When The Stars Go Blue

It actually isn’t easy finding age-appropriate, uplifting content for teenagers to perform onstage. Let alone material that challenges traditional gender roles and ratifies the better aspects of our Australian cultural identity. So, as Director, I commissioned fantastic Australian playwright Lucy Stewart to work with a select team of student advisors to devise a new script which did all that, and more. ‘When the Stars go Blue’ is a wistful family drama, drawing on magic realism and archetypes to weave a unique narrative of three sisters moving to a small and unusual coastal town in the 1940’s. Fiona Cheney once again ran a very tight ship through her meticulous Production Management and also wore the cumbersome hat of Stage Manager in a venue with very limited wing space. With Mischa Long on Set Design and Bron Pringle on Lighting, we conjured up a cartoon-like 2D aesthetic, complimented by a series of old-school overhead projection shadow puppets. Sound engineer David Rogers worked tirelessly through The Channel at Arts Centre Melbourne to record our cast’s vocal contributions which played off a host of contextually appropriate jazz tracks especially curated by jazz aficionado David Minogue.