Categories: News

Terra Nemo Theatre Company – Season 2015 Launch

Terra Nemo Theatre Company

Terra Nemo (Latin for ‘No Man’s Land’) began as a collaboration between eight senior students at the Queensland Academy for Creative Industries back in mid 2013.

It has gathered momentum, and now has around 40 members with diverse backgrounds. 2015 will mark the company’s third season and by all accounts, its biggest and boldest yet. The season consists of four shows and a short-fuse performance festival, The Chinese Room.

Terra Nemo have just launched their exciting and ambitious 2015 Season (listed below). Preceding each of these plays, Terra Nemo will hold Bare Essentials – a play briefing-cum development process, where the audience will hear pitches (from designers, writers, directors), as well as watch a scene or so from the play and give feedback on specific areas of the work.

Allentown, the first show for 2015, is also the company’s first musical. Terra Nemo’s Artistic Director, Gwiilym Temple, describes it as ‘a struggle between being content, and being comfortable’. The writers, William Hinz and Tahnee Arnold, have used song from the musical theatre cannon from the 1920s right up to now, and they are especially focused on ensuring the music is integral to and seamlessly interwoven into the story.

Sensetise Me is a highly conceptual piece exploring the way we have become desensitized to horrific news. What if this where a disease? How would this be treated? With lots of interactive multimedia and use of cymatics, this promises to be an interesting discussion about our relationship with the media.

Walking on Water is the company’s big ensemble piece for the year. Borne from the question ‘What if Jesus was a magician, and his miracles were magic tricks?’ this play is more about the effects of boredom than a comment on religion.

Temple describes The Line is Drawn at Dusk as ‘Saw meets the Walking Dead, meets American Psycho’. In a city under siege in a war zone, four people are trapped. Their morality and will to survive are pushed to their limits as they are tested by a shadowy antagonist.

The last item of Terra Nemo’s season is The Chinese Room– from which four play pitches will be chosen. The writer will then have a week to write a script, a week to workshop it with a director, and then a week with actors before all four plays are showcased.

Terra Nemo is to be commended for its drive, its willingness to take risks and push performance boundaries, and its commitment to providing young theatre practitioners with a platform to develop and showcase their work.

To keep an eye on Terra Nemo’s ambitious 2015 season, you can keep up to date with their Terra Nemo Facebook page, or visit the Terra Nemo Theatre Company Website.

Bobbi-Lea Dionysius

Bobbi-Lea is AussieTheatre.com's QLD Co-ordinator, writer, reviewer, and reporter. She is also an actor, presenter, and theatre/film producer for Drama Queen Productions in Brisbane. Bobbi-Lea holds a Degree in Music Theatre as well as a Degree in Film & TV, and is currently doing her Masters in Screen Production.