A BRAVE NEW WORLD 2024

Step into a realm where imagination knows no bounds and bravery takes centre stage in a ground-breaking youth theatre show developed alongside the power of AI. Get ready for an exhilarating journey that will challenge your perceptions, ignite your courage, and redefine what it means to be brave in the face of this Brave New World.

Our talented Fast Track Ensembles from the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast invite you to experience their distinctive interpretations of the Brave New World they are rapidly approaching. This season showcases six compelling plays, each offering a unique perspective on the role of AI in their lives.

Over the past three terms, these dedicated groups have poured their creativity into devising these productions. From crafting narratives and developing rich characters to shaping dynamic scenes, they have undertaken a comprehensive rehearsal process to bring their visions to life. Tonight, we are thrilled to share the fruits of their hard work and boundless creativity with you.

Andrew Wright

WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY CHRISTIE ECKERSLEY

DIRECTOR’S NOTES

This duo of plays tackles the dangers of ignorance, greed and pride when approaching a Brave New World of technology and how easily we can become reliant on it. These plays work together to show that integrating new technology is not new to our society, nor is it something we should avoid, however it is something that must be approached and managed with caution and responsibility so we don’t lose important skills and resources that people need to develop within themselves.

FOR THE TOWN THAT DISAPPEARED

We see this played out in “The Town that Disappeared” where a group of archeologists and environmentalists are employed to test and excavate the land by an Artifacts Dealer and Developer from the ProTech company. However, as they begin they find that the area is a haunted graveyard for a forgotten town - a town once inhabited by the ancestors of their guide who is then thrown back in time into their story as a warning to the present day.

Back in time we watch the destruction of not only the town's natural resources and environment but their relationships within the community as they trade productivity and ease of material gain for personal involvement and human responsibility and accountability. The entire town choosing to hand over the reins to the towns farming and production to a new Artificially Intelligent Robot Farming system, avoiding monitoring its impact and abusing its technological limits until it’s too late and then refusing to take accountability.

In the initial scenes we see the towns divide on technological advancement and the many benefits it can have, reflecting our own societies divide on artificial technology and the opportunities it offers. The arrogant but well meaning Mayor Cassandra leading herself and the town into the trap of greed and ignorance as they push the technology too far and destroy the unique resources they originally had, all the while believing that they were doing so for the right reasons. We see this again in our modern day scenes with the developer and artifacts dealers and their archaeological team choosing once again to destroy the land for personal profit, insisting they would never make the same mistakes as those who came before them.

The audience watches the two simultaneous stories through the eyes of two innocents, a child named Sally, the child of the Towns Mayor Cassandra and James the head of town Agriculture, and her descendant linking the two eras together spiritually. The ghosts of the town that disappeared directly address the audience - asking and pleading us not to walk into the trap of our own ignorance in a Brave new world. Their strong movements and mirror image shapes show us the power of unity but the danger of allowing the pack to make large decisions without question or careful consideration.

CREATIVE JOURNEY

This class looked at a number of challenges regarding the introduction of AI as a prominently growing feature of our current society and their early responses, skepticism and apprehension was clear, and quite surprising to me. The area that was chiefly concerning across the class was allowing Artificial Intelligence to have full autonomy without human monitoring and what that may lead to.

This led to us looking into the details of the extent of their concern, different areas they felt comfortable with the involvement of AI and where they felt it was inappropriate, leading to deep conversations and debates around medicine, human error, education, welfare and investing in community relationships.

Across the board the message they felt was most important was that there is no time when humans can give up the reins appropriately and expect not to see consequences and we had to move forward with our eyes wide open to see where to draw the line before it was too late.

The character of Sally was the first developed and they knew that we wanted to see her as an innocent victim of the choices of those around her so the audience truly felt the gravity of their choices. Her mother and father being of opposing sides represents the ability for us to see the world differently and still cohesively - as long as we continue to listen to each other and compromise, a theme that disappears throughout the play as the relationship breaks down.

After 3 weeks of theme exploring and concept building they began to build scenes and bring the vision to life through improvisation and discussions over the following 7 weeks of term. Their immense work over the course of term 2 allowed us to create a story filled with challenging, moving and powerful moments that we could block and bring to life in term 3.

This piece shows some incredible ensemble work, with constant stage time, strong shapes and movements that are often created to be as in sync as possible - which is no small feat. with a large number of performers on stage. Seeing students take incredible pride in their character developments and the depth of emotion they can create within a scene has been incredible. I'm so proud of how they work as a team and push each other to excel and show an incredibly powerful message. Their culture of kindness and inclusivity without compromising their quality really speaks to the heart of their show as well as being incredible to work amongst.

Christie Eckersley

RATED PG - we recommend parental guidance for viewing of this play for children and young people.

TECHNICAL CREW

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR - Andrew Wright

WRITER / DIRECTOR - Christie Eckersley

COSTUME & PROPS - Christie Eckersley

SOUND & LIGHTING DESIGNER - Christie Eckersley

SOUND OPERATOR - Nathan Clark

LIGHTING OPERATOR - TLD Event Creation technical crew

PHOTOGRAPHY - Louise Bahnson

THANK YOUS

AND our Goat Track Team of awesome people who are behind the scenes at all of our events assisting with ticketing, front of house, costume, hair and makeup, building, painting, sewing, sourcing, buying, emailing and phoning in order to make this production possible. Tamara, Heiki, Scarlett, Monique, Emma, Courtney, Lilli; you guys rock!