Entertainment
7 March, 2024
In aftermath of TC Jasper
A COLLECTION of four local stories will be brought to life on stage for the three-show season of GRIT this weekend, highlighting the resilience and power of regional voices in the aftermath of Cyclone Jasper.
Working collaboratively with creative producer and dramaturge Kathryn Ash, JUTE Theatre Company has chosen the four stories that will be apart of Perseverance Street Theatre Company’s touring play GRIT, with testimonies of Cairns’ residents and local personalities, photographer Brian Cassey, communications professional Dan Bateman, actor Elizabeth Slattery and Filipino-Australian actor Anne Charlene Taneja.
GRIT opened with a matinee yesterday and will run for two more shows, one tonight and the closing performance on Saturday night at Bulmba-ja Arts Centre.
Ms Ash, who wrote three out of the four scripts as a performative retelling of their experiences, said she thoroughly embraced working with the authors to ensure the depth and meaning of their powerful stories.
“JUTE Theatre Company is all about regional lived experiences and exploring those stories for the stage,” she said.
“Brian Cassey has spent a lifetime taking breathtaking photographs that speak thousand-word stories. Perhaps he’s not one for being in the spotlight himself to tell his own story, but I know he is looking forward to seeing it being told by a professional actor.
“On the other hand, Daniel Bateman never imagined that a written submission to the local newspaper following his rescue from rising flood waters would be adapted for the stage. But these are the experiences and the Australian stories from which plays are created and for which communities come together.”
Brian Cassey’s story will share highlights and insights into his career as a freelance news photographer, from his work on the frontline in war zones to natural disasters.
On the other hand Dan Bateman shares a raw and personal account of the terror his family faced as rising flood waters inundated their home on December 17, 2023.
Professional actors will present both Mr Bateman and Mr Cassey’s stories.
The third local story by Elizabeth Slattery ties in with Mr Bateman’s account and tells of her experience as a member of the Cairns mud army that took to the streets in the aftermath of the floods.
Ms Slattery, a professional actor, will deliver her monologue.
The fourth and final account, written by Ms Ash is a story drawn from an interview with local Filipino-Australian woman actor herself, Anne Charlene Taneja, and will be performed by Ann Charlene herself.
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