Australia is a nation built on sand and dirt. Only a month ago our East Coast cousins were reminded of that when huge dust storms blew through Sydney and Queensland, shading the sky a lovely Armageddon red.
But just as the dirt and sand of our outback can blow up and envelop us, so it can bury and hide beneath it many a secret. A new West Australian musical, Heart of Gold, deals with such a prospect, examining what people hide beneath their feet if given half a chance.
Set in post-World War II rural WA, Heart of Gold brings together the talents of some of WA’s finest theatre producers, including the likes of Pilar Mata Dupont, Tarryn Gill and Thea Constantino. And leading them all is Zoe Pepper, a young woman whose work has appeared both here and in London.
‘It’s a brand new musical, which is pretty exciting in itself,’ explained Pepper of the new work, set to open at PICA at the end of this month. ‘But I suppose what makes it different is that it’s from a group of people who don’t usually make music together, and they’re sort of exploring how far they can push the boundaries of the grotesque and the surreal within the musical theatre genre.’
This dark yet comic musical tells the story of a single mother – Iris Brown – living in isolation with her two children, Angus and Violet. Their quiet country life is abruptly interrupted by the appearance of Constable Irving Saddle, played by the deliciously talented Brendan Ewing (Red Shoes, Antigone). The presence of this man drives the son, Angus, into the dangerous territory of his own unstable mind, and what ensues sees fantasy merge with reality as Saddle unearths a dark family secret.
‘Constable Saddle is definitely the villain of the piece,’ explained Pepper. ‘The work is very bleak, and quite macabre, in a way, but the way that I’m directing it I’m trying to make it so that they’re all likeable, to a degree, and you can understand the logic and rationale behind their behavior, no matter how morally corrupt it becomes. That’s very applicable in terms of the male characters.’
The stylized look of the work is sure to have widespread appeal. ‘It’s kind of ’50s, so a lot of the costume is from that era. And then the sets look like a house that was once grand and has been broken down. There’s a lot to do with digging, so there’s going to be five cubic metres of sand we’re bringing into the theatre. It is a very sort of rural location, but at the same time we’ve got our dancing sausages and our bearded ladies to bring things back to the music theatre genre.’
Heart of Gold opens at PICA on October 30 and runs until November 14. Tickets are available now.
