In 2022, Someone New is hosting the Theatia Podsie festival, using all-original, locally-written scripts, supported by the City of Greater Geelong.
This year, Someone New Theatre Company is taking up the torch of the annual (and incredible) Theatia Podsie festival, bringing original, Victorian scripts to the stage and the radio.
Australia’s only outward-facing radio theatre festival, this year’s festival features two full-length original productions, ‘like me’ by Glenn Saunders and ‘Turbulence’ by Megan J Riedl, which will be performed as a live reading to an audience at the Eastern Hub in Geelong this weekend, on Friday, June 24 and Saturday, June 25 from 7pm.
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around the region here.
With support from The City of Geelong as part of their COVID-19 arts, culture and heritage grants, Someone New Theatre Company ran a scriptwriting competition over the month of March called Write or Wrong, the prize of which was to be performed and recorded as part of Theatia Podsie.
‘Turbulence’ by Megan J Riedl tells the story of Marion Doyle. Her family farm is in the red and her mother Noreen is struggling with her new identity as a widow after the mysterious death of her husband, Pat. Marion plans to rekindle the mother-daughter relationship by moving Noreen into assisted living nearby to her home in the city but Noreen is adamant she is staying put. When activist Jennifer Young inserts herself into their lives, hoping to use Pat’s death as ammunition against more wind turbines in the area, Marion is morally opposed to her agenda. But if Marion helps to convince Noreen that staying on the farm is dangerous to her health, she might finally win her mother’s love.
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The second production, ‘like me’ by Glenn Saunders, follows Cee and Rosie who plan a girl’s week away. Cee tries to tell Rosie how she feels, but they are interrupted when their friend Dan – whose family’s property they are staying on – arrives, bearing news of lockdowns and them being stranded. As the three friends try to decide what to do, Rosie makes eyes at Dan, and Cee realises her truth is maybe not so easily told. Cee tells Rosie her truth and the two women discuss love, liking, being liked, and what happens next – thanks to Shakespeare, an upside-down map, and Nick Cave blaring out of a car stereo.
The plays will then be recorded in a studio following the live readings.
Proudly showcasing new scripts and adaptations of classic literature, radio plays – and this one in particular – is a monument to the accessible theatre: open to all to record, and open to all to consume.
