A play by Wollongong writer Siobhán Doran-Chaston will open at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre tomorrow, bringing local storytelling to Merrigong Theatre Company’s program.
Two Weeks follows a young couple moving through ordinary life, from weeknight dinners and gas bills to social media and doom scrolling, while a countdown to a cataclysmic event unfolds in the background.
Ms Doran-Chaston said the play, written more than 20 years ago, is about the moments people often overlook.
“Life is as brutal as it is beautiful, and the mundane moments are often the ones that we miss in life,” she said.
“Put the phone down, stop doom scrolling, and just try to appreciate the beauty that’s hidden in the everyday.”
Staging the work in Wollongong is especially meaningful for Ms Doran-Chaston.
She said she once took her children to MERRIGONGX shows because the program’s ‘pay what you feel’ model made theatre accessible to her family.
“I literally sat in the theatre with my boys watching show after show by MERRIGONGX, and I had no idea that five years later, my show would be on the stage,” she said.
The play also draws heavily on local references.
“Wollongong is all over the play,” Ms Doran-Chaston said.
“You want to go and see a piece of theatre and see yourself in it and recognise local cultural references.”
Merrigong Artistic Development Manager Leland Kean said Two Weeks forms part of a program focused on locally made work.
“The main focus for us, from a producing point of view, is those local-made works that we’ve got coming up,” he said.
Mr Kean said MERRIGONGX gives Illawarra artists a platform to develop work with both local and wider appeal.
“It’s the largest regional artistic development program in the country,” he said.
“It comes from an ethos around the idea that the work that we make here has local relevance and then universal resonance.”
Merrigong’s late May and June program includes Two Weeks, Yandha Djanbay and Steel Magnolias, alongside other theatre, music and live performance events.
Mr Kean said the variety reflects the diversity of the Illawarra community.
“The wonderful thing about Merrigong is the scale, the diversity that we have in the program,” he said.
“You can come and see so many different forms of live performance in our venues.”
Two Weeks opens at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre tomorrow and runs until Saturday. Tickets are available at aumtco.sales.ticketsearch.com.
