Hold Your Horses presents
'Heart of Gold'
by Thea Costantino
Westralia shall be free
Director & Dramaturge: Zoe Pepper
Composer / Musical Director: Ash Gibson Greig
Choreographer / Costume designer: Tarryn Gill
Set designer: Pilar Mata Dupont
Lighting Designer: Lucy Birkinshaw
Stage Manager: Nicole Gillespie
Heart of Gold is an original, darkly comic musical set in rural WA, featuring a family unravelled by secrets, a haunted landscape and one boy's fantasy of West Australia forever at war with the Eastern states.
Iris Brown and her children Angus and Violet are a family living in isolation on the outskirts of Paucity. Their solitude is broken by the entrance of Constable Irving Saddle, the only guest to attend Violet's dismal fourteenth birthday party. As Irving's control gradually infects the household, Angus's already unhinged perception of reality is stretched to dangerous proportions. He retreats into a nationalistic fantasy world 'Westralia' defended by a sinister, Ziegfeld-esque female army which embodies the family's dark past. Angus's waking and dreaming lives merge into one another, and Irving uncovers the horrible secret beneath the house.
Original production was presented at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts from 28 October - 14 November 2009.
A Hold Your Horses Production in association with PICA and Side Pony Productions, starring Tim Watts (Angus), the creator of 'Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer' and winner of 'Outstanding solo show' at the NYC Fringe Festival 09; performer and playwright Shirley Van Sanden (Iris); singer, musician and performer Brendan Ewing (Irving); recent star of 'Oscar', Sarah McKellar (Violet) and the Westralian Army, Natalya Alessi, Oda Aunan, Maree Cole, Lily Newbury-Freeman and Whitney Richards.
"The production is on an epic scale, a full two-act feast of music, dance, satire and drama that almost defies description" Ali Taulbut, The West Australian, November 3 2009
"A beautifully staged rural-gothic extravaganza" Urzula Dawkins, RealTime, Issue 93
realtimearts.net/article/93/9625
"It would be wonderful to see Heart of Gold picked up and developed by a main-stage company" Steve Bevis, The West Australian, January 4 2010
au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/entertainment/a/-/entertainment/6641499/a-year-of-golden-moments/
For touring information contact Hold Your Horses at: info (at) hyh.com.au
