Life is a cabaret
Schools
When St Aloysius College alumni Sara Boksmati looks back at her 2024 Year 12 journey, it’s not the ATAR score that stands out.
As impressive as her 97.1 result was, time on stage solidified her goals for the future.
“I studied English, Music Explorations, Drama and an external subject that I auditioned for at the end of Year 11 through the Festival Theatre called Class of Cabaret,” she said.
The Class of Cabaret component included a performance in the annual globally renowned Adelaide Cabaret Festival.
“It was incredible to have the opportunity to be exposed to real time artists who are currently in the industry,” Sara (pictured) said.
“Being able to sit down and see eye to eye with them, to have them share their knowledge and hear what you have to say as an emerging artist was just such an amazing thing. Having our voice projected on such a meaningful platform and stage was just such a cool experience.”
After learning the piano and singing since she was five, Sara was thrilled to hit the stage. She had an important story to tell in the form of a seven-minute cabaret set called The Secret Life of a Type 1 Diabetic.
“It is an invisible illness, like many chronic illnesses are,” she said.
“Basically, my set unveiled the secrets behind Type 1 diabetes. I used comedy and song to open the audience up; making them laugh and cry, then just showing them what happens behind the scenes.”
The performance was an eye-opener.
“The main thing that people don’t realise is that it’s 24/7,” she said.
“Even some of my closest friends didn’t realise what I go through daily.”
During her show, Sara would stop singing mid-song or monologue, while her accompanying pianist occasionally played dissonant sound to interrupt the flow.
“It was as if my insulin pump was beeping at me, and I would get frustrated. I basically just intertwined a lot of really annoying interruptions to immerse the audience in what I deal with quietly on a daily basis.”
Sara hopes to inspire young people to defy the odds. When she played Gabriella in High School Musical in 2023, a young student with Type 1 diabetes approached her after the performance.
“She saw my Dexcom (one of the diabetes devices on my arm) and said she felt really special because she could see the main character wearing a medical device that she also had.”
It was a pivotal moment.
“From that day, I realised that by just following my own passions and dreams and taking steps to pursue them, I was unintentionally inspiring young people around me that they could do anything they wanted to despite their condition.”
The 18 year old credits her creative parents and the school’s support for her thespian tenacity.
“St Aloysius isn’t really known as a music school but was so supportive with my music and performing. They reached out to me with a piano scholarship.”
A school immersion to remote APY Lands community Pipalyatjara also fuelled Sara’s social justice aspirations.
“It was the most incredible five days of my entire life. Seeing the authenticity and purest intentions of such young children from such a faraway place was incredible. There was no lens over their eyes; they saw what they saw and were just so welcoming.”
Sara said the children were intrigued by her diabetes medical devices.
“I’d walk through the school yard, and they’d lift my t-shirt up and look at my tube, intrigued and concerned for me.”
Returning home delivered a sense of juxtaposition.
“After the immersion we discussed the issues with the relationship between Aboriginal communities and the white government. Honestly, it made the whole group of us girls really upset, because we finally understood that while white society provides Aboriginal communities with resources they deem resourceful, it’s not necessarily what Aboriginal people want. I see this crazy miscommunication. White society argues that we’re giving them everything we think that they could ever need but we’re not really listening to what they would like and where.”
Sara who is half Lebanese, quarter Italian and quarter Hungarian. is dedicated to a life of truth-telling, through a variety of mediums.
Her next step is a Bachelor of Jazz Performance, majoring in singing, at Adelaide University’s Elder Conservatorium of Music. Throughout Adelaide Fringe, she is the musical director for a show called Bloom. Sara will perform a five-minute cabaret set as part of the line-up.
To add to a productive year ahead, she is part of a fundraising team called The Incredibles which raises awareness and research funds to one day reach a Type 1 diabetes free world.
For the third year in a row, they skydive over Semaphore Beach on February 23. The team raised $35,000 last year and aims to raise $50,000 this year.
To donate visit bluearmy.jdrf.org.au/fundraisers/saraboksmati
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