SUNCOAST Community Legal Services (SCLS) will stage an original theatre production in a cautionary tale where a family’s ambitions collide with the law.
The home-grown drama, Piano Forte, is the service’s first original theatre production, and will be staged at venues in Buderim, Noosa and Nambour later this month (20, 22 and 24 September respectively).
Piano Forte is a fictional drama about a Power of Attorney under pressure, a baby on the way, and a much-loved family matriarch for whom life will never be the same.
In keeping with the musical reference that is the title of the production, the central character, Eliza, finds herself ‘played’ by the dynamics of life but a fateful event steels her to take stock and overcome her vulnerabilities.
Piano Forte has been developed as a special project by the SCLS’s Toni Wills and a creative team of theatre professionals, including director Lucas Stibbard and cast members Mary Eggleston, Cameron Clark and Rainee Skinner.
Although it is delivered as entertainment first and foremost, Piano Forte also introduces the audience to the subtleties of elder law issues and what can happen when well-intentioned forward planning goes wrong.
SCLS principal solicitor Julian Porter said educating people on various aspects of wills, estates and Powers of Attorney are the “bread and butter” of community lawyers.
“After many years of delivering formal community legal education sessions at local libraries and community halls, we felt the time was right to shine a light on these subjects in a new way,” he said.
Creator Ms Wills said she feels an original theatre production is the perfect vehicle for the Service to deliver information and, at the same time, bring the themes to life in a compelling narrative that affords the audience both a “thinking and feeling” experience.
“The themes arising from these areas of the law are ripe for storytelling – trust, money, power, responsibility and family conflict. It’s a theatre production that is designed to move minds,” she said.
Piano Forte will be performed at the Noosa Arts Theatre on Thursday 22 September at 2pm and again at 7pm. Tickets are $10 per adult and $5 for seniors and concession. For more information or to buy tickets, visit www.suncoastcommunitylegal.org/events or phone 5443 7827. Door sales will be subject to availability.
