NORPA, one of Australia’s leading regionally based theatre companies, may have lost their Lismore performing arts centre in the devastating floods but it hasn’t stopped the company from creating something beautiful, powerful and joyous with its new major work Love for One Night. NORPA are no strangers to delighting audiences by staging spectacular shows in interesting places – they have performed sell-out shows on the platform of an abandoned train station (Railway Wonderland) and in a country hall (Dreamland). Long time collaborators director Julian Louis and writer Janis Balodis are now taking audiences to The Eltham Hotel, a majestic old watering hole in the Byron hinterland that has been a meeting place for more than 100 years.
Country hotel pubs like The Eltham play a unique role in communities. They attract all walks of life and are a place for yarns, for meeting up and colliding into strangers. It is this melting pot of characters, surrounded by charm and hospitality, that first inspired the concept for Love for One Night.
In Love for One Night a series of brief encounters are told through story, dance and song with a live band scoring all the action. The Eltham Hotel itself becomes both set and character with live videography projected onto its façade and the audience taking it all in from tiered theatre seating constructed in front of the hotel. Love For One Night has been created through a devised theatre making process – a collaboration by the creative team and performers including research, story collection, improvisation, character and scene development.
Love for One Night is a circle dance of love stories, featuring twenty four characters played by five actors. Some of the characters include Sunny, a single mum, hopeless romantic and housekeeper at The Eltham; barflies Brad and Rosa who are childhood sweethearts and banter lovingly over schooners and rugby; and David and Rob who fell in love with the same woman. The dexterous cast includes long-time NORPA collaborators Katia Molino and Phil Blackman alongside local talents Zoe Gameau, Claire Atkins, and performer Lloyd Allison -Young. They lead us through love in all its guises from deep friendship to infatuation, romance and heartbreak and of course sexual attraction and unbridled lust.
“Love for One Night is a place based work, created to engage with a wide and diverse audience. The stories we tell in the show have been developed from interviews, research and story gathering with the community around Eltham and the Northern Rivers,” says Julian Louis, the show’s director and Artistic Director of NORPA. “These stories then form a jump off point for myself, the actors and the creative team to bounce around the rehearsal room and shape into the script and physical theatre concepts. It’s an exciting way of working that has nuance and authenticity.”
“Although Love for One Night was not created in direct response to the flood, it is a kind of love story to this region and our community who have been through so much. We wanted to create something beautiful, fun and joyous where people can come together and lose themselves for a night in the wonder of live performance.”
Join NORPA for an unforgettable night of theatre under the stars at The Eltham Hotel, a magical, atmospheric backdrop and place to gather and flirt and fall head over heels in love. For one night.
CREATIVE TEAM
Love For One Night was devised through a collaborative creative process.
Performers/Devisors Lloyd Allison-Young, Claire Atkins, Phil Blackman, Zoe Gameau & Katia Molino
Directed by Julian Louis
Writer Janis Balodis
Video Design Poppy Walker
Musical Director Jamie Birrell
Technical Director Mic Gruchy
Musicians Luke Bennett & Ben Cox
Movement Julian Louis & Kimberley McIntyre
Production & Costume Design Charlotte Haywood
Lighting Design Alex Torney
Stage Manager Kylie Fuad
Assistant Stage Manager Ava Jarrett
EVENT DETAILS
Love For One Night
Presented by NORPA at The Eltham Hotel (411 Eltham, Rd, Eltham)
8 – 24 Sept 2022, 7:30pm
Tickets: $20 – $59
www.norpa.org.au
PATRON ADVICE
Duration 75 minutes (no interval)
Recommended for ages 12+ (contains strong language and adult themes)
Outdoor event – please check weather and NORPA social media for any changes to performances. Auslan-Interpreted Show – Thursday 15th September 2022
Dinner will be available at the Eltham Hotel before the show. Please contact The Eltham to make a dinner booking and let them know you are coming to see the show.
