Forgotten Places

In one sentence: a family friendly immersive theatre and art experience based on the people, places and history of the City of Stonnington.

How did it come about?

In this first immersive experience we took a rather unconventional approach to generating the performance content. We started with hosting a photographic walk with locals, who submitted photos to us. Designer Stu then took these photos and transformed them into abstract art pieces which were displayed in the immersive performance space. 

To figure out how to shape the immersive space architecturally, Stu and I worked with structures available in the performance space and used the Council’s strategic pillar document strategically to help give each part of the space a specific function and purpose. We were quite proud of our ability to translate this document into a lively, vibrant and dynamic playing space.

In the performance making phase, we used both the original photographs and Stu’s abstractions to generate choreography, poetry, lyrics, music and songs. We also created choreo-poems and devised audience interaction sequences. Physical transformation was key to the performers creating an atmosphere of frivolity and curiosity. The Citizen Theatre training was a large part of this transformative process.

In this project I worked with a costume designer who I would come to collaborate with often, the wonderful Aislinn Naughton. I wanted the costumes to playfully distort any notion of a ‘female’ silhouette, opting for more abstract clown creations. This was part of my ongoing experiment into creating opportunities for female performers to expand the possibilities for gendered performance in music theatre contexts. 

This project was so playful, utterly delightful and joyous. It was over far too quickly and each performance was special as audiences were gently guided and encouraged to engage with the whimsical, the unexpected, the bizarre and the fun. I learnt so much about what it means to lead and guide an audience, how to focus attention without the use of lighting (because it was daylight savings and the space had no curtains), how to make something entertaining from virtually any stimulus and how to work with, contribute to and help shape writing and other collaborative input from performers and creatives in a brand new work whose form was quite loose. Making rules, creating structures and establishing patterns and cues were essential, as was using sound in strategic ways.

“Congratulations Citizen Theatre for their latest fascinating, immersive, and calming outing — and for daring to create a world so special” — Owen James, Theatre Press

Show info

Premiered in 2019 at Chapel Off Chapel

Director/Dramaturge/Producer – Jayde Kirchert
Visual Designer/Artist/Photography Walk Facilitator – Stu Brown
Composer/Music Director – Imogen Cygler
Costume Designer – Aislinn Naughton
Associate Producer – Steph Clare-Cover
Production Photography – Russell Mason
Actors: Jordan Barr, Kayla Hamill, Tomas Parrish, Willow Sizer, Margot Tanjutco

See more images, videos and info via the Citizen Theatre website.

Image credit Stu Brown