HSC Pathways: From Knox to NIDA

“I've always really loved it,” said Blake. “Knox really helped support my journey to ultimately pursue that as a career.”

“I’ve had three siblings who all were involved in the theatre world,” added Henry. “They all really encouraged me to get into that, and Knox drastically helped me pursue that.”

Do your passions lie in stage work or screen work? 

Blake: For me, coming to Knox gave me a really great foundation, with stage work, because of what we were offered here, and that really helped me going to NIDA to start doing screen work as well. I'm really loving all the mediums at the moment.

Henry: Doing theatre here at Knox was so beneficial to my acting, and now being able to do screen work at NIDA, as well as stage work is just so much fun, so I want to keep doing both those.

What skills did you learn from Knox Drama that you harness beyond school?

Blake: Studying Drama really gave me the skills of confidence, empathy, and communication, which I've taken into my life as general skills professionally and personally.

Henry: Doing Drama as a subject here at Knox really helped my confidence. Being able to get up in front of an audience, is beneficial with my confidence and my communication skills – for a job interview or anything in the world.

How did your co-curricular theatre work complement your Dramastudies?

Blake: We did a lot of co-curricular work and Drama theatre work, and they really work hand in hand, and they really supported each other, so, ultimately, they were just very symbiotic.

Henry: Being able to get up and do theatre productions, whether it's a musical or play, really helped me in Year 12, when I got up to do my individual performances and group performances. It helped with my confidence to be able to get up in front of an audience and put what I'd worked so hard onto stage.

How do you stay connected with the Knox Grammar community?

Blake: When we were at Knox, we really loved when the Old Boys would come and support our productions and mentor us. So, when we graduated, we were very excited to come back and give back to this culture that's a really great part of the School. We will work on Year 12 individual performances and group performances for the HSC and workshop with current students, which is a really great experience.

Henry: We do mentoring with senior students who may want to go into a career in the Arts. We also work backstage, on musicals and plays, helping with this whole world here. It's such an amazing culture in this part of the School, and we just couldn't wait to come back and be a part of that.

Henry, how did you manage both Drama and Sport when you were a student?

I was so grateful to play in the sporting world at Knox, and then also be involved in the Drama world as well. It was just so much fun being able to go from doing sport training for Knox straight to a Drama rehearsal. Getting that physical confidence from Football has helped me bring that physical confidence onto the stage in all the plays and musicals. It was just so beneficial for me.

Also, it’s the same the other way around, being able to bring my personal confidence from Drama benefitted me in the sporting world. So, they both went hand-in-hand, and benefitted me as a person in general.

Blake, as a Vice Captain in 2023, can you tell us about your leadership journey?

Drama helped me on my leadership journey at Knox, because you get to learn about lots of different people, and you put yourself in the shoes of a lot of different types of people from around the world. When you learn those skills in the classroom, and then you're tasked with leading a group of people, it feels less stale and corporate. You're better equipped to genuinely connect with people, because you're more empathetic, curious, and grounded, with an understanding of the world around you.