Forgotten Places: journey beyond the stars

In one sentence: a family friendly immersive experience inspired by the area’s history of UFO sightings.

How did it come about?

In this playful immersive experience created with families and children in mind for the City of Kingston, my aim was to do as much as possible with the very limited resources we had, to ignite imaginations. Inspired by the local area’s history of UFO sightings, the team and I did lots of fun research into space and after reading and listening to the likes of Brian Cox, Neil Degrasse Tyson, attempted to translate some complex theoretical ideas such as wormholes and solar winds into fun, interactive experiences for all ages.

Directing this immersive experience, I applied some of the learnings from the first one about how sound tells an audience what to attend to, that people need really clear spatial and design cues to know what they’re ‘supposed’ to do (even the most confident of people can’t be assumed to just ‘roam’ through the space) and that people need to be given time to simply engage with the space before shifting their attention to performances. Fortunately I was also able to use light to create mood and atmosphere and help with giving the audience cues as to where their attention might be rewarded. 

All the performance material was co-created with the performers who worked so hard and filled the space with wonder, imagination and creative bliss. From dance, to live music, poetry to movement, original songs and physical theatre pieces, the concepts of space, encountering ‘others’ and space exploration were presented in joyful, fun and whimsical ways.

Show info

Premiered in 2019 at Kingston Arts Centre

Director/Dramaturge Jayde Kirchert
Composer/Music Director Imogen Cygler
Visual Designer Stu Brown
Costume Designer Aislinn Naughton
Stage & Production Manager Teri Steer
Lighting Designer Rachel Lee
Associate Producer Steph Clare-Cover
Actors: Freya Pragt, Willow Sizer, Jack Wunsch

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

Image credit Stu Brown