In March 2006 tropical Cyclone Larry crossed the Queensland coast and devastated the community of Innisfail. In Sydney playwright Adam Grossetti (Mano Nera), born in Innisfail, phoned close friend actor/director Jean-Marc Russ (I Am My Own Wife) to suggest they travel to the stricken town with the idea of writing a play about the cyclone. When Adam read a newspaper article about the death of an August Moon caravan park resident, Bryan Young, he thought he’d found his story. He hadn’t.
The men travelled to Innisfail just days after the cyclone hit. They wanted to arrive before the cleanup – when there was no power and the once-familiar landmarks were wiped out. “Everyone was still traumatised”, says Jean-Marc. “The emotional stakes were high. We got there just before the community crashed. Two days later all we would have gotten were two-word answers to our questions.”
What they discovered was not what they expected. The newspaper article had sparked a trial-by-media of the caravan park’s owners, Paul Roughan and Gretta Gilgrist. But a true account of what really happened that night was never told; the owner’s side of the story never heard. This was what Adam and Jean-Marc felt they had to tell.
In 2008 Queensland Theatre Company captures the destruction and personal debris of Cyclone Larry and the journey of two playwrights in The August Moon, a landmark production pushing the boundaries of cutting-edge theatre. This mixed-media presentation transforms the Company’s Bille Brown Studio and places the audience within a spectacular audio-visual environment.
Over five days the two playwrights gathered photos, video, sound recordings, emails and answering messages. Using the material they collected and a 72-minute recording and transcript of interviews with locals, Adam and Jean-Marc have created a performance like no other.
Jean-Marc says “This really is a story of the human spirit against adversity – the fragility of life and how a community emerged from a moment of crisis.”
The August Moon plays at Bille Brown Studio from 14 July – 9 August 2008.
In Conversation with Jean-Marc Russ and Adam Grossetti: get an insight into the minds of the writers and directors as they reflect on the nature of storytelling and interpreting real life events at the State Library on Wednesday 25 June.
