If you've been missing heading out to see a show because of concern over confined spaces, a Wollongong company has stepped outside the box (or theatre) for their next production.
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The Sirens' Return has spent years in development and will finally make a splash mid-February, on a stage constructed across the Port Kembla Pool for Merrigong Theatre Company.
The show has been dubbed a "theatrical event" due to its use of a band, video projections and obscure venue, according to director Anne-Louise Rentell, who has been working on this labour of love for around six years.
"We have six performers in amazing costumes who will sing and speak their stories, supported with a live band so it's part theatre, part concert, part nothing you've ever seen before," Ms Rentell said.
Making it happen at the Council-owned venue was "a beautiful challenge to have", she said, as it is on country and honours the area's First Nations people - of which some of their stories are told through the show.
As people arrive at dusk, they will receive a head-set then shown to a seat in the ampitheatre around the pool.
The production draws on oral histories collected from women living across different eras of the steel town, intertwined with First Nations and western mermaid mythology.
Matilda Brown has been cast in the role of Girra - as in Mount Girra, according to the Dharawal Dreaming story of the Five Islands.
The actress said she loved how Ms Rentell "blurred the lines" between real verbatim stories from the women of Port Kembla with Indigenous stories.
"You really feel the magic when you can hear the ocean in the background and you've got the setting of nature around you and country and all the elements," Ms Brown said.
"It makes it more dreamy and easier to sink yourself into the story."
The Sirens' Return is at Port Kembla Pool from February 14 to 19 (evening shows only). Ticket information is through Merrigong.com.au
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