1009 Upper Kangaroo River Rd, Upper Kangaroo River, NSW, 2577
Performances:
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FRI 27 Feb @ 7:30pm
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SAT 28 Feb @ 7:30pm
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SUN 1 Mar @ 2pm
VENUE:
UPPER RIVER HALL
1009 Upper Kangaroo River Rd, Upper Kangaroo Valley NSW 2577
Bookings are essential
Ticket Price:
$45 (plus booking fee)
SOLASTALGIA
Solastalgia is a new contemporary theatre work that explores the climate crisis through a deeply personal lens — the feeling of grief we carry as the people and places we love change around us.
The project is inspired by Stephen Dupont’s haunting photo series of the 2019 NSW bushfires Are We Dead Yet – Part 1 which provides the backdrop to this new theatre work.
Through stunning images, live sound, film and performance, Solastalgia is a kind of shared vigil — a moving poem on what it means to mourn in place, and how our sorrow for the land can remind us of how closely we are all interconnected. It deliberately shifts the story away from “How can we save ourselves?” toward “What becomes possible when we turn toward one another?”
Conceived and directed by Sam Chester, Solastalgia was created over a five-week creative residency at Shark Island Kangaroo Valley in collaboration with nine incredible theatre artists and composer Ekrem Eli Phoenix. The work will be supported by a brilliant creative team: set designer Rhys Morris, vision designer Matt Osborne, and director of photography Harry Kielly.
Performers: Will Bastow, Lucinda Howes, Lauren McNaught, Shannon Ryan, Ekrem Eli Phoenix, Sarah Butler and Drew Longbottom.
Sunday’s show will be followed by a Q&A.
ℹ️ The tickets include a drink and nibbles on arrival.
ℹ️ Suitable for mature audiences only (15 years and above).
ℹ️ Venue opens 45 minutes before start time.
Director’s Note
When I first started working at Shark Island Kangaroo Valley in February last year, Ian Darling had the images from Stephen Dupont’s book spread out on the kitchen table, and I was blown away by their scale and the way they seemed to hold the land’s beauty and crisis in the same frame.
From there I began to read more, and to sit with my own recent experience of losing my mother. Around this time, I encountered the work of environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht, who coined the word “solastalgia” to describe the homesickness you feel while still at home as your environment changes in irreversible ways. His ideas resonated so deeply and helped me name something I think many of us feel; that we are living as constant witnesses to disappearance.
The project then grew with the support of Shark Island Kangaroo Valley’s inaugural Story Assembly 2025 — a five-week creative residency bringing together theatre artists to explore embodied performance, collaboration, and the poetry of the natural world. The ideas and themes were then workshopped by nine incredible theatre artists and my long-time collaborator, music composer Ekrem Eli Phoenix, who, alongside a brilliant creative team including set designer Rhys Morris, vision designer Matt Osborne, and director of photography Harry Kielly, are creating the final work you will see.
It has been an incredible first year at Shark Island Kangaroo Valley, especially being part of the Kangaroo Valley community and seeing how creative work can grow directly from place — from the river and the trees. For me, Solastalgia is a way to honour that process: to listen deeply and to grieve openly for all that changes.
Sam Chester
Director
MAIN PHOTO: STEPHEN DUPONT
