Four plays, six actors, one stunning rural location – stories of our past come to life in Drought & Other Plays by Millicent Armstrong. Set against the backdrop of Lanyon Homestead, Music Theatre Projects presents the production on Sunday 24 September.

Written by WWI nurse, soldier settler farmer and educated woman, Millicent Armstrong, her works transcend drama, thriller and laugh-out-loud comedies. Each piece allows the audience to step back in time and experience what life was like in Australia’s wartime era through the eyes of a woman.

“The subject matter is really striking, some of them are quite dark and say a lot about the lifestyle that people would have had on modest farms in regional Australia; the difficulty of that and dealing with natural disasters,” says project director, Dianna Nixon.

Developed for shearing sheds, historic homesteads and community halls, Ms Nixon says the venues will give the audience a connection to the history of the place and to the story. Hoping to take the production across regional Australia, the technical aspects are minimal, requiring just the custom-made soundtrack.

“There’s no microphones, there’s no fancy lighting, but we’ve got this incredible atmosphere that we create with the soundtrack, which includes some elements of voiceover,” she says.

Managing director of Music Theatre Projects, Ms Nixon first discovered Armstrong’s works in 2016 while looking to buy a property in the Gunning area. Coming across the playwright’s Wikipedia entry, Ms Nixon was amazed she hadn’t heard of Armstrong before. Instantly connecting with the work, she began her journey to get the pieces in front of audiences.

“It’s written from the perspective of someone who has really lived a very rich life, who’s lived in remote rural Australia who had known the realities of living on a farm … She honed her storytelling craft while she was a nurse during the First World War in France.”

Caring for injured soldiers, Armstrong created short plays in English and French to take their minds off their situation, Ms Nixon says. The WWI nurse had a lot of insight into human nature and lots of stories to tell, but running a farm meant she lacked time to write a long-form play.

From 15 to 40 minutes’ duration, each of the four plays take the audience on a different journey over a total run time of two hours. The production will begin in the afternoon and finish before dark. There will be a short break between each play, no lengthy intermission, and between the third and fourth plays the audience will be invited to move location.

Attendees should bring their own fold-up chairs and leave the kids at home; the production is for audiences aged 15 years and over. Presented as part of the first Floriade programming at at Lanyon Homestead, Ms Nixon says that it just worked for the venue to be included. Music Theatre Projects will also present the show in a few regional locations, including Yass and Merimbula.

According to Ms Nixon, the show will attract the usual crowds of theatre lovers, creatives and filmmakers as well as people who don’t often get to the theatre.

“We’ve had quite a few people from farming backgrounds come to see the play and who have written very emotional responses to seeing it, particularly Drought. It’s just an incredibly beautifully written duet between a farmer and his wife during the Federation drought,” she says.

Ms Nixon believes lovers of history will also find themselves immersed in the production, especially at Lanyon Homestead. The mix of beautiful words, the rich history of our region and the idyllic location create an experience that she hopes will stay with the audience and leave them eager to discover more of Armstrong’s works.

“I’m hoping that all the venues will be magical, but this one will be very special. It’s the first time we will have tried it at a heritage homestead, which was always my goal to have it be something we could do on the grounds of some of our famous properties,” she smiles.

See Drought & Other Plays by Millicent Armstrong at Lanyon Homestead, Tharwa on Sunday 24 September 4pm; 123tix.com.au

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