WORK IN PROGRESS: #2
Created and performed by Silver Noodle Soup
Directed by Madeline McNamara, Hannah Kelly, and Stevie Hancox-Monk
The second Work in Progress showing on our journey to developing The Old Cold Hearts Club. Performed at The Hannah on 25 Oct 2025.
INTRODUCTION TO THE WORK
A 60-70 minutes long work in progress showing, including 8 different stand-alone scenes within the genre of film noir. The purpose of this showing was to present elements of what we had been working on as part of our larger show.
We experimented specifically with ways to embed the qualities of audio description within the fabric of the story, removing a layer of translation for blind and low vision audiences.
Story and Design Concepts for the Final Show
The work takes place in a downtown karaoke bar and restaurant. The tone of the work is surreal and hilarious, surprising and unpredictable — unforgettable. The atmosphere of the world of the play is that of a film noir detective movie. It is not clear what crime has been committed or by whom, or whether or not a crime has been committed at all... We know “something is missing" but that "thing" could be a value, a feeling, an essential ingredient, an empathy, a moral element, a consciousness, a lack of something critical to being human, a kind of understanding, a kind of knowledge, etc... the "thing" will be undefined by the performers, allowing it to be unique for each audience member.
The show may include various settings, such as a restaurant, a bar, a karaoke set-up, an office, and a gaming room. The design may include various kinds of screens (a natural part of the world of Karaoke): a karaoke lyrics screen, a Point-of-Sale computer, a surveillance/security screen, a TV, a screen for a live-feed camera, a two-way mirror, and a pokies interface. All these elements have the potential to double as natural mechanisms to increase accessibility and enjoyment for hearing impaired viewers (via subtitles, etc.) as well as providing possibilities for a rich visual design.
Line Work
The original idea of the line walks came from the idea of an old-style film noir detective who is pacing up and down, trying to solve a case. It is a kind of walking meditation, something we all do at times. But the detective is not alone. The entire ensemble of actors walk with him.
There are four different choreographed line formations which occur throughout the performance based on different ways of crisscrossing the stage, upstage to downstage and in reverse, and stage right to stage left.
The role of the detective in each of these lines changes each time; he begins in his own world, then he becomes more controlling, he wants people to ‘toe the line’. He insists that they do not ‘get out of line’, or ‘behave inappropriately’, or ‘go too far’. Ultimately, he fails in this. Takiwatanga rules.
Narrative/Character-Based Scene Work
These included some of the first iterations of some of our scenes which made it into the final show. One of the first things we worked on was what we called ‘The Table Scene’, which eventually developed into the wider through-line of all the scenes set in Jia-Ling Madam’s Karaoke Bar and Restaurant. The focus of this was to work on slow, deliberate movement in conjunction with narration. In this test showing, Stevie described each movement right before it happened. This was part of our integration of audio description into the fabric of the work; the actors decided not to include this in the final show, with the feedback to the directors that it made them feel as though they weren’t able to remember it themselves.
CREW
DIRECTOR
DIRECTOR
DIRECTOR
DESIGNER
SOUND
LIGHTING
AUDIO DESCRIPTION
ACCESSIBILITY COORDINATOR
PRODUCER
VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR
FINANCES
VOLUNTEER USHERS
ACTORS
Callum Clark
Jeremy Goddard
Nick Johnson
Leo Kelly
Tess Kiernan
Caitlyn Leong
Maggie Rose Paine
Nicholas Smith
Aurora Symon Pellatt
Azarah Verner
Alex Walsh
Madeline McNamara
Hannah Kelly
Stevie Hancox-Monk
Meg Rollandi
Thomas Arbor
Izzi Lao
Sameena Zehra
Bernadette Macartney
Bernadette Macartney
Bernadette Macartney
Tony Paine
Neal Barber (The Hannah), Eleanor Strathern (The Hannah), Kate Ghent, Laura Hutchinson, Steve Johnson, Bernadette Macartney, Tony Paine, Ava Saba, & Lynda Taylor