Trevor Keeling

This re-working of William Shakespeare’s most political of plays, Julius Caesar, has epic proportions – from the impressive Romanesque set with its Doric columns towering some seven metres above the outdoor stage to the special stylised world that has been created, inhabited by a cast that conveyed every nuance of text and meaning. It’s a fitting way to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Townsville’s annual Shakespeare in the Park.

New writing is alive and well in Townsville, and TheatreiNQ has once more delivered with a production that has local roots but also universal appeal. Artistic director Terri Brabon commissions new work (last year’s Watersong was a stellar example) but her own writing largely goes under the radar in the face of her more visible work as a director. In this case, she has tackled possibly the hardest of genres – comedy. But the result is The Assignment – and it is pure delight.

Watersongrepresents a triumph on many fronts. It is TheatreiNQ’s first ground-breaking foray into presenting quality locally-written First Nations work, an endeavour that Artistic Director Terri Brabon has encouraged and nurtured through the company’s now annual PlayGround Writers Festival, but it also marks the world premiere of a play by Townsville-based First Nations actor and playwright, Shannon Jensen.