From One-Act Play to Empire Theatre Stage: Concordia Students Make History
A group of Concordia Lutheran College Year 12 Drama students is preparing to take centre stage at the Empire Theatre, becoming the youngest team ever to produce a show in the venue's history. Their original production, Daffodils, will premiere at the Empire Theatre Studio on 23 and 24 September after earning support through the Empire Theatre's prestigious Homegrown program.
The journey of Daffodils began in 2024 when Drama Extension students, including Luca Blyth, Abigail Leslight, Joshua Cramb and Joshua Walkington, wrote and performed a 20-minute one-act play for the Toowoomba One-Act Play Festival. The production received outstanding recognition, placing second in its category while also winning Best Actor and Best Actress awards. Encouraged by the success of the original work, the students began developing the script into a full-length production. Working alongside director Bruce Omanga, they adapted the play and submitted it to the Empire Theatre's Homegrown program, an initiative designed to support emerging local artists through access to professional facilities, technical expertise and performance space. Their application was successful, and production commenced earlier this year.
What began as a small writing project quickly evolved into a collaborative undertaking involving Concordia's entire Year 12 Drama cohort. Luca Blyth, Abigail Leslight, Joshua Walkington, Henry Thorne, Kaylee Cowan, Lara Kotzur, Emma Murray and Bruce Omanga joined forces with former student Joshua Cramb to bring the production to life. Abigail serves as producer, Bruce as director and Luca as co-director. Other students have taken responsibility for choreography, sound design, costume design and set decoration, while Henry, Kaylee and Emma also perform on stage. Remarkably, every member of the creative, executive and production team is from Concordia, and every cast and crew member involved is under the age of 20.
The original coming-of-age story follows two teenagers cast opposite each other in a theatrical production based on a centuries-old love story. As rehearsals progress and opening night approaches, the pair find themselves navigating a romance of their own. Blending themes of theatre, storytelling and self-discovery, Daffodils explores the ways in which art can mirror life, and life can mirror art, as the boundaries between performance and reality begin to blur.
For Concordia's Arts program, the production represents far more than a school performance. It is a professionally staged piece of regional theatre conceived, written and produced by young people who have transformed an idea developed in the classroom into a major public production. Being recognised by the Empire Theatre as the youngest group ever to produce a show in its history is a significant achievement and a testament to the creativity, commitment and talent of Concordia's students. Auditions were held in July, rehearsals began shortly afterwards, and the cast and crew are now preparing for production week ahead of opening night. The College is incredibly proud of the students involved and looks forward to seeing them share their work with the wider Toowoomba community.
Tickets are available through the Empire Theatre website: empiretheatre.com.au
Warnings
This play was written and produced for mature audiences. See the Empire Theatre website for more information.
