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posted on 2024-08-21, 02:43authored byEMILY COLLETTEMILY COLLETT, Sonya Suares, Vidya Makan, Heidi Maguire, Amy Zhang, Amy Sole, Joseph Althouse, Dyagula, Milo Hartill, Jeffrey Liu, Ava Madon, Kristal West, Karlis Zaid, Rob Sowinski, Justin Harrison, Michael Tan, Lucia Haddad, Anastasia Mowen
The Lucky Country is a rollicking chamber musical that digs deep into the idea of Australia, identity and belonging. We meet Boy, a 13-year-old Thitharr Warra boy, whose youthful optimism is dashed when he clashes with his classmates' notion of 'our shared history'. It sparks a journey of self-actualisation that leads him back to class to deliver a profound truth. While Boy is grappling with the fault-lines in our national story, we are introduced to a collection of all-Aussie characters: grey nomads who find love crashing a Contiki tour; a Chinese Australian restauranteur who dreams of life as a Byron Bay nudist; a young refugee in Mingoola; a WW2 veteran; an aspiring actress, and an all fake-Russian choir, to name but a few. The Lucky Country is a bold and timely new work that gives a voice to those typically marginalised in our conversations about Australian identity and history. Cathartic, heartfelt and playful in turn, this is a powerful 70 minutes of theatre featuring an ensemble of six exceptional performers and a five-piece band (including yidaki – didgeridoo), illuminated and amplified by kaleidoscopic audiovisual design. A celebration of a new vision for who we can be as Australians.
What is a truly Australian musical? This research critiques not only the contradictions of who belongs to an Australian identity, but also the very form used to tell these stories – music theatre.
The research challenges the notion that a musical must follow a clear narrative to tell a meaningful story, questioning the colonialist traditions of this form of live performance. Instead, through thirteen songs, it tells multiple stories of different people who call Australia home, using humour, music, and the guidance of its First Peoples cast and musicians to carefully challenge the audience's own positionality and assumptions; about music theatre, Australia, and themselves.
The support of Hayes Theatre Company to develop this work demonstrates significant investment in the research, and a belief in its importance.
Critical reviews of the production praised the freshness of its exploration and it's value to developing a unique Australian voice in music theatre:
'an exciting and ambitious first iteration of a profoundly new Australian musical with songs that are unassuming, hilarious and arresting in their exploration of the experience of those in the margins.'
'national myth-making gets a well overdue shake-up'
See:
https://www.timeout.com/sydney/theatre/the-lucky-country-1
https://www.smh.com.au/culture/music/a-captivating-sermon-from-the-high-priestess-of-chamber-pop-20230531-p5dco0.html
https://suzygoessee.com/2023/06/01/review-the-lucky-country-hayes-theatre/
https://limelight-arts.com.au/reviews/the-lucky-country-hayes-theatre-co/
Size or Duration of Work
Approximately 65 minute running time, three week run of shows