The Plains: a play 2008 season

the build

mask by Sabrina D'Angelo

mask by Iris Radovic

mask by Lachlan Plain

mask by Rachael Guy

 the wimerra shoot, June 10th, 2008

What an extraordinary landscape - the pink, crystaline lake was unbelievable. This landscape has left me with a sense of salt, dust and wood. Maybe our puppets can be pillars of salt! Dimboola was like a ghost town - silent streets, the memory of prosperity. Loved the empty shop fronts with broad verandahs, the vacant car lot with 70's signage and the sign-post signaling the distance to major international destinations - Dimboola at the heart of the world!

--Rachael Wenona

Last weekend eleven of the designers, puppeteers and cast involved in the The Plains: a play climbed into their vehicles and drove to The Little Desert for a 'development'. Due to the length of the journey not a lot was achieve during the day on Saturday, except for some 'research' during the evening at the Dimboola pub and around the camp fire.

On the Sunday we came across two perfect locations to shoot the footage required for the dream sequence in the show. On one side of the highway was a freshly ploughed paddock with a perfect horizon. On the other side was the Pink Lake, a salt lake. Like many of the salt lakes in this area, at first glance it appears to be a lake of a regular depth due to the extent of its surface area, it is however only a few centimetres deep all the way across. This gives the illusion that, when people are crossing it, they are walking on water, a great effect for a dream sequence, the characters walk across a rippling reflection of sky with their long reflection trailing behind them. It also has a beautiful pink tinge due to the algae that grows in the water, however the film was shot in black and white super-8.

--Lachlan Plain

 

(first published on collaborativecommons.org)

script reading and showbag presentation, May 19th, 2008

On Sunday 18 May we had our first meeting with everyone.

In the first half we watched presentation of the 'maps' everyone had prepared in responses to the 'totems' they found in their 'showbags'. Jon presented his in immersive sound; Gabriella in beautiful poetry; Ben, Fleur and Tim in performance; Ana and Michelle presented small booklets; Sarah a collage and Sabrina and Gai as sculpture. (I know the photos are pretty bad, but we have videos too.)

Then we read from the script in the second half. Now the challenge is putting the two together.

(first published on collaborativecommons.org)

Barwon Park heritage manor, May 6th 2008

Last Sunday, 4 May, the six designers working on The Plains project drove to Barwon Park just out of Winchelsea. This was an ideal location to garner inspiration for such a play. The crisp light from the plains outside in contrast with the majestic dimness of the interior was like a physicalisation of the psychological space of the novel. And we even had a rendition on the old piano by Jon.

Background: A grand ball was held in 1871 to open this great manor. It was built for Thomas and Elizabeth Austin who lived in the Western District since 1845. Unfortunately Thomas died several months after the aforementioned ball and Elizabeth was left to continue with his philanthropy, opening the Austin hospital. Thomas, a member of the Acclimatization Society, is perhaps best known these days for introducing the rabbit into Australia, (if he wasn't the first then he was certainly the first to do it with any great success.)

We then had a lunch at a teahouse and a short bushwalk in the Brisbane Ranges, a brief moment of quiet in which to begin the project.

Wedding of Ellen Austin1876

Barwon Park

the entrance hall

tapestry

preliminary sketches