Ithaca Road

Nominated for a 2011 AWGIE Award

Loved it! A wonderfully thought-provoking, funny, emotional and sensitive play. ‘Ithaca Road’ made me squirm, laugh, cry and little and rejoice.
– Elizabeth, parent, Arcadia Valley State School

A poignant, comic play about young people in transition. When everything you know changes, will you stay the same?

Tilly and Ben are twins about to leave their remote property to go to boarding school in town. Tilly is eagerly anticipating a new life with new friends and possibilities, while Ben isn’t so sure … Together, they create an extraordinary imaginative world, where worst nightmares and greatest dreams are vividly enacted, and the ghosts of the past return to help shed light on the future.

A play about young people in transition – from primary to high school, from small community to big town, from home to boarding school – Ithaca Road unpacks fears of change and explores strategies for resilience.

Ithaca Road is part of a series of plays – the Spirit of Place trilogy. The plays – Snagged, Ithaca Road, and Fly-In Fly-Out – were produced through a partnership between debase and the Priority Country Area's Program (PCAP). They explore themes of place and belonging and were developed in consultation with communities in Central Queensland.

Video Teaser

Script, DVD and online video

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Ithaca Road script published by Playlab Theatre. $23.95 each

Ithaca Road – class set of scripts (min. 10 script order).
$21.95 per script

Ithaca Road – online video
$55 to rent (30 days)
$180 to purchase

Watch Ithaca Road via Vimeo On Demand

Ithaca Road DVD
$75.00

Both online video and DVD contain the premiere season performance as well as interviews and behind-the-scenes.

Check out other debase scripts, DVDs and online video on our Publications page.

Production images

Click on any of the thumbnails below to view. Photography by Lukas Davidson.

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Ithaca Road is suitable for Years 5-10.

Work includes Collage Theatre (2 person, multiple character; puppetry; multimodal); Elements of Australian Gothic; Australian Country.

Curriculum content descriptions:

Analyse how the elements of drama have been combined in devised and scripted drama to convey different forms, performance styles and dramatic meaning (ACADRR045) (7/8)
Evaluate how the elements of drama, forms and performance styles in devised and scripted drama convey meaning and aesthetic effect (ACADRR052) (9)

General capabilities: literacy, critical and creative thinking.

Teaching resources available

Script (published by Playlab Theatre), Online Video (via Vimeo – with teachers' notes) and Performance DVD (with interviews and behind the scenes). Order via our Publications page.

Ithaca Road is not currently available for tour.

Target audience: Upper primary and lower secondary school students (10–15 year olds).

Running time: 65 minutes

Number in touring party: 2 artists, 1 crew

Bump in: 80 minutes Bump out: 1 hour

Venue: Theatres, schools or community halls (indoor venue)

Critical issues: Production uses projection (does not require black out, but does require dark space).

Venue technical requirements: Stage size, 4 x 4 m. Dressing room preferable but rest rooms are adequate. Lighting flexible.

Marketing materials: High quality images available on request. Professionally shot DVD (full length + trailer + interviews). Script publication.

Creating new comic performance for theatre