Daniel Full is somewhat of an anomaly at North Sydney Boys High School.
At the state’s top academic public school for boys, he is one of just a handful of year 12 students not studying maths and one of just three taking drama.
“You see, we don’t have that many lunatics at this school,” he explains theatrically. “You have to be a lunatic to be an actor because it’s a job that on average pays below the poverty line, so on the days you’re not acting you’re busting your ass working as a telemarketer or a waiter in Surry Hills.”
It’s a distinction he’s proud of and an identity he owns entirely.
“I like being crazy,” he says. “I walk around school and I’m a normal guy but I walk into this room and I change. I become myself, which is really nice.”
Over the next two weeks he will join almost 5000 like-minded peers across the state taking their practical HSC drama exam.
While the demanding written exams don’t start until October, practical and performance assessments are already under way. Dancers were being marked last week, drama gets under way this week and music is held over the first two weeks of next month.
“I’ve got music as well and a bunch of Japanese exams, so honestly about half of my HSC is happening over the next few weeks,” the 18-year-old says. “It’s good that I can split my HSC into two parts. There’s just no stress at all doing it this way.”
Drama students complete two practical components – a group performance and an individual project – as well as a written paper during the main exam block.
For the group performance, students craft an original piece of theatre of 8 to 12 minutes from a list of set topics.
The North Sydney Boys' performance explores three different men's perspectives on love and relationships.
Adrian Sit, who also has a number of performance-based exams approaching, says he chose his subjects based on what he enjoyed rather than what he thought would scale favourably.
“I haven’t really thought about a career because the future sort of scares me," he says. "But I like being an actor.
“I think drama is the worst scaling subject you can pick at this school, so no one picks it,” Daniel says. “I mean, this is North Sydney Boys. Parents send their kids here because they want them to become doctors and lawyers and engineers.
“I don’t care about money. I’m just thinking about the love of the job. All you need is a small apartment and a TV.”
