In a sold-out show in Studio 138, Voices of Women presented Amplify in collaboration with Outback Writers Centre and Dubbo Council.
The performance began with a Welcome to Country from Dubbo Councillor Pam Wells, who welcomed the audience in the Wiradjuri language. A short teaser from the Voices of Women film Entanglement was then presented to the audience, which immediately followed into the live show. Read the full program and all about the full ensemble here.
Developing the stories
We began with an Artists in Residence call out, which was shared in the local community through our collaborators and other creative channels.
Kalina Davis had been working with Studio 138 and Erifili Davis in their short film program. She applied and was selected as a writer Artist in Residence and the program began with a series of online workshops with Lliane Clarke, to develop and select pieces that would be performed. Kalina is a talented, ideas driven, competent creative writer, whose ideas tumbled quickly from her already existing practice of short stories.
Working with Lliane Clarke over Zoom, Kalina developed three short monologues, that could be presented at Amplify. The Zoom sessions helped Kalina to refine her initial ideas, and shape the performative format of the stories. Her talent, flexibility, and willingness to adapt to the program were outstanding as she worked to reshape them into the short form monologue for performance.
Kalina is also a keen performer, and was selected to perform two of her stories in Dubbo.
These final three stories were selected:
Special Performance: “Whoa slow down, not yet. Before you go out there, there’s some things you need to know first.” Spoken from the point of view of a mentor to an emerging siren, this story is a subtle and magical whisper of strength from an older woman to a younger one.
Royal Prisoner, Kalina Davis: “Who’s there? Oh honestly Bernard, I haven’t even reached the great hall yet! Have you been waiting on me?” In a tower imprisoned by her husband, a royal princess asserts her right to the kingdom.
Control, Kalina Davis: “Hi baby! You’re back, I missed you! You’re home late, where have you been?” With a twist in the tail, a young woman takes revenge on her abusive controlling partner.
Outback Writers Centre workshops
Five writers from the Outback Writers Centre attended a workshop with Lliane Clarke to present and discuss their short stories. The workshop focussed on the basics of storytelling, writing in the first person, the importance of show not tell, and elements of dramatic arcs in performance pieces. Each of the attendees brought along a piece to read to the group which was given feedback.
Val Clark from the Outback Writers Centre submitted Knickers in a Knot, which was workshopped from a poem into a first-person narrative for performance. The piece has a comedic edge about the roster in a house of five children and builds to a crescendo of triumph.
Space selection and audience immersion
Another pillar of the Voices of Women program is the selection of spaces that are not traditionally used for theatrical presentation or spoken word performance. Studio 138 sits at the back of the Myer shopping precinct in the middle of the Dubbo CBD, and is a small immersive creative space run by Erifili Davis and Michael. Erifili is an experienced producer, presenter and film maker and her knowledge and artistry formed a strong part of the venue partnership.
Emerging Local Performer
Georgie Saunders worked with Voices of Women in 2021 at the Dubbo Fringe Festival and was keen to join the ensemble as a touring performer. Her natural energy and talent made her a perfect casting choice for the two quirky and comedic pieces in the show, My Sisters Shopping Trip and Knickers in a Knot.
Georgie worked with the ensembled in a truncated rehearsal program to develop the show in the immersive audience space. The Dubbo performance formed the backbone of the tour, as the production could then be adapted to the spaces on the tour.
Music for Amplify
World premiere music written and commissioned for the tour was performed by Elizabeth Jigalin, the Voices of Women composer in residence. Elizabeth performed melodica and piano in the space, seated in the same space as the audience and the cast, to become an integral part of the storytelling. Musicians are often separate from the action of theatre, but in this case, Liz was seamlessly integrated into the action, sound and performance.
“I love being involved in Amplify as I love to create music within a collaborative context,” said Liz. “Specifically, I love thinking about how and what kind of music to compose that will accompany and support the actors, stories and audience’s experience. I love sitting back and listening to the stories, considering how music can help tie things together throughout the performance. Additionally, I was interested in the fact that Amplify was to be toured and the fact we would be presenting repeat performances (with slight modifications depending on the town/space/etc). I always find the process of repeat performances to be very rewarding as a performer – especially the repeat performance of something new/fresh/in motion – as one learn’s so much. Also, performing in regional towns is so rewarding – the conversations shared after a gig, the new connections and performing somewhere close to home that isn’t Sydney – an invaluable artistic and life experience!”
Photos: Jeanne Kinninmont
