A WOOLGOOLGA-born actress is returning home later this month as part of Poetry in Action (PiA), a renowned, world-touring theatre company.
Lucy Dunning was raised in Woolgoolga and was the School Captain and Dux of her final year at Woolgoolga High.
As part of the travelling, educational theatre company, she hopes to inspire a passion for literature in young Australians regardless of their geographic or socioeconomic position.
Founded by stage and TV actor Bryce Youngman, the non-profit organisation has reached nearly one million students over the past 20 years, unlocking the power of words and using the creative power of poetry to help young people find their voice and steer away from negative influences.
This dynamic mode of theatre has seen PiA’s emergence as one of Australia’s most extensively travelled theatre companies.
It has brought poetry to life for thousands of young audience members across metropolitan, regional and remote Australia, and also Dubai, New Zealand, and Hong Kong.
Lucy hopes to be an encouraging influence for Woolgoolga High students, giving them a look at what future can await them with enough passion, determination and focus.
“Growing up in a regional community gave me a great sense of community and grounding that I may not have experienced were I to grow up in a metropolitan area,” Lucy said.
“As a Chinese adoptee, I always struggled with identity growing up, not knowing where I fit in, being stuck between two worlds.
“Performing, however, gave me this greater sense of belonging and purpose that transcended this feeling; and the community that I found in these spaces became like a second family.
“I was able to express myself completely and found a strong personal voice through performance and literature.
“While I found it hard not having many people in my immediate circles who looked like me or came from similar lived experiences, I think it was this yearning to connect and share perhaps on a more universal level that drove me to create.”
In hindsight, and now residing in Sydney, Lucy said she can see the diligence and dedication that growing up regionally fostered in her.
“Growing up in Woolgoolga has shaped me into the person, and performer I am today.
“Use what you’re given and run with it – no one else has ever been you.
“The great thing about working with Poetry in Action is seeing the impact we have on students in real-time.”.
For many of the kids they perform to, Poetry in Action will be their first theatre, “so we get to introduce them to the world of live performance and storytelling”.
By Andrea FERRARI
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