Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Captive Wives

Well know Perth actor, director and writer, Jenny Davis was in town recently to start work on a project that Agelink Theatre Inc(that Jenny founded in 1993 and writes and directs for) has been invited to work on in association with Esperance Community Arts and The Esperance Theatre Guild.
Jenny was in town with fellow thespian Jenny McNae, to interview farming women in the Esperance distict about the challenges of clearing new land country, running a farm, raising a family and the tyranny of distance. Whilst the title of the project is yet to be confirmed, the interest was sparked from the story of a group of women in the Grass Patch area in the 1970's who met monthly and called themselves the Captive Wives. Stories have been gathered from a few of the original Captive Wives as well as a few others farming in the Esperance district from the late 1950's to the present day. There was plenty of material to be found in the local publication "Faith, Hope and Reality" which 'The Jenny's' found fascinating.
Whilst in its earliest stages, the project aims to collate as many stories as possible into a theatrical production of some sort that will end up on the stage of The Bijou Theatre. 'The Jennys' spent a week interviewing and delving into historical archives to get a feel for the piece they are going to create. The Esperance Theatre Guild has asked local director Lyndel Taylor and myself to direct this project, and Tracey Schlink is the producer. Flora Yetman is doing the costumes and auditions will be called for later as the project takes form.
I'll keep you updated as it progresses.

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