July this year sees the end of an era as Margaret Aperloo, principal of Hobart’s longest standing youth drama school, the Helen O’Grady Drama Academy, hands over the reins to new principals.

Margaret started the Academy in Hobart in 1993 and since then has seen thousands of students graduate, many of whom have completed the entire program of 13 years.

Past students have been accepted into NIDA and other drama institutes around the country. One of her ex-students, Toby Leonard Moore plays the role of Sergeant Dave in the highly successful series, Underbelly, while many others have gone on to use the skills they developed through drama in careers such as law and public relations.

The one thing her past students would agree on is that Margaret’s passion and care instilled in them a confidence in their own creativity.

In this time Margaret has also seen the Academy mature and grow. Today it’s constantly-developing curriculum is being taught in over 25 countries with 50,000 students participating worldwide.

In handing the Academy on, Margaret has been very particular and her patience has been rewarded - rather than one new principal, the Academy will now have two new principals, Belinda Bradley and Franz Docherty.

Belinda and Franz are extremely experienced performing artists who have recently moved from the Huon Valley to Hobart with their two daughters. Their history in the industry is extensive, and after graduating in Performing Arts at UTAS they have spent the last 20 years acting, writing, producing and teaching theatre, film, radio and television, both in Melbourne and Tasmania.

In the early phase of their careers Belinda and Franz realised the need to be versatile and so started to write, first for theatre and then for film and TV. Their love of Tasmania drew them back to the island state and since their return 15 years ago they’ve worked with all the major Tasmanian theatre companies. In recent years they’ve been producing radio documentaries for various programs on Radio National and their plays have been produced nationally and on ABC Radio.

In film and TV they’ve worked with the creators of McLeod’s Daughters, Pixel Pinkie, Kenny, Bondi Rescue and are presently collaborating with one of the makers of Paul Hogan’s film, Strange Bedfellows, on a new feature film.

They will continue to pursue their writing and radio work while running the Academy as they’re committed to telling Tasmanian stories and to pursuing their craft and further developing skills they can pass onto their students.

In taking over the Academy, Belinda and Franz are keen to continue the philosophy of personal development through drama. Their two daughters will be attending classes as they believe the Helen O’Grady Drama System can really make a difference. The skills developed in the classes increase confidence and the ability to think, create, communicate and take risks. The duo get a buzz out of seeing shy kids gradually open up and grow in confidence while having fun.

At the Senior Youth level Franz and Belinda will be putting a strong focus on developing individuals as actors, bringing their own skills in radio, tv and film into the classes to give students a chance to extend their creativity into new and exciting areas. Senior students will be able to take advantage of new opportunities such as acting in a short film for Tropfest, putting together radio segments to be broadcast on local radio, and of course theatre performance, whether that be in a theatre or as street theatre. They will also be mentoring and honing skills for those students with an ambition to further their performing arts careers through drama schools like UTAS, NIDA, VCA, Waapa, etc.

So even though this is a time of reflection for Margaret on her 18 years at the Academy and sadness for her students, it’s also an exciting time for the Academy as it continues to grow and prosper.

There are five studios around Hobart, with plans for a new studio at Kingston next year. Any young people between 5 and 17 interested in attending the Academy can contact Belinda or Franz on (03) 6272 2242.