Albany is set to take centre stage this weekend as Theatre 180 brings the city’s story to life in honour of its bicentenary in the original show, Our Place: Rain Or Shine.
Theatre 180, well-known in Albany for shows like the Lighthouse Girls Saga and 21 Hearts: Vivian Bullwinkel And The Nurses Of The Vyner Brooke, is bringing a new production to the Albany Entertainment Centre’s Princess Royal Theatre to tell the city’s story.
Director Stuart Halusz describes Albany as the central character in the show, and the company has spent more than three years collaborating with professionals and locals alike to bring it to life in time to coincide with the bicentenary.
Over 3½ years, the company conducted interviews and collected about 150 stories from people from all walks of life who had a personal connection to Albany.
“We ended up with all sorts of stories on lots of different facets of what it means to live in Albany,” Halusz said.
“It’s a multicultural and intergenerational piece, so we’re talking to people from all cultures.
“Whether you have a family connection that goes back tens of thousands of years like the Menang people, or you are one of the recent migrant arrivals from the Karen community from Myanmar, for example, who’ve only just recently called Albany home.”
Faced with a mountain of content, scriptwriter Jenny Davis divided the show into three chapters that represent different parts of Albany’s identity, while using the enthralling combination of cinema and live theatre audiences have come to expect from Theatre 180 productions.
However, Halusz said while the landscapes of the Great Southern played an integral role in understanding how people connected to Albany as a place, the play was ultimately about the people.
“Utilising the screen allows us to showcase some of the wonderful places that we’re talking about in the show to audiences on the big screen, but to also bring to life some of the unique and individual stories that are situated within those places,” he said.
“It’s not just about place; it’s about people.”
The on-stage performers are a mix of professional actors and local talents, including a choir led by Albany choirmaster Neville Talbot and accompanied by pianist Adam Cook; the Albany Academy of Dance; traditional dance group the Kalyagul Cultural Dancers; and a special appearance by Menang man Larry Blight.
Halusz said the company worked hard to encapsulate the many cultures and stories that made Albany a unique place.
“This really is a love letter to Albany,” he said.
“It is a chance to come and hear stories about places and people that are new to you, or ones that you know well, or that you think you know well, but in actual fact, there’s there’s more to it.
“I think ultimately, we want people to go away curious.
“We want people to question and to have an appetite for diving in deeper to some of these stories because there are so many layers to everyone’s story, every society’s and community’s story, and that’s what we’re really exploring and probing through this show.”
Our Place: Rain Or Shine is showing at the Albany Entertainment Centre at 11am and 7pm on September 25, and at 5pm on September 26, with tickets still available for all three performances.
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