How a Kirrawee High School student found confidence in herself in HSC Drama

Annaliese Mustapic says performing has been in her blood ever since she took her first dance class as a four year old. After the Kirrawee High School graduate had her HSC Drama monologue selected for the OnSTAGE Showcase, it’s hard to disagree.

In her monologue performance of David Bulmer’s Beating Eve, which ran for a week at The Seymour Centre, Annaliese played a conservative housewife whose husband’s interest in a younger, fitter neighbour drives her from sorrow to anger and, finally, revenge, while George Michael’s Faith plays on the radio.

Annaliese loves to ‘go big’ with her performances - and Beating Eve makes the most of her talent for big gestures and big expressions. She said she chose this monologue intent on making her audience laugh:

“She's a wild, fun, energetic hyper character which is super fun for me to play.”

Doing the laundry while arguing with stage-husband Frank, Annaliese often ended performances with a throat sore from screaming and arms aching from waving her parents’ iron. Their ironing board didn’t survive; after a week of being slammed in its OnSTAGE run, it needed replacement.

Those exaggerated, comic moments came easily. However, her character’s hurt, paranoia and vulnerability made Annaliese confront why she almost didn’t enrol in HSC Drama.

When choosing HSC courses, Annaliese was unsure she could show the emotional depth she wanted to convey never mind perform for an entire week at OnSTAGE.

The belief and persistence of her Drama teacher convinced Annaliese that she could dial down her performance and find the restraint to make her showstopping moments stand out for her audience.

Annaliese credits her success to her teacher’s knowledge of dramatic performances, staging tips and candid, constructive feedback, as well as how she fostered a supportive classroom environment that helped all her students fine-tune their performances.

“You build a kind of family, you're able to be honest and bring those harsh truths. It's those harsh truths that are absolutely critical in building the best performance possible,” she said.

Preparing for the piece saw Annaliese extend the knowledge, skills and experiences she gained from studying the course. By the time she performed in front of the HSC examiners, she came away feeling confident her hard work, ongoing guidance from her teacher and peers and dedicated self-assessment in her logbook, had paid off.

“Usually, I come away from my performances saying ‘oh my God I'm so dramatic the whole time’. This time, I noticed myself pulling back and taking the audience on a journey. It's going up with them, going down with them, pulling them up again,” Annaliese said.

“My teacher said ‘that was the best you've ever done it’. I didn't need to put extra out there. I could just trust in my ability, trust in my acting, and I didn't have to overemphasise things to make the audience laugh.”

Annaliese says HSC Drama students who challenge themselves might be surprised by the results, like she was.

“Push yourself beyond what you think you're capable of. You will never know how capable you are until you get on that stage and prove it to yourself. At the end of the day, you're performing for you.”

Now studying law and arts at the University of Sydney, she hopes to work in law or diplomacy where the confidence, resilience and clear speaking skills developed in HSC Drama will prove valuable – along with her improved sense of subtlety.

Her career may take her elsewhere, but Annaliese is sure she’ll always make time to relive the thrill of performing. After her OnSTAGE experience, she can’t wait to be back in front of an audience.

“It was so incredible that tiny little me on the stage was making this crowd of 405 people laugh simultaneously. It was just one of the coolest things.”

Discover more students from this year's HSC Showcase Season by visiting our Instagram page.