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Reviews

22 Oct 2019

Just waiting for my invite back to their Christmas party...

RENNIE'S MANSION I didn't really know what to expect from La Boite's Open Homes program. The premise is this: meet in a public spot, visit the home of a regular Brisbanite and hear their story. Stepping into the house of a stranger, with a bunch of other strangers,...

RENNIE’S MANSION

I didn’t really know what to expect from La Boite’s Open Homes program.

The premise is this: meet in a public spot, visit the home of a regular Brisbanite and hear their story.

Stepping into the house of a stranger, with a bunch of other strangers, could be many things…voyeuristic, fun, weird, cramped – who knows!

I’m glad to report that my experience of Open Homes was fabulous!

At “Rennie’s Mansion” we met Dee, Rennie and Oscar – a creative family who likes to collect things.

Their Queenslander cottage was adorned with many objects indeed.

What I loved was not only the story of collecting such objects, but how many of the items were being used – Rennie’s Mansion is far from a museum, it’s a living, breathing house where everyone is made to feel welcome.

My favourite moment was when they told us that they didn’t mind when glasses got smashed or something was broken; it wasn’t about preserving objects, it was about using them and sharing them with family, friends, loved ones and even strangers.

Open Homes is a lovely piece of theatre, if one cares to designate it as such (there’s absolutely no fourth wall here!).

It’s intimate and sweet; it took me back to my uni days turning up at a house party and hanging out in the kitchen with the parents of whoever’s party it was asking them questions about their lives (I clearly wasn’t a raging teenager).

Most of all, Open Homes, makes you consider what’s going on behind the doors of houses and apartments all around town.

“Rennie’s Mansion” was one story among a town of millions.

Be curious. Step into someone else’s world, even if just for one night.

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21 Oct 2019

I loved Love Is Love!

LOVE IS LOVE I’ve been excited about the Open Homes programme from the moment I heard about it months ago, so to finally get to go to one of these was a dream! Trying to explain the concept to the person I invited certainly raised some eyebrows; we...

LOVE IS LOVE

I’ve been excited about the Open Homes programme from the moment I heard about it months ago, so to finally get to go to one of these was a dream!

Trying to explain the concept to the person I invited certainly raised some eyebrows; we would be meeting people we don’t know on a random Brisbane street and taken to a random Brisbane house to hear people talk about themselves, but sometimes you just have to take a chance and see where life leads you.

This day it led me to a creek, a jacaranda tree and a production called Love Is Love.

Set in a humble, gorgeous house in leafy northern Brisbane, its vibrant residents took us into their home; Angela Chaplin into her stunning lounge room and David Gerrand into his workshop and pride and joy in their backyard.

They told tales of travel, life, family, love and everything in between; interwoven with props, or rather their belongings, things they live with in their home.

Both Angela and David had delightful ways of telling their tales; Angela’s passionate love of the arts was so beautiful to hear and listening to David speak of his love of his family and in particular, his grandchildren was so heart-warming.

Their experience in presenting theatre, this time in their own house, was certainly obvious.

While at times I struggled to find a common theme amongst their stories, I was certainly not disappointed.

I went expecting a theatre production and left feeling like I had engaged in a conversation with a neighbour, which perhaps is the theme in itself.

What a delight to pause and listen to the experiences of people appreciating their lives.

Something we don’t do enough and one of the reasons the arts are so important.

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Summary

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OPEN HOMES

25 Oct-10 Nov 2019

Various locations across Brisbane

Presented by La Boite and Backbone

The doors of local homes will be flung open over three weekends as residents invite us into their private spaces and enchant us with personal stories, histories and anecdotes.

Facilitated by Brisbane-based theatre-makers, each 30-minute performance will deliver an intimate view of the heartbreak and humour, comedy and chaos, and domestic dramas and dreams that take place in our apartment buildings, Queenslanders and neighbourhoods across the city.