The Home Front (ACT)

Step back in time to The Home Front, a piece of improvised theatre exploring the lives of women in Australia during the Great War. Away from the battlefields of WWI, over the course of a month, we follow three women facing the challenges of wartime in country Australia.

This unscripted work gives audiences the opportunity to experience a new story with different characters every night. The actors don’t know who they will portray until the performance starts. Characters are built at the beginning of each show from suggestions made by the audience - from personality traits, training or skills to whether they have loved ones away at war or perhaps information about their relationships with other townsfolk.

The director guides the actors through the performance, creating spontaneous theatre by introducing unexpected props, emotional shifts and plot twists throughout. The actors must respond immediately to whatever direction they receive ensuring each performance is unique.

The piece raises issues of resilience, women’s liberation and relationships between women and community. One hundred years on are we so different from these women? Come and share the laughter and the tears and discover how one war changed individuals as well as a nation.