Apocalypse scheduled for Rockhampton, November 2019

Rockhampton by night, by Kriscmay on Wikimedia Commons, used under CC licence 3.0 ASA.

A brand new play by and about Rockhampton, covered in the fingerprints of the local community, is coming to the stage later this year.

Rockpocalypse, by playwright and drama teacher Jessica Lamb, is entering production shortly and will be on stage on November 22-24 2019.

Arts Central Queensland, the nonprofit arts body currently producing the Living History Project series of short plays at Rockhampton Heritage Village, has announced auditions for five cast members for Rockpocalypse will take place on Saturday, August 10.

Like the Living History Project, they’re offering full industry rates to the creatives involved.

Rockpocalypse started life as a role-play game developed by Jessica as part of her Masters studies in theatre.

Over several sessions, Rockhampton residents of all ages and walks of life played the game, working from only the loosest of guidelines: to find out what mysterious doom had befallen the city, work out whether to stay or flee, and if staying how to rebuild and what the future city might look like.

The games uncovered all kinds of creative ideas, from toxic waste to dog-based conspiracies, as well as common themes around the city’s perceived flaws and potential fixes.

Those themes and narrative gems were captured and woven into the play itself, in which a baffled team of ‘players’ are challenged by a mysterious voice from the distant future to find out what happened to leave Rockhampton a deserted wasteland - and fix it.