By Luke Voogt
Bushrangers, settlers and ladies of the night will step out of the pages of history onto Johnstone Park on Saturday afternoon.
Heather Threadgold joins a cast of six in the free show taking locals back to 1850s Geelong.
“What better way to share local history – especially colonial history – than with the locals walking and talking,” the Geelong West historian and anthropologist said.
Dr Threadgold has taken nearly 3000 people on her Threading Gold Walking Tours in Geelong in the past three years, drawing on two decades of study.
The first tours were “absolutely” out of her comfort zone, she admitted.
“I was pretty shy growing up,” she said.
“I’m not a trained actress – I don’t know where these accents and characters come from, but they emerge when you put on a costume.
“And it’s knowing the history. They’re all true stories.”
She and the cast will time-travel from Corio Bay through The Bush Inn, Western Gully – now Gordon Avenue – and end up in old Geelong Gaol.
The show contains true tales of grit and squalor, bushranger exploits and little-known historical facts about Geelong, according Dr Threadgold, who plays Elizabeth, a real ‘lady of the night’ from history.
“It’s about the real people – not the mayors and councillors,” she said.
Waddarrung cast members Melinda Kennedy and Barry Gilson explore the parallel history of local Indigenous people as Europeans settled.
Geelong council supported the project through an arts grant, and has just announced a $30,000 Arts Industry Development Fund to help the sector recover from COVID-19.
Show details: murriyul.com/blog. Fund details: geelongaustralia.com.au/arts.
Luke Voogt
