The Strangeways Ensemble

Anthea:
Welcome to Sideshow on 2-RPH. This is Anthea Williams. Today, I'm joined by the Strangeways Ensemble. Strangeways is Merrigong's permanent company of neurodiverse actors and musicians and Wollongong's only professional theater ensemble. Today, I'm joined by two of their members, Ethan Arnold and Ethan Green, and Director Anne-Louise Rentell, ahead of the premier of their new show, The Seven, opening at the Wollongong Town Hall on the 21st of November. Thank you so much for joining me.

Ethan A:
Great to be here.

Ethan G:
Yeah, it's great to be here also.

Anne:
It's good to be here.

Ethan G:
It's good to be here.

Anthea:
So before we get on to the show specifically, I would love to hear about your ensemble. I know you've been making work for many years and a lot of that work is to it. Can you tell me a little bit about how the ensemble operates?

Ethan A:
Right. Um, so how we operate, we meet up usually once a week. Um-

Ethan G:
Yeah. It's a Friday.

Ethan A:
Friday afternoons. We work together, we discuss whatever projects we're gonna do together. Once we have a idea everyone agrees with, we, we begin development and production.

Anthea:
And do you generally work with, um, devising or improvisation? How does it work?

Ethan G:
Um, yeah. Um, it, it's like, um, the first thing is the improvisation, then we, then we do, uh, all sorts of, like, like the games and some more i- i- improvisation and then, then they transform it to a script author.

Anthea:
Fantastic. And about how long does it take to create a show?

Ethan A:
Um, it can vary. Like, usually it's about three years, um, apart from this one. Um, this one took about two years to make.

Anthea:
Fantastic. And Anne-Louise, you're the director of the ensemble. Uh, how long have you been AD?

Anne:
Uh, pretty much from the beginning. So the ensemble sort of has evolved out of the relationship we had with, um, a local disability service provider for Disability Trust. So years ago, like I'm talking 2008, we started doing, um, some mixed abilities workshops and out of that came our first show, which is called The Man Who Dreamt The Stars, and that was in 2014. And, um, we, and that did very well and we thought, "We wanna keep doing that here at Merrigong." So we did another show where we did a call-out for people to attend another workshop where it was all about writing songs, um, and there were songs on the theme of love and then we thought, "Oh, [inaudible 00:02:57] showing this." So then we made another show, um, called The Outside Man. And then it sort of felt like we'd sort of created a s- an ensemble or a group of people who were really keen to keep working.
So after that, we kind of went into... It became a thing at Merrigong. We were sort of going, "We were gonna make this work and we're gonna commit to doing it every three years." And, uh, we were already starting to work on the next show, which was Trash Talk, which was all about working in an Australian disability enterprise, and it was all to do with the sort of wage case that happened back about six years ago, um, where there was a whole lot of, I suppose, conflict around the wages that people have paid in 80 years.

Anthea:
Hmm.

Anne:
So we did a show about that, but before that, we kind of, we, we sort of became the ensemble, really. Um, we decided, um, through Merri- with Merrigong's support to sort of identify ourselves as our own thing. Um, so it kind of, that's how that manifested anyway. And then we went on to do our second work, which was something that happened, which was about, um, uh, I suppose auditioning for roles as a person with a disability and what it's like to, um, do that and what comes up in that situation.
Um, and also in that time, we've also made Strangeways Cabaret, which is a, a sort of, uh, an opportunity for the guys to, I suppose, realize some of their own ideas in small ways, like a place to develop small works. Um, yeah, and then at the end of something that happened, I, um, I said to the group, like, "What do you want to do next?" 'Cause we made these two works in particular that were very, I suppose, disability-focused or foregrounded.
And I think the consensus was that, not to say that disability wasn't gonna be part of the show, but it wasn't gonna be as foregrounded, um, but there was a general consensus that they wanted to do something more, I suppose, dark or, um, challenging in that way. And, uh, yeah, so that's where we started for this new one, which is, um, The Seven.

Anthea:
And can I ask, how many people are in the ensemble?

Ethan G:
Um, i- i- it's, um, seven of us.

Anthea:
Mm-hmm. That's a pretty big ensemble.

Ethan A:
Yeah.

Anthea:
And Ethan Arnold, how long have you been in the ensemble now?

Ethan A:
About eight years.

Anthea:
Wow. And what about you, Ethan Green? How long have you been in it?

Ethan G:
Uh, um, it, uh, I don't even know.

Anne:
Probably about the same, I think, Ethan.

Ethan G:
Yeah, probably same. Yeah.

Anne:
Ethan Green was in The Outside Man before we became the ensemble, and Ethan Arnold was involved in The Outside Man as a writer, and then, um, when we-

Ethan G:
Oh, anyways, um, yeah, the same. Yeah.

Anne:
Yeah, that's right. So similar time.

Ethan G:
Similar time.

Anthea:
Yeah, and I think it's so interesting that you're the only professional ensemble in Wollongong, um, that has been working together for this amount of time. It's so special when actors work together for such a period of time, because it means that you have such, uh, shared understanding of theater language. Um, so I'm sure that that creates some really amazing work. When you're not working on shows, what are you doing on your Fridays? Are you doing skill development or is, or is it about storytelling and where the next show's coming from?

Ethan G:
Oh, it's, it, it's kind of, um, mixed with the storytelling and more improvisation.

Anthea:
Yeah, fantastic.

Anne:
Yeah, sometimes we have guest tutors as well. So there's a bit of skills development, you know, um, this one because we knew it was gonna be earlier, basically, as we said, it was like every three years, but, um, we wanted to make a work that was slightly responsive to the town hall here.

Anthea:
Mm.

Anne:
Um, we were planning for it to be next year, but then council wants to, um, redo the air conditioning in the town hall.

Anthea:
(Laughs).

Anne:
So we had to move the show to this year. Um, so it was like, oh my God, we, we've got only two years to make the show. But, um, like you say, Anthea, I think the fact that we've, um, worked together for so long now, it's really meant this process just felt like a really strong continuation of things that we've done before, so-

Anthea:
Yeah. So I know a lot of our listeners won't know what The Seven is about. Can you explain a little bit about this story?

Ethan G:
Well, um, I think the story is about o- also, well, it's like also been people going missing in a seven decades who's causing it. It's more like conspiracy-

Anthea:
Mm-hmm.

Ethan G:
... kind of part into it.

Ethan A:
The story is about a cold case, a group of seven people who went to a concert in Sydney in 1964, um, never made it home, and they found out they got off that Helensburgh train station, which is where the old Helensburgh Tunnel is located, and it's kind of like two storylines going together. The first story is set in 1964 with the original investigation, and the second timeline is 2024, where a discovery is made at the tunnel where, which has reopened the case, and the... It brings up about a lot of things. It also explores the themes of conspiracy theories, like Greenie just mentioned, and what was going on in the '60s with neurodivergent people.

Anthea:
Mm-hmm.

Ethan A:
That wasn't the word back then. Pretty much, um... It pretty much brings about a lot of things. Uh, it just shines a lot on a lot of things.

Anne:
Can I jump in and say too, Ethan, that, um, we've got themes on, like, I suppose basically it's about the unknown and how we-

Ethan A:
Oh, yeah.

Anne:
... fill the space of the unknown with theories. So like there's, um, there's conspiracy theories that was already mentioned. There's a ghost like paranormal theory and there's a kind of, um, yeah, the story from 1964 where there's a, uh, a police officer who's kept a diary of events. So we've got these different perspectives on what might have happened, so I suppose people will have to come to see the show-

Ethan A:
Mm-hmm.

Anne:
... to see if we find out what happened.

Ethan A:
(Laughs).

Anthea:
And you said that there was a desire in the ensemble to not do a show that was necessarily so focused on disability issues. So how did you come across this idea of doing a show about a, a mystery and a cold case?

Ethan A:
At the start, when Anne-Louise asked, "What do you guys want to do?" And we discussed it like a lot of the guys brought up horror-

Anthea:
Mm-hmm.

Ethan A:
... um, mystery and someone brought up this case from America called the Yuba County Five, which was five people who went to a basketball game in one county and they never made it home and the five were either neurodivergent or, or had mental health issues. Um, apparently four were found not alive, unfortunately. The fifth member has never been discovered. I guess we thought about exploring that while, um, we-

Anthea:
While making the show.

Ethan A:
(Laughs) Yeah. Um, because, um, there's a time where we said, "Let's play..." I don't know if I could say this (laughs), um, because not, the cast doesn't exactly play neurodivergent, uh, characters. It's, it's kind of the other way around.

Anthea:
Mm-hmm.

Ethan A:
Um-

Anthea:
Well, that sounds pretty good to me because so often in the past we've had people who aren't neurodivergent playing neurodivergent characters, so I think it's about time. (Laughs).

Ethan G:
Yeah.

Ethan A:
Yeah.

Anthea:
And is it true, did that happen where they went back into the tunnel and they found, um, some more evidence or is that a fiction that the show, that you've created for the show?

Ethan A:
Oh.

Anne:
It's fictional.

Ethan A:
It's fictional. (laughs) It's fiction. Um, I did hear that some people believe that this is a true story, it's not, it's completely fiction. Um, we did use the Helensburgh Tunnel because there's reports about it being haunted, um, by a ghost from over a hundred years now, um, longer than that. Um, and we did hear stories about glowworms being in the tunnel. So they play a part in the story. I can't exactly say how you gotta come and see the show to find out, folks.

Anthea:
That sounds really beautiful. I'm sure you've done something amazing and theatrical with those glowworms.

Ethan A:
(Laughs) Yeah.

Anthea:
You say on your website, "We explore universal themes from a unique perspective and aim to find the fantastical in the mundane," which I think is so really beautiful. Can you talk a little bit to the unique perspective that you bring to this story of mystery and horror?

Ethan A:
Uh, spectacle. Um, I don't know if I have the answer for that exactly, but-

Anthea:
Do you wanna maybe, um, have a go at that one, Anne-Louise?

Anne:
Yeah. I think it's in the, I suppose the person who is, is corralling all the ideas and then sort of workshopping what the material, the, um, ensemble give me into, um, so it's a bit of an iterative process really. There's lots of ideas and we start exploring, improvising, doing different things and then what could this story be? I suppose for me, um, the unique perspective is, it just starts with the idea in the first place. And I think, um, I think you responded to this earlier and there were, I feel in the previous two shows, the unique perspective has been very much like, um, I'm a person with a disability who works at an Australian disability enterprise. This is what I feel about the wage case and this is what I feel about working in a place like this and [inaudible 00:13:27].
And then we kind of made that heightened by intersecting it with this sort of, we had the mundane world of the, um, of the workplace and then out of that world came, um, WWE (laughs) kind of fighting kind of thing, which is the fun part of it and it's sort of treating it like a battle of, a power battle, I suppose a bit of a David and Goliath thing. Um, and something that happened similarly, we took, um, the idea of, uh, the-

Ethan G:
Dreams?

Anne:
Sorry?

Ethan G:
Is it Dreams?

Anne:
Oh, yeah Dreams. So like the dream of being an actor or being famous and then we sort of said what if there was a, an ad for some, like a global film company is looking for, is casting a new production of, um, of Of Mice and Men and so then we started this idea which we've kind of taken into this show where, um, of course there's someone in our cast who could play Lennie quite easily and, um, it was like everyone else went, "Well, I don't want to play Lennie" or "I want to play Curley" or "I want to be Curley's wife" or "What if I could be any of these cases or if I didn't want to, um, audition for that at all." So we sort of are looking at that as kind of, again, from the place of disability, whereas this one, it's sort of the Seven who go missing, uh, to, to sort of riff on the Yuba County Five story, uh, referred to as people with a disability.
Um, but then this, the characters that everyone plays, like Ethan mentioned, isn't a person with a disability. So I think there's something kind of, I mean, you said bold, I should say radical in that, but, um, (laughs) uh, that it's a kind of perspective through that lens rather than always through a disability lens of um, I want to play that role. So then how does, um, an actor who's perceived to have a disability just play a character that doesn't identify as having a disability? So that for me is where, um, this show is interesting because, or not, because in the sense of like it, it shouldn't be an issue in a way.

Anthea:
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Um, and I know that often your ensemble works with music. Is there music in The Seven as well?

Ethan A:
Um, Oh, you go.

Ethan G:
Um, it's more like a spooky music and it's like kind of like, if it's like a character who is like, like, um, the Truth Talking Tony, it's like, um, playful kind of one.

Anne:
Yeah, we have a character called Truth Talking Tony played by Malcolm, one of the ensemble members and, uh, he's our conspiracy theorist. And he actually has the one song in the show (laughs).

Ethan G:
Yeah.

Anne:
He's got a jingle that he sings. Um, he's got two songs actually. It's a jingle for his podcast and his ad, his, um, his sponsor ad. Um, so we have that, but yeah, I mean, what's been really great with this is that we have a team of creatives that work with us a lot. So Darrell Wallace has worked with us pretty much since the very beginning, like myself has been at the beginning of sort of forming this practice here at Merrigong, um, and he's our musical director, um, and on this one our sound designer. So he's worked with us on everything.
Um, and for our last, what I say, sort of this show, so four shows now, Katya Hunt, as our production des- designer has been working with us on all those shows. But someone who's new to the working with us is Emma Saunders, who is an incredible, um, choreographer dancer. She's our movement designer. And so Greenie has, um, even though there's not a song for Greenie this time, he's actually doing a kind of dance, aren't you? There's a-

Ethan G:
Yeah.

Anne:
There's a lot of movement in the show that's kind of, not necessarily dance, but, um, the movement's been thought about, uh, how we're moving in the space because there's quite a big space to fill as well, the town hall. So that's been quite a challenge hasn't it?

Ethan G:
Yeah.

Ethan A:
Yeah.

Anthea:
Yeah. I've worked with Emma Saunders, she's absolutely amazing.

Anne:
Isn't she?

Ethan G:
Yeah.

Anne:
Yeah.

Anthea:
Yeah. And so fun. And just, yeah, that must be absolutely brilliant.

Anne:
Yeah, we have, had a great time with Emma on a Tuesday. Yeah.

Ethan G:
Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. (laughs).

Anthea:
So you're opening in a couple of weeks, um, I'm assuming you're working more than on, just on Fridays at the moment. What part of production are you at now?

Ethan A:
Pretty much rehearsals, um, trying to just make, uh, mostly rehearsals. We're about... We've been rehearsing some scenes all day, um, just getting, just working out where, how the scene works, where how everyone is portrayed.

Anne:
Yeah, so we're in full-time rehearsals now, so we're, we're-

Ethan A:
Pretty much full-time.

Anne:
Yeah, yeah. So starting last week with a full, four week full-time rehearsal crew, which is really great to just get stuck in, isn't it?

Ethan A:
Yeah.

Anthea:
And when do you move into the town hall?

Ethan A:
We already did.

Anthea:
Oh, fantastic. So you're getting to rehearse in your space.

Ethan A:
Yeah.

Anne:
Yeah. We've been very spoiled.

Anthea:
That's luxurious.

Ethan G:
(Laughs) Yeah.

Anne:
Yeah.

Anthea:
Yeah. Fantastic. Anne-Louise, is there anything else you want to add in terms of, um, what audiences should know about the show before they come along?

Anne:
Well, I think, um, it, it's again, what I find so wonderful working with the ensemble is that, uh, each show is uniquely its own thing and yet, um, the ensemble stays the same.

Anthea:
Yeah.

Anne:
So I feel like the imaginative space with which the ensemble works always provides audiences with a treat, like a real treat of something special and unique. The audience always love the ensemble shows.

Ethan A:
Yeah.

Ethan G:
Yeah.

Anne:
And I think this one again is going to be different again, so it's going to confound expectations on all kinds of levels. Um, but also now that we've got a bit of the following here, I think it will also, without expectations of the kind of work, um, the ensemble makes, because it's different yet again, which I think is really powerful.

Ethan G:
Yeah.

Anthea:
I love that you've changed form. I think that's so exciting to go, "We're going to do a cold case, we're going to do a mystery."

Anne:
Yeah.

Anthea:
And Ethan Arnold and Ethan Green, is there anything else you'd like audiences to know before they come and see the show?

Ethan G:
Um, I know I've been, um, um, I've been say, uh, well, not too much from, um, my parents, I think, um, well, it's gonna be, um, good, it's gonna be awesome, it's gonna be big and great and, yeah.

Anne:
Epic. That's the word.

Ethan G:
Yeah. Epic. Epic. (Laughs). Yeah.

Anthea:
Epic. Okay. And what about you, Ethan Arnold? Is there something you'd like to add?

Ethan A:
Um, if you guys, um, um... Yeah (laughs). So I'm just trying to get my words right. Um, this is gonna be, I mean, if you guys have probably heard, we're doing something along the lines of horror and mystery, uh, I assure you this show is just... Well, it's a different to all the other things we've done because we do different things all the time. I still feel we got that, this same call in it. So I'm pretty sure you won't be surprised. (Laughs).

Anthea:
Okay. Fantastic. Thank you so much for joining me today.

Anne:
Thank you. [inaudible 00:20:37].

Ethan A:
Thank you.

Ethan G:
Yeah, thank you. Thank you.

Anthea:
And I hope your season goes really, really well.

Ethan G:
Yeah, thank you.

Ethan A:
Thank you.

Anne:
Have a seat there.

Anthea:
The Seven is playing at the Wollongong Town Hall from the 21st to the 29th of November, and there's a Q&A with the company on the 26th. I hope you can get along, and bookings can be made through Merrigong.com.au. More information in the show notes.
Welcome back to 2RPH with Sideshow. Liz Cooper, thanks for joining me again this month.

Liz:
It's great to be back, Anthea. Thanks for having me.

Anthea:
So what are you seeing and not seeing this month?

Liz:
What I am going to this month is Sydney's Inner West Inclusion Festival. It's centered around the International Day of People with Disability, and this festival is just growing every year. This is a free festival. It has events running from the 29th of November until the 14th of December, and it's created proudly by people with disability for the whole community to enjoy. And as I mentioned before, the entire program is free. There's film screenings, art exhibitions, talks, some creative workshops, which look very cool, and inclusive sport and recreation activities, including Hydro Disco Art Pool Party, run by artists, Amy Claire Mills and Bedelia Lowrencev, who, as we know, are friends of the program, uh, with the powerhouse Midnight Feast crew for an access-led water aerobics dance and pool party, which sounds so fun.
For all the information, go to the Inner West Council website. There's just so much to do, and I am going to many of these free events that I think we might be going to one together, Anthea.

Anthea:
Please tell me that Amy is making her giant inflatables.

Liz:
Yes, she is. She is. I'm really excited.

Anthea:
That's gonna be so fun.

Liz:
So, so fun.

Anthea:
And what is it that you're not getting to see?

Liz:
What I'm not able to go to is the opening night and program launch of the other film festival, run by Arts Access Victoria and hosted by Acme in Melbourne. This event is on the 12th of November. It's both online and in person. I'm just not able to go to either. The other film festival is a disability-led film festival, which is now in its 21st year, which I thought was very cool. Celebrating deaf and disabled screen work, the festival has a big focus on Australian short films, documentaries, and feature films.
The opening night will be streaming, as I mentioned, online, as well as in person, and they will be awarding the 2025 Stella Young Award on the night, which is really exciting. The other film festival runs from the 12th of November until the 3rd of December, and it screens both in person in Acme's Cinema 3 and online Australia-wide. So while I'm not able to attend the launch night, either in person or online, I will certainly be watching a lot of the films online from that program. If you want more information, the Arts Access Victoria website has all the information you need.

Anthea:
I'll be sure to put all of that in the show notes, and I'm so pleased you've recommended an online event because I know a lot of our listeners find it really difficult to get to in-person shows, and it's just so great to see some online access. Hey, thanks so much for joining me, Liz.

Liz:
Thank you for having me. I look forward to next month.

Anthea:
To take us out, I have Queensland-based band and sibling trio, Favourite Kid with Setback.

MUSIC:
Oh, oh, oh, oh.
Hi yi yi ya.
Oh, oh, oh, oh.
Hi yi yi ya.
I hit a setback.
I must have had it too good in the position I had.
Oh, it hurts bad.
It's the waiting that I can't stand.
You see the harder I work.
And the more that I bleed.
Keeps me moving to the place of me that I'd like to reach.
And though progressed a few steps and had a moment to breathe.
I'm going to roll right up again just like how I like my sleeves.
Hi yi yi ya hi yi yi ya.
I didn't give all I had just to make it this far.
Hi yi yi ya hi yi yi ya.
You seem just like that I was back with my nose to the stone.
Oh, oh, oh, oh.
Rock bottoms hard.
I've been down there so much I got a membership card.
But it takes heart.
To be further than you were at the start.
I had a setback caught off track.
Whatever you wanna call it.
Had a bunch of plans and places.
Now most of them will be pausing.
Though it's happened before.
The man I once was is gone.
A bad decision's only bad if you don't know what went wrong.
Hi yi yi ya hi yi yi ya.
I didn't give all I had just to make it this far.
Hi yi yi ya hi yi yi ya.
You see and just like that I was back with my nose to the stone.
Oh, oh, oh, oh.
A setback shows you what you used to be.
And though the comfort zone is comforting.
I won't be down here for long.
Just gotta gather my thoughts.
Once I see a chance I'll take it, I'll be standing on top.
Hi yi yi ya hi yi yi ya.
I didn't give all I had just to make it this far.
Hi yi yi ya hi yi yi ya.
You see and just like that I was back with my nose to the stone.
Oh, oh, oh, oh.
I hit a setback caught off track.
Whatever you wanna call it.
Had a bunch of plans and places.
Now most of it will be pausing.
Though it's happened before.
The man I once was is gone.
A bad decision's only bad if you don't know what went wrong.