Imagine a future where any sense of a global village has vanished - a place without telecommunications, fossil fuels, an electricity grid or public hospital system.

Twenty-five years after the absolute breakdown of centralised nation states, this is an isolated place where the line between black and white is starkly defined.

It is also the setting for a love story which speaks unflinchingly of reconciliation.

Tropical Arts Association presents When the Wheels fall off the World (WWW), playing at Cairns Botanic Gardens from 19 to 29 August as part of Cairns Indigenous Arts Festival and Cairns Festival 2010.

Written by Avril Duck with Indigenous actor and Tjapukai lead dancer Warren Clements, this unique production has captured the imagination of the Cairns theatre scene since early 2009.

Directed by locally based, international theatre man, Guillaume “Willem” Brugman, the play premiered at Undara Experience to open Opera in the Outback last year.

WWW is set in a rural community in Far North Queensland where life has changed dramatically. Under the new local rule of this dystopic future, Aboriginal people quickly and silently return to country, creating a physical divide between black and white.

The action follows Aphra, who disappears into her secret, isolated bush sanctuary under cover of darkness to revel in private rebellion against the repressive local laws and a loveless marriage.  But there are eyes in the rainforest.  Will appears, because it is his own sacred site.
 

“The path of their developing relationship is littered with the misunderstandings, prejudices and cultural assumptions of their histories,” says writer Avril Duck.
 

“The destination of their journey together is obscured by the obstacles of their very different personal circumstances and the conditions which may come to pass when the wheels fall off the world.”
 

Ms Duck, a local playwright and Acting teacher at TNQ TAFE, sought consultation on the Indigenous content and words of the play from Mr Clements, Tjapukai’s star dancer of 18 years who plays Will Oats, WWW’s complex and compelling male lead.
 

The play also features international guest Just Meijer as the show’s musician, who flies in from Amsterdam between professional engagements in Europe to join local players for the production. In the role of the silent witness, Meijer plays violin and creates a magic weaving of witness, spirit, judge and audience on stage.
 

They are joined by Cairns actor and dancer, Liza Parker, as heroine Aphra, and emerging talent, Monique Woldhuis, as the spirit of Aphra’s mother, Liz Bains.
 
 
Tickets for When the Wheels fall off the World are available through ticketLiNK. For more information visit Tropical Arts Cairns.