In 2012, ARC produced its first straight play in 10 years
The plot follows five students at fictional Shermer High School in the widely used John Hughes setting of Shermer, Illinois (a fictitious suburb of Chicago), as they report for Saturday detention on March 24, 1984. While not complete strangers, the five teenagers are all from a different clique or social group: John Bender “The Criminal”; Claire Standish “The Princess”; Brian Johnson “The Brain”; Andy Clark “The Athlete”; and Allison Reynolds “The Basket Case”.
Click here to read a review on ARC’s production of The Breakfast Club – by John Hughes.
Performance season
The performance season ran over one week and included 4 performances:
- Thursday 9th February at 8pm
- Friday 10th February at 8pm
- Saturday 11th February at 2pm (matinee)
- Saturday 11th February at 8pm
The Breakfast Club by John Hughes was performed at the Banyule Theatre, Buckingham Drive, Heidelberg.
Producers (ARC Committee)
| President | Evan Mulholland |
| Vice President | Louise Parsons |
| Treasurer | Douglas Costello |
| Secretary | Natalie Torcaso |
| General Representatives | Nathan Slevin Ellen Lane Pasquale Bartalotta |
Artistic Team
| Director | Anthony Ventura |
| Assistant Director | Dominique Hennequin |
| Production Manager | Louise Parsons |
Cast
| Claire Standish | Luisa Tascone |
| Allison Reynolds | Jessica Martin |
| Brian Johnson | Spencer Hadlow |
| Andrew Clarke | Felix Berjer-O’neil |
| John Bender | Julian Campobasso |
| Nicholas Durbridge | Richard Vernon |
| Carl Reed | Billal Hassani |
Production Team
| Costumes | Nathan Kellie |
| Front of House Co-ordinator | Adrian Ventura Meaghan Ventura |
| Graphic Designer | Frank Gullone |
| Lighting Designer | Danny Issko |
| Properties Managers | Nathan Kellie Natalie Torcaso Louise Parsons |
| Publicist | Paul Campobasso Julian Campobasso Evan Mulholland |
| Set Construction Manager | Matt Wheatland |
| Set Designer | Anthony Ventura Dominique Hennequin |
| Sound Designer | Stagepass Production Systems |
| Stage Manager | Georgi Cahill |
| Assistant Stage Manager | Amanda Warner |
| Ticket SecretariesDirector of Film | Evan Mulholland Douglas CostelloStephan Latchman |
Synopsis
The plot follows five students at fictional Shermer High School in the widely used John Hughes setting of Shermer, Illinois (a fictitious suburb of Chicago), as they report for Saturday detention on March 24, 1984. While not complete strangers, the five teenagers are all from a different clique or social group: John Bender “The Criminal”; Claire Standish “The Princess”; Brian Johnson “The Brain”; Andy Clark “The Athlete”; and Allison Reynolds “The Basket Case”.
The students pass the hours in a variety of ways: they dance, harass each other, tell stories, fight, smoke marijuana, and speak on a variety of subjects. Gradually they open up to each other and reveal their inner secrets (for example, Allison is a compulsive liar and Brian and Claire are ashamed of their virginity). They also discover that they all have strained relationships with their parents and are afraid of making the same mistakes as the adults around them. However, despite these developing friendships, the students are afraid that once the detention is over, they will return to their very different cliques and never speak to each other again.
At the request and consensus of the students, Brian is asked to write the essay Mr. Vernon assigned earlier (the subject of which was to be a synopsis by each student detailing “who you think you are”), which challenges Mr. Vernon and his preconceived judgments about all of them. Brian does so, but instead of writing about the actual topic he writes a very motivating letter that is in essence, the main point of the story. He signs the essay as “The Breakfast Club” and leaves it at the table for Mr. Vernon to read when they leave. There are two versions of this letter, one read at the beginning and one at the end, and they are slightly different; illustrating the change in the student’s judgments of one another, and their realization that they truly have things in common.
The beginning letter is as follows: Brian Johnson (although that is unknown at this point): Saturday, March 24, 1984. Shermer High School, Shermer, Illinois. 60062. Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was that we did wrong. What we did was wrong. But we think you’re crazy to make us write this essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us… in the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Correct? That’s the way we saw each other at seven o’clock this morning. We were brainwashed.
The end letter is as follows: Brian Johnson: Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong, but we think you’re crazy to make us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us… In the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain…Brian Johnson …and an athlete…Andy Clark …and a basket case…Allison Reynolds …a princess…Claire Standish …and a criminal…John Bender Does that answer your question?… Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club. The letter is the focal point of the story, as it demonstrates and illustrates the changes the students went through during the course of the day; their attitudes and perspectives have changed and are now completely different. The show ends as the characters leave detention.
Production Videos
The Breakfast Club had many promotional videos filmed by Stephan Latchman and edited by Luisa Tascone, CLICK HERE for an example:
The first scene of The Breakfast Club was filmed at Viewbank College as the students arrvied for their dentention: CLICK HERE to see