A huge heart felt thank you to the Independent Theatre Association Adjudicators for presenting this award to our team for outstanding Community Engagement for our production of A Year with Frog and
Toad YTA at the Finley Awards!! We are so privileged to be able to do the work we do, and are so grateful for the wonderful team at Mercy Place Mandurah led by Christina and Kathy!!

We have been taking these past few months to reflect with cast and crew on what was A Year with Frog and Toad! It’s amazing the impact the project has had on everyone’s mental wellbeing. Writing down these reflections has really allowed us and participants the opportunity to review the impact of where we started to where we are now. Stay tuned as we will be bringing you more over the coming months from our learnings!
The End of November also saw us wrapping up our Artistic Adventures Sessions for 2019. What an amazing group of artists we have had the pleasure of working with, and watching grow throughout the year. Huge shout out to Jackie Lewis and our team of volunteers without whom these workshops would not be possible.

After a HUGE couple of weeks here at Mercy Place Mandurah, it’s nice to look back and reflect on how far we have come. The theatre “family” we have created has shared many laughs, losses and feelings of accomplishment over the past 7 months. It’s really allowed us to recognise that getting involved in the arts is enjoyable, provides a sense of achievement, and is a distraction from everyday worries. We’ve had such great feedback from all who have come to see the final rehearsals for our show, and the feeling at Mercy Place Mandurah is electric!! It’s amazing how a complement or purposeful activity can lift your mood. Want to see what it is all about? Make sure you purchase your tickets for one of our 8
shows!

Rehearsals are well underway for our situational theatre project. While the leads were rehearsing one of the show songs on the weekend with our Musical Director, we had the opportunity to talk with one of the residents on why he enjoys being a part of the production. He said he always involves himself in projects if he thinks he can be of use and purpose. “You never know what something is going to be like unless you give it a go.” We couldn’t agree more. We would also like to thank Bunnings Halls Head and
Timber’s Edge Men’s Shed for coming on board to assist our Mercy Place Residents in designing and construction of the set.

This month the lovely folks at Mercy Place Mandurah also assisted us in creating canes for one of our dance numbers. Not only were the participants thoroughly engaged with preparing the props for the show, but they actually surprised themselves by how well they turned out! Lesson learned? Never underestimate the power of purposeful activity. After all, what is a show without a good chorus tap number with hats and canes?

Music by Robert Reale, Book and Lyrics by Wille Reale. Based on the books by Arnold Lobel, come along and audition and be a part of this unique WA first theatre experience, a live inclusive situational theatre show taking place in a West Australian nursing home. The residents of Mercy Place Mandurah are involved in every aspect of this show, and thoroughly look forward to working with all who audition! Learn more…