Journey back to 1950s Australia to trace the roots of Sydney’s early modernist art movement in Yellow Yellow Sometimes Blue – a new theatre work from Q Theatre at the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre from 15 November 2018.
In lush surrounds along the Nepean River sits the home of Gerald and Margo Lewers. It is here in the 1950s where artists from around the world converged to share ideas and establish the backbone of Australia’s modernist art movement.
Inspired by the history of the home, now Penrith Regional Gallery, Yellow Yellow Sometimes Blue peers through the eyes of ‘the help’ to offer a fresh take on Emu Plains in a time of great cultural change for Australia.
Early evening. Autumn 1954. In a house beside the Nepean River a young woman is crying. Iris is chopping onions while Leo cooks the wild mushrooms he picked that morning. Iris is growing up at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Leo is making a new life for himself after fleeing war-ravaged Europe.
Yellow Yellow Sometimes Blue is the story of Iris and Leo. They’re two outsiders peeking in at a world of money, power and gossip as they prepare canapés and cocktails for a debaucherous gathering of Sydney’s cultural elite.
“1950s Australia saw both change and continuity. After World War II hundreds of thousands of displaced Europeans migrated here,” said Playwright Noelle Janaczewska. “Despite hostility from some quarters, Modernist art gained a measure of public acceptance. But women were still viewed primarily as home-makers and their career options pretty limited.”
“Yellow Yellow Sometimes Blue captures this time of change through exploring the history of the Lewers’ home, which at the time was a hotbed of modernism on the banks of the Nepean River.”
Directed by Nick Atkins, the play is performed by Adam Booth and Kate Worsley and features live music by cellist Me-Lee Hay. Designed by Katja Handt, Yellow Yellow Sometimes Blue is a story of surviving and thriving as an outsider looking in.
Director: Nick Atkins Featuring: Adam Booth, Kate Worsley, Me-Lee Hay (musician) Designer: Katja Handt Lighting Designer: Benjamin Turner Sound Designer: Tegan Nicholls Choreographer: Cloé Fournier Production Manager: Geoff Turner Stage Manager: Bridget Rose Dutoit
Yellow Yellow Sometimes Blue
Allan Mullins Studio – Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre, 597 High Street, Penrith
Season: 15 – 24 November 2018
Information and Bookings: www.thejoan.com.au
Image: Yellow Yellow Sometimes Blue (supplied)