In the Heart of Our Past is three short plays based around Narrandera’s past. The first play recalls the excitement of local girl Shirley Bliss winning Miss Australia in 1954 before traveling to California later that year for the Miss Universe contest.
The second play re-imagines the day in 1909 when the hard working and fondly remembered Dr Harold Lethbridge arrives with his wife in Narrandera from Sydney to begin 35 years of medical treatment for the town.
Finally, in a bush yarn tradition, a 115-year old man who goes by the name of Drought’n’Rain returns to Narrandera and speaks of how everybody has blamed him for Narrandera’s major weather disasters over the last one hundred years.
In the Heart of Our Past was written by award-winning Melbourne playwright Kieran Carroll during a 2012 residency at The Cad Factory. Kieran spent his residency researching, talking to locals, going to the museum, to the library and even getting his hair cut in order to develop this script.
Local musician Fiona Caldarevic has written the soundtrack and leads the Narrandera Drive-in Theatre Choir who will perform a capella throughout the duration of the play alongside Melbourne actors Paul Mercuri and Lee McClenaghan.
The presentation of the play is unlike any other that has taken place in Narrandera before. The audience will drive in to the Railway Station car park and watch the actors from inside their car and hear the dialogue through their car radios by tuning in to Spirit FM. Just like the drive-in, but for live theatre.
Vic McEwan from The Cad Factory conceived the idea for such a production in 2012. “I really like presenting performance in unexpected spaces. This unique combination of an original script based on important historical pasts of the region, combined with the romanticism of both a drive in and a theatre play, should make for a very special event”
There will be four sessions of In the Heart of Our Past at 11:30am and 4:30pm on Saturday 15 & Sunday 16 March. Only 20 cars per session will be allowed so please book through The Cad Factory website or call 0405 447 490.
Those who don't have access to a car or miss out on tickets, can tune in at home and enjoy In the Heart of Our Past as a radio play.
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