Festival play shines a light onfailed tree change

A NEW contemporary romantic comedy, Between Us, Ballarat, will be staged as part of the Ballarat Heritage Festival from 22 to 24 May.

Written and directed by playwright-academic Dr Robert Reid (The Joy of Text, On the Production of Monsters), the show is being produced by newly-formed The Ballarat Company.

Show times are 7pm on 22 May, and 2pm and 7pm on 23 and 24 May. The venue is the Black Box Theatre, in the old post office building in the Camp Street precinct.

Audiences will have an opportunity to attend a post-show Q&A session at 2pm on Friday 23 May with Dr Reid to discuss the importance of telling regional stories and the art of creating theatre rooted in a specific place.

Dr Reid’s play focuses on Doug (Benj Beatty) and Debbie (Zoe James), who thought a tree change would solve all their city problems – cheaper rent, fresh air and no more fighting for a car park.

But Ballarat turns out not to be the quiet country town they expected. It’s bigger, bolder and colder… much colder.

Filled with reminders of where they thought they would be by now, Debbie thrives in her new job teaching high school science while Doug – a historian without a classroom – feels lost, stuck between frustration, resentment and the ghosts of his past.

What begins as an exciting new chapter soon reveals the cracks in their relationship as they drift apart, Debbie towards an attractive physics teacher at her new school, Doug towards a struggle with his failing mental health.

Between Us, Ballarat is described as exploring love, career disappointments, personal reinvention, and what happens when life does not turn out the way you planned.

Dr Reid, who is based in Ballarat, is a freelance theatre maker, festival director, game designer and academic.

The Joy of Text and On The Production of Monsters were produced by the Melbourne Theatre Company in 2011 and 2012 respectively.

Another work, Portraits of Modern Evil, was shortlisted for both the Wal Cherry Award and the Griffin Award, and was performed by the Black Swan Theatre Company BSX in Perth.

As an academic, Dr Reid has lectured in theatre history, playwriting, dramaturgy, modernist and postmodern critical theory, immersive performance and game design at the Victorian College of the Arts, Monash University, Deakin University and Federation University.

It will be staged for five performances only, with tickets $30 and $20 concession available at events.humanitix.com/between-us-ballarat.