Our Special Projects

A cooperative work between Gretchen Minton, Fulbright Australia, and James Cook University of Townsville, Australia

Gretchen Minton is working with James Cook University in Townsville Australia under the aegis of a Fulbright Scholarship, along with Dr. Claire Hansen (Australia National University), the Blue Humanities Lab (Cairns Institute), and several TheatreiNQ actors to adapt Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night into an eco-drama based on the history of the Townsville region and environmental upheaval on the North Queensland coast.

Salt Waves Fresh

Salt Waves Fresh tells the story of a shipwreck that occurs near Townsville just as a cyclone hits and causes widespread floods and destruction. Set in recent times, it explores the characters' relationship to the land, to the natural world, and to each other. The action unfolds during a time of environmental catastrophe, featuring shipwreck survivors, developers hoping to profit regardless of damage, marine scientists, a black cockatoo, and citizens of the town trying to get on with their lives as they face loss after loss.

The adaptation weaves together Shakespeare's language, Indigenous poetry, historical accounts, and much more in order to find a multi-vocal register for creative, adaptive thinking. Our intention with this adaptation is to create an eco-drama that can be easily adapted and used by local communities across the world as a lens for examining their own role in environmental catastrophes, but also potential solutions.

Symposium

A one-day symposium on April 28 highlights work that uses Shakespeare and performance to speak about environmental issues. Theatre practitioners and academics from across Australia will gather to present their work in the fields of adaptations, eco-drama, and site-specific theatre. We will demonstrate some scenes from Salt Waves Fresh and speak about our approach to using theatre to explore climate change perils and solutions.

Outcomes

This work culminates in an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, entitled Salt Waves Fresh, which has been developed to be available for local theatre companies across the world to easily adapt this play and present it to their own communities. For more information please contact us at montanainsitetheatre@gmail.com.