Swimming Through Bandaids

‘Swimming through Bandaids’ is a great slice of Australian magic realism, and we served it up over three nights in The Peninsula School’s first ever Middle School Production. Playwright Lucy Stewart describes the piece as ‘a comedy about a swimming pool with plenty of secrets’. Threatened with closure, a local swimming pool’s supporters all band together to try to keep it open. STB speaks with a uniquely Australian voice, and explores what is it to belong to and be part of the environment and to have a home, no matter who, (or what) you are. A highly imaginative production with a bold performance style, we drew upon a combination of puppetry, live and filmed performance and an original score composed by Nick O’Mara performed by a six-piece band. Puppet mentor Angela Orrego worked with a team of student puppeteers to design and create a cluster of full scale sea creatures. From mermaids to deep-sea divers, these found-object creations emerged unforgettably from Sam Mackie’s beautiful full-size lyrca swimming pool, which doubled as a projection screen. Bloody beautiful show, awesome script. Highly recommend a read, if you are in the market.