When the Rain Stops Falling at Centenary Theatre Brisbane
The Centenary Theatre Group (Brisbane, Qld) is preparing for its production of Andrew Bovell’s award winning Australian Drama When the Rain Stops Falling, opening on September 7.
Alice Springs in the year 2039. A fish falls from the sky and lands at the feet of Gabriel York.
It still smells of the sea. It’s been raining for days and Gabriel knows something is wrong. Eighty years earlier, his grandfather, Henry Law, predicted that, in 2039, fish would fall from the sky heralding a great flood that would overcome the human race. When The Rain Stops Falling takes place between the worlds of these two men – between a prediction in 1959 and its outcome eighty years later.
Through four generations of interconnected stories, from the claustrophobia of a 1950s London flat to the desolate South Australian coast and into the desert heart of Central Australia, Andrew Bovell creates a multi-layered epic tale of a family for whom voices of the past echo into the future, telling of betrayal, abandonment and love.
The play is directed by Cam Castles, and the company was faced with an interesting dilemma when casting the women in this play. “Not only did we need four women, but we needed to ensure that they looked like each other, as they play the younger and older versions of themselves,” production manager Margaret Bell tells us.
“Coffee breaks at rehearsals are great opportunities for the girls to watch each other and try and pick up on each other’s mannerisms, etc. They’re doing very well.”
The cast features Tom Yaxley (Gabriel Law/Andrew Price), Paul McGibbon (Henry Law), Jan Lord (Elizabeth Law, older), Alice Long (Elizabeth Law, Younger), Meg Hinselwood (Gabrielle York, Older), Leanne Shellshear (Gabrielle York, Younger), Calvin Smith (Joe Ryan) and Andrew Nathan (Gabriel York).
There will be a family tree in the program to explain who is related to whom. As the play starts in 2039, goes back to 1950 and then finishes again in 2039, you have to pay attention.
September 7 – 28, 2013
Performances – 7, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, 27 and 28 September. Friday & Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 6pm.
Bookings can be made online at www.centenarytheatre.com.au
Image: Tom Yaxley as Gabriel and Leanne Shellshear at Gabrielle in the snow on Uluru and Younger Elizabeth (Alice Long) talking to her husband Henry (Paul McGibbon), watched over by the Older Elizabeth (Jan Lord).
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