Courtesy of my daughter's involvement in the Queensland Youth Orchestra, we were offered a few free tickets to a performance this evening by Camerata - a youthful Queensland chamber orchestra - at the Performing Arts Centre.
I haven't seen them before, and assume that most of their shows are straight music. But this one, at least, was sort of a mini play, The White Mouse, telling the story of famous World War 2 resistance fighter Nancy Wake.
It was pretty terrific: 2 actors on stage, one playing Wake, the other a guy playing several men in her life; they both address the audience and re-enact key events while the orchestra was also on stage for the many musical pieces interspersing the story.
A dog makes a brief appearance too. As does a female singer with a couple of French songs, and the show ending on (of course) Je Ne Regrette Nien. The orchestra themselves were great, making you realise just how much musical talent there is in the world, when a place like Brisbane can produce this.
To be truthful, while I had read some articles about her in the newpapers years ago, there wasn't a lot I could recall in detail about NancyWake, and my teenage kids unfortunately had never heard of her. This was a really good way for them (and me) to learn about her: told with verve, humour and minimalist but effective staging. A fair bit of "strong language" too - Nancy apparently swore like a trooper - but hey if it's accurate to her personality, I don't mind. I wonder how much swearing there is in her autobiography?
As far as I can tell, though, this show has only been performed twice - once in Toowoomba, and once in Brisbane. A great effort, yet a relatively limited audience. At least half of the audience in Brisbane gave it a standing ovation. I reckon they ought to take it to all the capital cities, at least.
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