THE CANE
By Fen Carter
DATES
VENUE
March 23 & 24
Studio1, Yeerongpilly
CREATIVES
CAST
Playwright Fen Carter
Director Grace Longwill
Dramaturg Alex Macdonald
d/Deaf Consultant Neil Wood
Intimacy Coordinator Jacqui Somerville
Choreography Martelle Simon-Green
Liam Wallis
Tahlia Downs
Jade Clarke
Riley Finn Anderson
TICKETS
SHOWINGS
Adult $25
Concession/Student/MEAA $20
Wheelchair $20
Sat March 23rd 3pm
Sun March 24th 5:30pm
A Work-In-Progress Showing
A new play by Fen Carter. At turns hauntingly beautiful and viscerally atmospheric, The Cane is a meditation on the lives we make for ourselves in order to survive, the things that bind us to our past, and the easy isolation that can befall remote communities.
A run-down sugarcane farm in North Queensland. A brother and sister remain. Pandora stays to honour the passing of their mother and sister. Peter cannot bring himself to protest. The house is falling apart, the curling wallpaper filled with unspeakable memories. And boy next door William, with his eyes set on bigger things, has the two of them in the palm of his hand.
As part of this play's creative development, this is a staged reading and will include a short discussion with creatives and actors, plus opportunities to ask questions and submit feedback.
Artwork by Peta Kishawi.
WARNINGS
This production contains strong coarse language, depictions of alcoholism and discussion of mental health issues
ACCESSIBILITY
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GETTING HERE
Catch this show at Studio1 in Yeerongpilly (190 Station Road). Free street parking is available along Station Road or catch the train into Yeerongpilly Station for a 10 minute walk to the venue.
In development...
From The Writer
I wrote my first words for (what would eventually become) The Cane when I was about 11 years old: "Will Linland was an unusual boy. Not many people liked him." When you are young and awkward and stuck on a cane farm for a few months, writing stories about William and his Two Best Friends in the Whole World is a good way to pass the time.
The original stories are grand, melodramatic and simple in a way only first time writers can be. There were castle ruins and secret villages and an ocean behind the mountains that you could never reach but always hear. Like in the best YA, parents were strangely absent from the childrens' lives. The only adult figure was an adversarial hermit that lived in the mountain castle.
Years later, I was asked to write some words at uni and the image of a boy and his best friends returned to me, but in my time away they had calcified. Now in their late 20s, they had to reckon with their parents' absences (I thank my beloved Steph Elliot for dealing with my rambles as I fought through the ways in which I was deviating from my own little stories). When I finally returned to writing after the Great Lockdown of 2020, of course it would be to this little house in the Cane Field. It was inescapable. I had to find a way to let them leave.
I think this story is one version of the process. These characters are so dear to me that I will probably return to the Fields at some point and write their leaving again. But for now at least they got their chance to see what lies beyond the sea-cane.
I want to thank Alex for it's open ear, kind words, and path-light, and Lachlan for giving me the space and chance. It has been one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life to see my childhood imaginary friends, to hear them, and to know that other people also see the good bones. And of course, I want to thank you, the audience for coming and listening. After this development season I don't know what will happen: it may get a full production, it may just remain on paper. Either way, I am very grateful to everyone for the time and energy that they have given me and my sweethearts.
The only way out and all that. Love, Fen