Dreaming about the end of lockdown? A new digital show from Penrith’s Q Theatre imagines exactly that. Our House: Originate 2021 was dreamt up by eight emerging theatre-makers working collaboratively. Set in the near future, jubilant housemates are about to throw a massive birthday party and everyone’s invited. But will the actual guest of honour show up?
Through the safety of your chosen screen, you’ll be able to wander around the house listening in to snippets of conversation, picking up on juicy tidbits of information, and even questioning the housemates while trying to figure out what’s behind the no show. It sounds a bit like Cluedo, except minus the dead bodies. Probably.
Celebrating the art of coming together and rebooting after many moons away from one another, the show is directed by award-winner Sophie Kelly (Just Romeo and Juliet!, Bell Shakespeare). “Ultimately, this show is an experiment in narrative, in form, in storytelling and in digital technology,” says Kelly. “It is an experiment in creating intricate and detailed relationships when your storytellers/creators have never met in real life. It is an attempt to approximate the warmth of a house and the intimacy within in it.”
The writers are Leighton Chen, Rhayne Fountain, Claire Holland, Ingrid Leighton, Haz Lugsdin, Anjelica Murdaca, Lyrah Tzanis and Olivia Xegas, with digital artist Adisti Anindita Regar creating the look of the show. Beaming out live across three nights from September 23-25 at 7.30pm, you can snap up your totally free tickets here. Now that’s definitely worth throwing a (socially distanced) party over.
