The Fence

The Fence, a new play presented by Urban Theatre Projects as part of the 2010 Sydney Festival, is set to be staged in a secret location in Parramatta. "It's supposed to be a little bit mysterious," muses executive producer Michelle Kotevski. "We're trying not to give too much away."

The facts as we know them are that Riverside Theatres will act as a ticket collection and meeting point before audiences are walked approximately ten minutes along the Parramatta River to a suburban backyard. "Watching the play is supposed to be like peering into the window of a house," Kotevski divulges. "So it's a real backyard and a purpose-built set made to look like a family home, except with the fourth wall removed. We had to get development approval from the council. The audience will be seated literally in the backyard."

The unique performance space was decided on to ground the audience in the context of the show, Kotevski explains. "You'll be going to a place where you wouldn't necessarily have access ... the idea of getting you out of theatre in a traditional sense and making you see things in a different way."

The Fence involves five middle-aged Australians hailing from Western Sydney. Mel, an indigenous man, is married to Joy, a non-indigenous woman. Their married life is circumscribed by Joy's best friend, Lou, who has been spending a lot of time at the house after being dumped, and Mel's best friend, Chris, who never seems to go home. With the arrival of Vicky, Mel's older sister whom he hasn't seen in over ten years, things get explosive. "The play is about their journey towards creating a home and a family in spite of the past traumas of their lives," Kotevski explains, "four of them having grown up in institutions for the Stolen Generations."

Director Alicia Talbot's collaborative approach was central to the play's development. With no formal script, indigenous and non-indigenous community members with relevant experiences assumed the role of dramaturgs. "Alicia did a lot of research talking to organisations that work with Stolen Generation and Forgotten Australian individuals. She then started to create material with the actors. Then those organisations would come to rehearsal, sit down, see the material and respond to it. The material was constantly being reworked and refined."

While hot-button indigenous issues are to the fore, The Fence avoids didacticism. "It's not explicitly political. What we're really looking at is a common human experience. The sense of how you overcome things, a sense of family, a sense of home - that's what we are trying to evoke." Joanna Lowry