Arts OutWest was again proud to auspice the making of a new theatre production by Lingua Franca and Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre.
‘Highway of Lost Hearts’ by Mary Anne Butler starring Kate Smith, Sophie Jones, Abby Smith was performed Friday 19-120 November 2021 at Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre and 26-27 November at Cowra Civic Centre.
As auspicing body Arts OutWest took in the funding and managed artist contracts and fees and payment of production expenses.
About ‘Highway of Lost Hearts’
A woman. A dog. A campervan. And 4,500 kms of wide open road. An allegory for a country that’s lost its heart.
Bathurst’s own Lingua Franca in collaboration with BMEC present this truly regional story by award-winning Darwin playwright Mary Anne Butler, in a brand-new production starring theatrical powerhouse Kate Smith, with original live music by Central West icons Smith & Jones.
Mot wakes up one morning to find that her heart is missing from her chest. She can breathe; she has a pulse—but she feels… nothing.
So, she decides to go and look for it. With her Dog enlisted as co-pilot, Mot heads down the Highway of Lost Hearts: into the deepest core of the Australian outback—navigating red dirt landscapes, fire and flood, brittle dry-ness, vast salt lakes, age-old mountains and murky waters filled with lost souls.
It is half gritty road journey, half magic realism and all heart. It leaves you pondering the question: when your heart goes missing, what lengths will you go to, in order to find it again?
This team of regional creatives are independently accomplished artists whose skills have been harnessed by the Lingua Franca theatrical company as well as Bathurst’s Local Stages. The result of this collaborationhas resulted in a production that is winsome, lyrical and at times even transcendent… This outstanding production is not to be missed. – Arts Hub
A woman. A dog. A campervan. And 4,500 kms of wide open road. An allegory for a country that’s lost its heart.
Location: Bathurst, Cowra
When: 2021
Funded by: This project is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW and auspiced by Arts OutWest.
Partners with: Lingua Franca, Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre
Creatives:
Highway of Lost Hearts
By Mary Anne Butler
A Lingua Franca and BMEC Local Stages production
Performed by Kate Smith
Original live music by Smith & Jones
Director: Adam Deusien
Designer: Annemaree Dalziel
Lighting and Technical Designer: Becky Russell
Set Design: Annemaree Dalziel and Becky Russell
Stage Manager: Kylie Shead
Produced by Kylie Shead and Adam Deusien