THE world is full of ordinary people in ordinary towns.
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But ordinary people, with courage, can do extraordinary things.
The premise of HotHouse Theatre's new show All The Shining Lights is captivating on any level but it really resonates given its enthralling Border spin.
Narrator (Rachel McNamara) grounds the audience for an ordinary day in an aged care home with humour, grace and generous lashings of beige. A beige meal tray, beige food, beige everything.
Here we meet resident John (John Walker), who is cantankerous, lonely and simply waiting to die.
When 11-year-old schoolgirl Charli (Ruby Davis) enters John's world by way of a school assignment, it sets up an interplay that has the audience in stitches, sobbing quietly (or embarrassingly snorting) and questioning everything.
Their developing relationship reveals the pearls of wisdom and courage that help us forge meaningful lives.
Never preachy in tone, All The Shining Lights invites us to consider the things in life that really matter.
Fewer Instagram-worthy moments and more time spent connecting with family, chosen family and community.
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The stunningly clever set by Sophie Woodward (Melbourne Theatre Company, Red Stitch and HotHouse Theatre) propels this heroic homegrown story with a seamless spin from Monument Hill to Sunset Oaks Retirement Village to the cockpit of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines DC-2 UIVER.
Whether or not you're familiar with the story of the emergency landing of the Dutch plane at Albury Racecourse in 1934, you will have never seen it done quite like this before.
John and Charli captivate the audience with humour and heart as they bond over the retelling of the international event that put Albury on the map.
The dialogue is spellbinding and the special effects to try to land the plane are out of this world.
Three years in the making amid a global pandemic, All The Shining Lights was conceived by Carm Hogan, created by Carm Hogan and Brendan Hogan and directed by Karla Conway.
Without any doubt, it speaks volumes on love and life to school kids and adults of all ages. The standing ovation from a full house on Friday night only proved it!
If you need a boost, don't miss your boarding call for this spectacular show running in Wodonga until Saturday.
- All The Shining Lights runs on Tuesday at 7pm; Thursday at 11am and 7pm; Friday at 7pm; and Saturday at 2pm and 7pm. Bookings: hothousetheatre.com.au
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