DIRECTOR
Presented by The Space Company
Chapel Off Chapel, February 2022 and National Tour, March - July 2022
Stardust tells the story of bandleader and trumpet player, Col Brain. Before he died, Col placed his most prized life possessions into a cupboard and locked it up, never to be opened again. But what was inside? Told through the eyes of his grandson – award winning ABC presenter & performer, Joel Carnegie – herein lies the discovery of a time capsule of Australian musical life, in a heart-warming quest to uncover what Col wanted us to know about his life by the things he left behind.
The Mission follows the journey of “Fighting Gunditjmara” man, Allan McDonald – one of the first Aboriginal soldiers from Victoria to enlist for war. He fought at Gallipoli and Beersheba, only to be denied a soldier’s settlement on his ultimate return to Australia and forced from his land at the Lake Condah Mission. This captivating and rollicking story, told by his great, great nephew, Gunditjmara man Tom Molyneux, tells the truth of Uncle Allan’s struggle; fighting for Country, for love, and for justice.
Experience this award-winning double bill and meet two ordinary individuals, whose extraordinary lives still reverberate to this day.
Stardust - Written and Performed by Joel Carnegie
The Mission - Written and Performed by Tom Molyneux
Producer: Joel Carnegie
Composer: Nadie Noordhuis
Dramaturg: James Jackson
Lighting + Spatial Designer: Bronwyn Pringle
Sound Designer: Justin Gardam
WINNER
Best Performer (Independent Theatre) to Tom Molyneux for The Mission,
Green Room Awards, 2023
Photography: Sarah Walker
Directors Notes
At first glance, the stories of Colin Brain and Alan McDonald don’t seem to have much in common - a white Australian man who devoted his life to music against endless setback and a First Nations Australian man who fought in the First World War and was never given the respect from his country that he deserved. Both Stardust and The Mission were developed independently, Joel and Tom each delving into the histories of these significant men in their ancestry, but in truth, they were never conceived as a single piece. And yet, when placed side-by-side, common themes and concerns emerge. Both men have dreams and ambitions thwarted by duty and responsibility. Both men (to varying degrees) are faced with obstacles and systems built to make them feel lesser than they are. And ultimately, both men find ways towards some sort of fulfilment, despite what they lose and sacrifice along the way.
At the same time, they also work beautifully in contrast. Stardust is the classic Australian narrative of hard work and a fair go overcoming adversity. We know men like Col and their struggles, echoes of the stories of countless grandparents growing up during the Depression, the Second World War and the post-war boom. It’s a magical story of the Australian suburbs, where the meaning of a life is defined by the objects and icons we leave behind, in this case the music that defined his love, his life and his relationships, and the impact we have on those around us.
Alan’s story, for most Australians, is far less familiar. Most won’t have been aware that First Nations soldiers fought at Gallipoli, the defining event of Australian identity. Most also won’t have been aware that these soldiers were so easily cast aside when they returned, while their white comrades were hailed as heroes. The Mission is just as much a celebration of an extraordinary life as Stardust, but it’s also a subtly damning statement on one of the most insidious weapons of colonialism, the act of forced forgetting. There’s a reason many Australians won’t have heard a story like Alan’s before, and it speaks right to the heart of our complex and uncomfortable national identity.
Another important aspects unites Stardust and The Mission, and that is the storytellers themselves. Both Joel and Tom have spent years trying to discover as much as they can about these two men they never met, to understand who they were and the worlds they came from, and in the process have discovered much about themselves, where they come from, the blood that flows through their veins. It establishes a connection across time. For Joel, it comes as a shared belief with the power of music. For Tom, it is a deeper understanding of ancestry and Country. These two works are the culmination of that connection, taking these stories and speaking them aloud, making them whole, letting them shimmer in the telling.
As all great memory plays should be, Stardust and The Mission evoke ghosts from the past, and as Joel and Tom learn from the voices of Col and Alan, so do we. Together these two men remind us what it is to be a good parent, a good partner, a good collaborator, a good citizen, to have integrity, to have ambitions, to believe in the power of being heard and remembered. A reminder of what it is to be Australian.
