Home Country
What is home? Presented in a multi-level car park in Blacktown, Home Country is an epic story from Urban Theatre Projects which seeks to share perspectives on place and identity in modern Australia.
Aboriginal Elder Uncle Cheeky guides the audience about the sites of the Colo Lane Car Park. Over a period of three and half hours (including a communal feast between the first and second halves of the show) the audience is introduced to Ali from Algeria and neighbour Zaphora, who clash over cultural values; sharp-witted Pita, caught between the old and the new Greek culture; and the Blacktown angel, restless in the afterlife. Each provides a perspective on home: that of a recently arrived immigrant to Australia, a post-war Greek migrant, and an Aboriginal man.
Rosie Dennis, the show’s director, says that Home Country seeks to give the audience a “more complex picture of what it means to be here in Australia in 2016”. As Dennis notes, this is a particularly “important conversation to have” in the present political climate.
Home Country is unique, blending the intimate and the universal, as it explores different perspectives on the notion of home. Against the backdrop of a sunset over the Blue Mountains, and a 360-degree view of Sydney, there is no better way to spend a night out this summer. (RP)
Jan 11–22, 6.30-10pm (excluding Mon + Tue). Colo Lane Car Park, Blacktown. $49-$59. Tickets & info: www.urbantheatre.com.au
BY RAFFAELE PICCOLO
