Based on a true story, this intergenerational family show is a magnificent tale of courage and wisdom, of owning your own story and the legacy we leave behind. Think ABC's Old People's Home For Teenagers meets David Walliams' Grandpa's Great Escape and you’ve got All the Shining Lights: The Great Uiver Rescue of 1934.
Captivates the audience with humour and heart.
The world is full of ordinary people in ordinary towns.
But ordinary people, with courage, can do extraordinary things.
All the Shining Lights is a story about courage and wisdom.
A story about Charli and John and an aeroplane — one young, one old, all lost.
Charli is bold, headstrong and desperate to soar over the hurdles life throws in her way. John is old, bitter and afraid of what comes next. The Uiver is an aeroplane caught up in a storm with no map, no guide, and nowhere to land.
At a time when so much of the world feels lost and adrift, Charli flies into John’s room at Sunset Oaks and into his heart. Together they unlock the dramatic rescue of the Uiver plane and the little pearls of wisdom we all need, to face life and to face death.
This is a story of then and now and what is yet to come.
Based on the emergency landing of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines DC-2 ‘UIVER’ , Albury Racecourse, 1934.
The play is inspired by the true story of the great Uiver rescue in 1934, which saw the people of Albury Wodonga orchestrate the extraordinary emergency landing of a commercial airliner on the Albury Racecourse during the London to Melbourne Centenary Air Race.
During the early development of this work, it became apparent that all of the people who were champions of the Uiver legacy were all getting on in age. Among the many local historians, aviation experts, museum curators and those volunteering to rebuild the plane itself with the Uiver Memorial Trust, we were struck by the lack of young people involved. It was clear that if we wanted to pass this legacy on, we had to entrust the story to a young person. The choice to cast 10-year-old Ruby Davis as Charli felt urgent and necessary. We had to walk the walk and Ruby was a shining talent – ready to take on the challenge!
What surprised us was how important the work became to our elder audience – it was a call back to their childhood dreams and a reminder that no matter your age it’s never too late to be adventurous.
HotHouse Theatre is a regional creative powerhouse and first-class incubator of new Australian work, with a celebrated 25-year history of commissioning, developing, producing and presenting contemporary Australian Theatre in a vibrant regional centre. HotHouse engages locally and impacts nationally, bringing regional stories to national stages.
Photography credits – Paul McCormack
If you are interested in touring get in contact!
Arts on Tour
02 8038 1880
touring@artsontour.com.au
Arts on Tour is based in Redfern NSW and we respectfully acknowledge the Gadigal people as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the unceded land on which we work.
As we tour artists and productions across these vast lands, we pay our respect to all First Nations Elders, past, present and future.
We celebrate their continuing connection and contribution to culture, country and community, and thank all First Nations peoples for their wisdom in caring for the land, the sky, the rivers and the sea.