Disney Off Ice | Observatory Theatre
Pre-recorded videos of the actors' faces were projected on screen during moments of tension while the actrs were performing live in front of the projections. This was a really impactful stylist choice for the work, which heightened the performances of the actors.
“Letting Disney loose on a future world is going to dredge up all sorts of chaos.” Oliver Gough on Disney Off Ice
The show is about a world we might live in and what a Disney can represent. It certainly plays with the figure of Walt, and is interested in his personality, history, and legacy… Disney’s a fascinating person; letting him loose on a future world post-cryonic unfreezing is going to dredge up all sorts of chaos from many places.
Observatory Theatre: ‘What does theatre do in a post-truth, post-pandemic world?’
The Observatory Theatre team launched their 2024 Season at Yeerongpilly’s Studio1. Lachlan Driscoll (Creative Producer), Lucy Rayner-Toy (Associate Producer) and colleagues certainly have much to celebrate. In developing what Driscoll describes as ‘big, bold, ambitious theatre that responds to today,’ the 2024 Season focuses on supporting and developing new works, centred on their successful Telescope new writing program.
The Turquoise Elephant | Observatory Theatre
As Director Lachlan Driscoll notes, ‘each character has their bonkers idea of what’s going on outside and how to cope” Carleton observes that ‘we do nothing on a grander and grander scale’. And what, the play asks us, is there to be done? Who should do it?’ In such a situation, an absurdist, black farce is absolutely the way in which to encourage audiences to face up to current reality—and to start to talk about the ‘elephant in the room’ (now, for me, forever turquoise!).
"Our biggest and boldest season yet!" Lachlan Driscoll on the launch of Observatory Theatre's 2023 Season
I think seasons are a fantastic way to involve audiences more deeply in what we do as a company and also the shows themselves. The season becomes an invitation to get a bit closer. The curation of a season of work around a core focus is a chance for audiences to gain more meaning than if the shows were just standalone.
Portraits: A Haunted Mansion | Observatory Theatre
The play follows the Godbold family as they adapt to rapid changes in their family hierarchy after their father, Ivan (played by James Hogan), suffers from a stroke. Estranged siblings, Josephine (played by Rebecca Day) and Martin (played by Emile Regano), are forced back together to confront unspoken traditions, secrets, memories, trauma, and ghosts.