A Tasmanian university theatre society is tackling the realities of aged care in Australia with a satirical new show featuring an alien slug, dance numbers and a pointed message about how the country treats its elderly.
Waterworks, written and directed by Joshua Scott, runs from July 22 to August 1 at the Peacock Theatre in the Salamanca Arts Centre in Hobart.
Scott said he wrote the play after witnessing his own grandmother’s struggles in a retirement living village.
“I wrote the story after an incident, some incidents that occurred with my own grandmother,” he said.
The show is set in a retirement community where a new resident moves in with some unusual quirks and is eventually revealed to be a giant alien slug.
Scott said the comedic premise carries a serious core message about care for elderly Australians.
“It offers the audience to question because we all have someone we know who’s living in residential care,” he said.
He said the show felt especially relevant after the Royal Commission into aged care that followed the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
“I think everyone was incredibly shocked to know the reality of what’s been going on,” he said.
Scott said it’s also the first time the society has staged a show tackling a societal issue directly, comparing the approach to the Uni Revue style of taking what’s in the zeitgeist and presenting it on stage.
The cast ranges in age from around 25 to 50, with the younger performers representing the inner humanity of their elderly characters.
“What you’re seeing here is the humanity of these individuals that are living in this system,” Scott said.
The production, with an all-Tasmanian cast and crew, is put on by PLoT Theatre, the University of Tasmania’s theatre society, which has been running for more than 30 years.
The show runs for around 90 minutes at the Peacock Theatre in Salamanca.
