Erin, Dylan, Jan and Ian in rehearsal. Photo: Supplied.
Straight off the plane and onto the stage is pretty well how it happened for two very recent bayside arrivals. Erin and Dylan Tilson, 14 and 11 years old respectively, have taken the giant step with their mum Elaine from Devon in west England to the Redlands, joining Elaine’s mother Jill and the cast of Theatre Redlands’ (TR) Australia Day production, Training Wheels.
Jill, a keen volunteer at Redland Museum, sounded out Theatre Redlands in advance of her family’s arrival, keen for her grandchildren’s acting talents and experience to help them settle into their new home.
“She didn’t actually bring me down in a flying crash tackle, but she did let me know that a couple of very talented young actors would soon be available,” says TR’s Jan Nary.
“We don’t often do plays with young folk in them, but serendipitously, we’d decided on a double bill production for January 2025. Ray Noonan is directing The Eulogy, a perceptive and edgy gem of a play, a two-hander, and I’m tackling another premiere, about a family’s life in a Queensland railway construction camp. There are children in the family the same age as Dylan and Erin, so it couldn’t have worked out better – and Jill’s absolutely right about their talent!”
So for the two – and possibly for their mum Elaine, who’s been roped in as a third child – it’s been unpack, get over jet lag, fluff their feathers and jump straight in at the deep end of a drama style they’ve never tackled before, a radio play.
A new country, new people, a new school – how are they finding it all? As it is for most UK incomers, Queensland summer weather makes an impression.
“When I came from minus two degrees to 27 degrees and the most incredible humidity,” Erin says, “that was a bit of a shock!”
The Australian idiom isn’t presenting any problems, as Dylan observes; “ We were brought up by an Australian mum so it’s really nice now to be able to speak in our natural language. The only expression we had trouble with was buying shoes, remembering to call flip-flops ‘thongs’ – in England thongs are G-strings – or what we call wedgie-pants.”
They hadn’t expected to get into their beloved theatre work so quickly, but they’re revelling in the experience and the environment.
“The people in the group are so friendly,” says Dylan, “and this place – the museum – is just amazing!”
“Being able to do theatre in such a historical place makes the experience so much more real,” says Erin. “You know that some actual individual has had the experience that you’re acting, it makes you feel more like that real person.”
Will they be lining up for more shows with Theatre Redlands?
“One-hundred per cent!” was the mutual response.
The Australia Day double bill program will run at Redland Museum from Friday January 24 to Sunday February 2.
For more details and bookings, visit redlandmusem.org.au.