Image: Brooker Highway Gridlock, Photo by Bill Hamilton
The ’67 bushfires ripped through Southern Tasmania, from Bothwell to Snug and up the Derwent Valley, consuming over 2500 square kilometers, wiping out whole communities, and leaving 62 people dead, 900 injured and over seven thousand homeless.
This February marks the 50th anniversary of the disaster.
Black Tuesday, a rehearsed reading of Les Winspear’s play at Moonah Arts Centre, is a commemoration of the 1967 Bushfires in words and music.
Les Winspear is the acclaimed writer of enormously popular family shows staged annually in the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, but in Black Tuesday he turns his keen attention to this catastrophic event.
Based on interviews Les conducted with residents who lived through the fire, the play interweave several real-life stories, and vividly brings the day to life through the voices of those who were there. Chilling and funny, terrifying and uplifting, Black Tuesday is both a commemoration of loss and a celebration of the strength and resilience of the Tasmanian community.
This special reading of the play will be read by a cast of distinguished Tasmanian actors including Guy Hooper, who recently enthralled audiences with his performance as Prospero in Blue Cow’s The Tempest at TMAG, and Jane Longhurst. Jane last appeared at MAC in Blue Cow’s Grounded, for which she won the 2015 Tasmanian Theatre Award for Best Actor.
The event will also feature the exceptional sounds and creativity of Michael Fortescue, double-bass player extraordinaire.
Showing:
4pm Sun 5 Feb
7pm Mon 6 Feb
Tickets $10 full / $5 concession, available online through www.moonahartscentre.org.au
Black Tuesday is presented by Blue Cow Theatre in association with Moonah Arts Centre and Glenorchy City Council.
Claire Pendrigh Elliott Marketing Officer
