To amaze — the aspiration of all curators
'The Voice in the Walls' Theatre Project at Old Government House, Brisbane
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/qre.2018.26Keywords:
'The Voice in the Walls', Old Government House (OGH), Queensland colonial history, theatre performance, game, audio tourAbstract
Old Government House (OGH) is one of Queensland’s premier heritage buildings, and is located within the Gardens Point campus of Queensland University of Technology (QUT). This 156-year-old building, now a house museum, offers a tangible link to Queensland’s early colonial life. The museum strives to present the stories of all who lived and worked here. Children generally do not visit historic houses willingly, and to address this OGH collaborated with Imaginary Theatre to develop an innovative and fun way to interpret and present the historical significance of the House to a younger audience. The result was a one-hour site-specific theatre performance, The Voice in the Walls — part game, part audio tour, part theatre. The key objective of the project was to create a visitor experience that captured the attention of nine- to twelve-year-olds by encouraging them to imagine an unfamiliar world and time while also conveying historical information. This article discusses the background to the development of the project, and its evolution from inspiration to practical reality.
References
‘Israel aged 10’, email 5 January 2015, Season 1 post-show audience feedback.
Rosanna Pavoni, ‘Towards a definition and typology of historic house museums’, Museum International, 53(2) (2001), 17.
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Pavoni, ‘Towards a definition’, 17; Julie Martin, ‘How can temporary exhibitions activate the space of a historic house?’, unpublished Master of Museums Studies thesis, University of Queensland, (2014), 19.
Pavoni, ‘Towards a definition’, 18.
Franklin D. Vagnone and Deborah E. Ryan, Anarchist’s guide to historic house museums (Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press, 2016), p. 1.
Jessica Foy Donnelly, Interpreting house museums (Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press, 2002), p. 1; Richard Moe, ‘Are there too many house museums?’, Forum Journal 27(1) (2012), 55, 59; Kim Christensen, ‘Ideas versus things: The balancing act of interpreting historic house museums’, International Journal of Heritage Studies 17(2) (2011), 153–4.
Lack of adequate funding and the largely volunteer-based staffing at historic house museums are acknowledged as contributing factors to a ‘frozen’ interpretation of an historic house museum. Once they are restored and the doors of the historic house are open to the public, a lack of funding and volunteer workforce engender a maintenance strategy rather than a revisionist interpretation. See Deborah Ryan and Franklin Vagnone, ‘Reorientating the historic house museum: An anarchists guide’, Beyond Architecture: New Intersections & Connections 2014 ARCC/EAAE Architectural Research Conference papers, Architectural Research Centres Consortium Journal (2014), p. 97.
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From 1862 to 1910, the House served as both a private home and the official State Office for Queensland’s first eleven Governors and their families and staff. After 1910, when a larger Government House was sought, OGH was converted into the inaugural building of the University of Queensland (1910–72). In the 1960s, the House, increasingly run down, was saved from its proposed demolition by the National Trust of Queensland listing it as one of Queensland’s key significant heritage buildings. From 1972, the House was under the custodianship of the National Trust of Queensland, which undertook ongoing restoration and established the building as the Trust’s headquarters (1972–2002). Official recognition of OGH’s important heritage value came in March 1978 when the National Trust listing of the house was ratified and the house was among the first to be protected by heritage legislation in Queensland. In 2002, the Queensland University of Technology accepted custodial responsibility for the House and undertook a lengthy restoration project. In June 2009, as part of Queensland’s sesquicentenary celebrations, the fully restored OGH was reopened to the public as an historic house museum. See http://www.ogh.qut.edu.au/history, accessed 15 October 2017.
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ibid. In his May 1862 despatch to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, the Duke of Newcastle, Bowen listed these key functions of the new Government House: ‘I have this month entered into occupation of the handsome and commodious official residence ::: Besides good public reception rooms, and private apartments for the Governor and his family, the Government House contains also the Executive Council Chambers, and offices for the Private Secretary etc.’ Sir George Bowen to Duke of Newcastle, Secretary of State for the Colonies, 14 May 1862, Queensland State Archives Item ID17671, Letterbook of despatches to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. Volume 2, 184–5.
Collectively, after much research, only forty-four individuals have been identified as domestic servants employed at Government House during almost fifty years. It is estimated that the total number for the period would be closer to 200, which would be representative of low to medium staffing levels. Further, given that the number of household staff or servants was a recognised symbol of higher status, it is plausible to argue that a number of around 250 would be closer to the mark. Of the forty-four, only half were identified by their full names. Fifteen of the twenty-two were male servants, and interestingly the most frequently named was the gardener. A reference to the butler Mr Alban Wise, in a ‘Brisbane’s City Police Court’ report published in the Brisbane Courier in May 1890 is the only known full name found for a butler at OGH, although the butler was the head of the household staff.
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‘Gold award citation’ 2009, Governor’s Heritage Award for Interpretation and Engagement, National Trust of Queensland Bendigo Bank Heritage Awards, Brisbane.
In the Queensland realm, for example, The Anna Wickham Tour at Newstead House is led by a costumed performer and offers ‘a unique and memorable visitor experience connecting you back in time to when our grand home was the place to be seen’. See: http://newsteadhouse.com.au/current-event/anna-wickham-tour, accessed 19 March 2018; On St Helena Island, a theatre troupe accompanies you ‘on a history adventure. From the Aboriginal beginnings to the Nineteenth Century prison settlement, you’ll be regaled with a number of sometimes sad but often funny stories’. See http://www.sthelenaisland.com.au/day-tour, accessed 19 March 2018.
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The Voice in the Walls marketing material.
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The nature of Victor and Mary’s relationship is based on a 1898/99 personal photograph taken by Lady Lamington, in which Mary, Victor and Lord Lamington are sitting close together on a bench. Additionally, Lady Lamington refers to Mary in her diary as coming ‘from the [A]boriginal settlement at Fraser Island’ and states that Mary ‘became the ‘protégé of my Irish housekeeper’. No surname was provided in reference to Mary, but it is believed her surname was Pentecost. The basis for this was a September 1944 pension application by Mary Penticost in which she stated that she had been ‘in Brisbane for 10 years at Government House as nursemaid to Lady Lamington’. TD 1029/58/2 Miscellaneous photographs relating to 2nd Lord Lamington’s governorship of Queensland 1895–1900 in TD 1029 Cochrane-Baillie of Lamington Papers, Glasgow City Archives; ‘Diary written by Lady Lamington’. Presented to the Queensland Government by their Granddaughters Mrs Felicity Scrimgeour and Mrs Bridget Leigh, 19th February 1999’, unpublished manuscript John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, 97-98; Mary Pentecost pension research provided by Community and Personal Histories, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services, Department of Communities.
The exact date of birth of Mary Penticost is unknown: it was variously recorded as 1886, 1891 or 1892. In Lady Lamington’s photograph, Mary looks to be around six or seven years of age. Transcript of Mary Penticost’s death certificate and research notes provided by Community and Personal Histories, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services, Department of Communities.
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Given the central role of Aboriginal characters in the performance, an external Aboriginal consultant was involved in the project form the development of the script through to the delivery of the performance.
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The audience feedback we received was overwhelming positive, with no criticisms or negative feedback on the performance. Audience feedback Season 1.
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