Homegrown talent took centre stage in Midnight Mindsets, the Black Box Creatives youth theatre company's latest production which ran from November 6 to 9 at Dubbo's Western Plains Cultural Centre.
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Four performances of the production - which showcased the dramatic and sometimes humorous stories of several groups of people in the final hours of new year's eve - sold out.
Co-director Shanae Gosper was buoyed by the response.
"I'm very impressed with all of the kids, they've done an amazing job, and they worked hard for it," Ms Gosper said.
"They've done a lot of rehearsals, a lot of weekend rehearsals, a lot of late nights and a lot of script learning which I know is always a challenge," she said.
"Considering most of them have school and other commitments, I'm very very proud of them."
The production was co-directed by Danielle Andrews and written by Andy Carolan and Black Box Creatives members.
One of the cast members, 13-year-old Wellington High School student Madelyn Leggett, said the entire production was a genuine collaboration.
"Everyone learned a little bit about production, lighting, sound, what they wanted... you really got to put forward what you wanted in your scene, and I think it was nice to have that kind of control over your part of the stage," she said.
Ms Leggett said the production had its origins in a workshop with a famous Australian writer.
"We started out doing a workshop with Hilary Bell where we developed the very bare-bone skeleton of what was going to be a script," she said.
It's a great safe space where the kids can be themselves and release their true potential as actors or as creators.
- Shanae Gosper.
From there Ms Leggett said "it was a very quick process" and within a few short months, the cast was ready to entertain audiences.
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Macquarie Anglican Grammar School student Araminta Hurford was another cast member who said she enjoyed not just the performance aspect of the production, but also the pre-production work.
The 14-year-old said cast members had fun coming up with costume ideas, lighting and sound suggestions, as well as props.
"I found my confidence grew a lot when I came here and I made heaps of new friends, and it was good to finally find a community that liked the same stuff as me," Ms Hurford said about her time as Black Box Creatives member.
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Ms Gosper said the group was "always looking for more people to get involved."
"To be honest, I wish we had Black Box Creatives when I was a kid because I would have loved to join something like this," she said.
"It's a great safe space where the kids can be themselves and release their true potential as actors or as creators."
