LOLA to go beyond the word

LINTON is about to make a huge splash on the arts scene.

The inaugural edition of LOLA, or Linton On Literary Arts, is an ambitious two-and-a-half-day program of art and interactivity inspired by the printed page and a love of the town.

LOLA has been championed by members of the progress association and guided by storyteller Ann E Stewart.

“The idea is to have a multi-arts, multi-discipline event in Linton to look at the stories past, present and future to try and show people what Linton’s about,” co-organiser Kylie Turville said.

The program of what’s available is wide yet locally focused.

The main street, along with other parts of the town, will become an exhibition space with visual and performance art, music, and interactive wondering electronic works.

“Cake Industries are brilliant,” Ms Turville said.

“They do animatronic art installations. They have one, Create Expectations, and it roams the street.”

Set for the old fire station is the Linton Play Reading Group’s performance of A Town Like Linton.

It’s a series of vignettes about the history and people of Linton, and it’s been penned by playwright Julia Cull and funded through Regional Arts Victoria.

Producer/ director David Clarke said while the play is preformed with script in hand, the production team still put a lot of time into preparing.

“We still have to have all the moves, and blocking has to occur,” he said. “This we’re doing semicostumed but with props and dressings.

“We rehearse it to a degree that we actually know the words anyway and scripts are just a prop.”

The idea for the play came when Cull stopped by the town and saw photos of the Play Reading Group’s production of The Importance of Being Ernest.

That set off a creative process which has culminated in A Town Like Linton.

“It’s a fun look at Linton’s history,” Clarke said.

“Julia Cull did a lot of research up here and talked to a lot of people who are decedents of people who are in the play.”

Also on the program is a photo exhibition of residents and it too has been supported by RAV.

“We’ve had photos taken, we call it the rogues’ gallery, of different faces of Linton. It captures the different generations of Linton and the different types of people who live in Linton,” Ms Turville said.

Music act Phil and Trudy Edgeley will be preforming a song written especially for LOLA, and once their live show is over they’ll be taking the audience through their journey of creativity.

LOLA is a mixture of mostly free, but some paid events. It kicks off with a Friday evening launch on 19 October that will see a smoking ceremony and the unveiling of a nest installation artwork created by members of the primary school community.

The main program gets underway on Saturday and Sunday, 20 and 21 October.