles of a single parent caring for her children. The social comment playsare suited to middle and senior secondary student. The exercises related to the plays help the teacher with using the play in the classroom. The workshops are designed with the serious drama student in mind. Dynamic Dramatics offers a combination of powerful original Australian drama with comprehensive and practical workshop activities for senior secondary students. It is a valuable tool to the English teacher examining the issues affecting society as well as a creative and instructional package for the drama specialist.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0521400252/?tag=2022091-20
(Big Soooze is the place to be! Take a seedy night club...)
Big Soooze is the place to be! Take a seedy night club. Set it in Kings Cross in 1928. Add one tough lady who runs the place, a couple of feisty daughters, some layabout musicians, a mafia hood, a few ditzy waitresses and an assortment of other dubious characters and you have a recipe for drama. That’s Big Soooze – yes – that’s Soooze with three Os. The play is driven by Soooze and her battles with forces that constantly try to undermine her and take away her night club. On the one hand, she has Don Latte Cappuccino, the local Mafia hood, trying to extort money. On the other, she has Tuesday, the local detective, trying to bust her. To top it off, she has to contend with two strong-willed daughters who will not take their mother’s advice. And all the while, she must try to keep the club afloat…
https://wordpress.com/page/chrisdockrill.wordpress.com/1532
(Modern Moralities give no clear cut guide to what is good...)
Modern Moralities give no clear cut guide to what is good or evil. Instead, the complex issues of today's world are thrown into sharp relief, to challenge the audience to re-examine what are our modern moralities.
https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1914253
(Angry People, by Chris Dockrill, presents a controversial...)
Angry People, by Chris Dockrill, presents a controversial view of a very unhappy family. Ken, the father, is a particularly cruel, obnoxious yet sad character who delights in tormenting his family. He sees himself as an outsider – an immigrant exiled on Australian shores. The play examines his relationship with and the effect he has on, his family. The play is honest and disturbing. It forces responses from the audience and the actors that range from disgust to sympathy.
https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2066854
(Translated from the English and published in the E.U bu t...)
Translated from the English and published in the E.U bu theaterverlage (www.theatreverlage.ch) - Middle Class Fantasies follows the journeys of and the relationship between a teenage student, Jake Santino, and his English teacher, Judith Rodwell. Jake comes from a single parent family. His father deserted the family seven years ago when Jake was eight years old, leaving his mother to care for Jake, his younger sister and his baby brother. Jake and his family live in a small flat in a large, ramshackle block of cheap rentals. His mother survives on her social security pension and the small amount she can earn doing cleaning and ironing for a professional married couple who live in a renovated “semi” in one of the trendy streets in the neighbourhood which have been “discovered” by the upwardly mobile. Jake also works. After school, he works at the local delicatessen washing the display trays and cleaning the store. On Thursdays, Fridays and Mondays, he works for the local milk vendor from 3.00 am to 8.00am and on Saturdays, he works for the hot-dog vendor at a nearby racecourse. Jake gives most of the money he earns to his mother. Of the rest, Jake saves half and spends the remainder either on entertainment or gambling on the horses. Jake is not happy at school. Although he is close to the legal leaving age, his mother insists that he stay on to finish senior years thereby improving his chances for a better vocation. Jake is a capable student with an inquiring mind and a quick wit. He is much older than his years, having a maturity and worldliness born of hardship and the independence that it has necessitated. He has a natural understanding of human behaviour that enables him to relate well to other people. Unfortunately, Jake’s heavy workload with his part-time jobs outside school precludes him from applying the necessary time and effort to his studies. Accordingly, his grades seldom reflect his ability and his apparent neglect of work often involves him in conflict with his teachers and the school. This is particularly the case now, in his fifteenth year where Jake, the young man, is rebelling as much against the constraints of what he sees to be an authoritarian system as he is against the frustration he feels at recognizing his conflict of interests in working to help his mother survive the immediate and thereby being unable to work at his own education to improve his chances for the future. Judith is, in many ways, the antithesis to Jake. Judith grew up in a comfortable middle-class family. She and her brother were educated in private schools and both went to university. Judith’s parents could afford the time and money to provide Judith with the emotional and financial support to make her life comfortable and secure. She has travelled extensively and is married to a solicitor. They live in a large old house in one of the more expensive suburbs of the city. Judith’s background, her social life and peer group, and her general environment outside school hours are completely alien to most of her students. When Judith finds herself appointed to Grimly High School, having taken a year’s leave to travel overseas with her husband, she is most uncomfortable with the prospect. She commenced work at the school with secure middle class values that are sorely tested by the deprived children that she has to teach. If it were not for the expense of the year’s travel and the mortgage, Judith would be most tempted to resign. As it is, she has applications with a number of private schools that, to her, offers her some hope in compensation for enduring Grimly. Given these conflicting backgrounds, the relationship between Jake and Judith is characterized by conflict born of an almost complete failure to communicate across such socio-economic barriers. Each character sees in the other the icon of their frustration. Neither character appears capable of understanding the other despite one’s profession and the other’s limited but nonetheless keen insight into human behaviour. What develops is a learning experience for both.
https://wordpress.com/page/chrisdockrill.wordpress.com/1537
(Translated from the English and published in the E.U bu t...)
Translated from the English and published in the E.U bu theaterverlage (www.theatreverlage.ch) - Precious Metal examines a number of important issues relating to youth and youth culture. The play also explores the relationship between commercialism and popular music. At the same time, the play looks at the way we tend to jump to simplistic explanations for what, at times, are extremely complex problems. We are introduced to a group of teenagers who, like many of their generation are great fans of heavy music. The music and the celebration that accompanies it give their lives colour, definition and excitement. For some, it channels their angst. We also meet the members of a famous band – Plutonium –and observe some apparent contradictions between the image the band projects to its fans and the life styles and values of the individual members of the group. The play also examines the role of the media in the phenomenon of creation of idols and the influence of commercialism on all our lives.
https://wordpress.com/page/chrisdockrill.wordpress.com/1537
director filmmaker playwright secondary school educator author Director Live theatre Musicals
Bachelor triple major in English, History & Politics, Macquarie University, Sydney, 1977; Diploma in education, Macquarie University, Sydney, 1976.
Currently studying for LLB at UNE
Articled clerk Williams Dibbs & Company Solicitors, Sydney, 1970-1972. English teacher Kuring Gai High School, 1977-1986. English head teacher Kempsey (Australia) High School, since 1987.
(A study of Mary Shelley's work in the context of Gothic L...)
(Dynamic Dramatics is a combination of original playscript...)
Chill
(Jimmy Slease, intergalactic property developer, has come ...)
(Big Soooze is the place to be! Take a seedy night club...)
Beef
(Rock musical driven by classic hits.)
(Original musical)
(Angry People, by Chris Dockrill, presents a controversial...)
(Modern Moralities give no clear cut guide to what is good...)
(Translated from the English and published in the E.U bu t...)
(Translated from the English and published in the E.U bu t...)
(One act plays that focus on a range life issues.)
(College and school drama. | Australian drama -- 20th cent...)
(Live rock musical)
2014(A collection of short stories, essays, letters, songs and...)
Author: Power Plays, 1985, Modern Moralities, 1988, Dynamic Dramatics, 1991, Frankenstein-A Born Again Legend, 1992, Super Scripts, 1995, (rock musical) Beef, 1997, (urban rock drama musical) Chill, 1998, (rock musical) Island of Doctor Moron, 1999. Producer (Civil Defense) Island of Doctor Moron, 2000.
Married Lynette Margaret Andrews, July 10, 1976. Children: Mikaela Lynette, Luke Christopher, Matthew Ryan.