News Release:
Play casts around for old buckets
| 2/2/04 018/04 While farmers pray for rain, actors from a play about an inventive nun are casting around for buckets. Wooden, metal, children's and general buckets are needed as props for the Armidale production of Hildegard, presented by Barbara Albury and Mabs Buck at the Ursuline Chapel from March 5 to 21 (10 performances only). The buckets will be used as props to signifiy the breaking of a drought in the 11th century, when a group of nuns set up a convent and were forced to wait weeks for water. "Already we have nearly a dozen buckets and their history is pretty fascinating," said Ms Albury, who collected several buckets from antique shops while returning from a holiday in Brisbane. "We only want to borrow the buckets and they can be in any shape or size, but for this production to be a success, we need a large collection of buckets." Playwright John Gunn wrote his work based on the life of Hildegard von Bingen, a devout Benedictine nun born in 1098 who, through her writings, spiritual music and medicines, attracted a band of devotees. She also took on the male hierarchy of Church and State. Presented in Armidale by Ms Albury and Mabs Buck and featuring the Spectrum Musicae Choir, Hildegard is centred on von Bingen's establishment of a new convent, founded during a drought and on a plot where there was just a dry well. The nuns resorted to prayers and buckets to catch the pending rain and it is to evoke this scene for which the buckets are needed. "Eventually, the dry spell broke and the well filled up again," Ms Albury said. The nuns used buckets to carry the water to wash and clean the old church and neglected buildings which became their convent. To make a statement, we would like as many buckets as possible, to fill the chapel."
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Buckets have so far been "trickling in" with local schoolchildren Alyce, 11 and her brother Thomas Inman, nine, to donate theirs for the play. Said Alyce: "We usually make sandcastles with our buckets when we're on holiday at the beach, but I think they will look good in the play." Thomas agreed. "It will be fun to see our buckets at the play. We don't have much need for them," the Ben Venue schoolboy said. Some of the buckets collected so far by Ms Albury and the cast include a copper and brass bucket and a wooden barrel. Most of these were found lying around in back yards, Ms Albury said. "You'd be amazed at what you find when poking around in a garden shed, it is there many people have found what has turned out to be some form of bucket," she said. Tickets to Hildegard cost $15 each, with concessions available and special fund-raiser prices. For this, please ring Barbara Albury on 6772 9529. Previews are on Thursday, March 4 with Opening Night (including a champagne supper) on March 5. Tickets are available from Top Shelf Books (6771 10179) and the Armidale Visitors Centre (6772 4655). To donate a bucket, phone Barbara on 6772 9529. For more information, phone Lydia Clifford on 6773 2779. A photograph showing Mabs Buck, Barbara Albury and Thomas and Alyce Inman is available for download. |
