VENUE: Northcote Uniting Church
SEASON: June 7-17, 2001

Written by Angela Costi
Directed by Lynne Ellis
Musical Direction by Kelly Auty
Composition by Boris Conley
Set Design by Georgia McCorkill
Lighting Design by Paul Jackson
Dramaturgy by Melissa Reeves

Shimmer looks at the ambitions of young women to go into the entertainment industry.

The play interconnects two stories. One deals with the audition process of today. There is a large room with many girls and one opportunity. All of the girls want the chance to study at the Performer’s Lab in New York. They have all done the ground work; they are talented and smart and even the Judge is finding it difficult to make a decision. How will the decision be made? Who will be given access to ‘stardom’?

The second story is the Ancient Greek myth of the Danaids. This is the story of fifty princesses who have ‘stardom’ but in order to keep their status they are expected to perform the unmentionable – their father tells them to kill their betrotheds on their wedding night. One princess is prepared to relinquish her ‘stardom’ by not killing, instead betraying her family. Although many centuries apart, both stories involve young women taking destiny into their hands, making their own decisions and thereby empowering themselves.

The play sprang from an idea to interview young women from the North about their aspirations and ambitions to become something big time; a recent study had revealed that about 53% of young women (across the board) wanted to be leading entertainers or famous actors. Did working class Northern suburban girls have these goals? About 25 women, from 14 to 30 years of age, were interviewed at different schools.

After the extensive interviews, Shimmer had a moved public play reading in 2000 before its full production in 2001 with further dramaturgical assistance by Melissa Reeves.