“EVERY family has a mythology of stories that are told between generations.”
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Rochelle Bright has been collecting her family’s stories for 20 years. Her father died when she was 14, but because of the striking resemblance she has, she said her family felt comfortable telling her tales from the past.
The New Zealand playwright has collated those stories and intertwined them with old photographs and iconic Kiwi music, such as from Crowded House, to create Daffodils - coming to the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre from May 25.
The play, accompanied by music, tells of Bright’s mother who used to walk down by the lake near a field of daffodils, inevitably meeting the man she would marry. 20 years earlier Bright’s grandmother met her husband at the same field.
“My grandmother always used to say ‘you never go down to see the daffodils because you never quite know what you might find’.”
The play is inspired by a collection of private letters, interviews and family myths and unfolds against a backdrop of archival family footage.
“It was a weird thing for my family to see [the opening season in New Zealand] because it celebrates who we are but exposes our flaws,” said Bright.
“It’s a strange thing to celebrate my father in a way like this.”
Bright believes because the show is so deeply personal with a well-known soundtrack it will resonate with Illawarra audiences.
The show features a live three-piece band starring award winning artist Stephanie “Lips” Brown.
For more information visit www.merrigong.com.au