Voices from the Fields

Seven current teachers, including an Assistant Principal are about to hit the Lighthouse Theatre in a play Directed by Warrnambool College ex Teacher Michael Hoffman.

As part of the local theatre troupe Dog’s Dinner Theatre Productions, Emma Miller, Erin Toulmin, Alex Mawson, Wendy McKenzie, Meg Lumsden, Kerry Cheeseman and Mark Pech will perform in a show called ‘VOICES FROM THE FIELDS’ which is timed to align with the centenary of the ‘war to end all wars’ which is on in the days immediately prior to Remembrance Day on November 11. Other cast members include Ann Body, Deon Cameron, Anita Senior, Woody Bucci, Daniel Miles, Michael Turner Downes, Penny McLeod and Anne Maree Stonehouse. 

Through poetry, song, visual image and dance, the show will take the audience on a journey exploring the impact of war on people on all ‘fronts’ - the battlefield, the family home, the recruiting centres, the hospitals and rehab centres, and the streets of popular protest.  While the voices of poets from the Great War ring loud, the show draws on material from other sources, including the musicals Godspell, Les Miserables and Hair.  The voices we will hear speak to us about the impact of conflict, regardless of location or place in history.

Director Michael Hoffman said that “audiences won’t be asked to celebrate, glorify or even understand war, but will simply be asked to empathise with those impacted by war.”  His vision is that this piece of theatre will, through the enduring beauty of art, lead to insight … and hope for the future.”

The show will play in the Lighthouse Theatre November 9 and 10 with both matinee and night performances. Tickets are now on sale through the venue.