Bright Shiny and Green Night

Bright Shiny & Green Night are two one-act plays by Kit Lazaroo and directed by Jane Woollard. Bright Shiny is a satire set in Bunnings and in depleted habitats, and Green Night is a dream play set in the mind and abdomen of the protagonist, Coral. As director I set up physical and kinaesthetic improvisations which allowed the actors to create the animal characters. During this process, the actors explored how to be emotionally ‘truthful’ while portraying an animal, while retaining its ‘otherness’. In Green Night, the poetic and abstract language of the play allowed us to move away from literal portrayals of the non-human, and explore how movement might represent concepts of the non-human – how might a coral polyp speak? The project enhanced new knowledge by representing non-humans through traditional theatrical devices such as puppetry, costume and mask, and integrating these with contemporary theatrical forms, such as abstract movement and non-verbal vocal sounds.