SLIPWAY THEATRE

Emerging from the slipway at Cockatoo Island (Wareamah) the theatre sits on the intersecting lands and waters of the Wallumedegal, Wangal, Cammeraygal and Gadigal peoples whose traditional custodianship has never been ceded. Situated atop layered pasts, this project understands theatre as a form of speculation that engages audiences with a traversal through alternate histories. As an immersive theatre, the journey is experienced architecturally through a series of pavilions or acts, cued by Gluck’s opera ‘Orfeo ed Euridice.’ Where the myth takes us into the underworld, this theatre descends below the structure of a pier, guiding us into its surrounding waters.

[ACT 1 / Entry + Box Office] “Passing through a lonely grove of laurels and cypresses.”

[ACT 2 / Cafe + Kitchen] “Pausing for a drink between the Gates of Hades”

[ACT 3 / Auditorium + Theatre] “Blessed spirits of the Elysian Fields in rehearsal.”

[ACT 4 / Exit] “Gazing up from the dark labyrinth leading out of Hades.”

[ACT 5 / Shop] “Memorabilia from the Temple of Love.”