Adelaide ambushed in local elections
By Penny Saunders
ADELAIDE — Residents go to the polls again on May 1, this time to elect local government representatives. Adelaide's only professional street theatre company, Ambush Street Theatre ensemble, will be presenting its first full-length production, Maypolling, to encourage voting and participation in the upcoming elections.
Robyn Waite, a member of Ambush, commented that "Participation rates in local elections are usually around 20%, although sometimes they fall as low as 9%, and we want to increase participation of the whole community. We will be especially encouraging young people, women and migrants, who tend to be least represented."
Ambush will employ an innovative, and for the five-member crew physically exhausting, schedule of performances. As well as 10 half-hour shows in community centres, they will be presenting 5- or 10-minute snippets in shopping centres, car parks, trains and other forms of public transport to the unsuspecting Adelaide public.
Maypolling is described as "a fast, funny, frenetic portrayal of local government elections and the issues that affect your life", and will include songs, dance, plenty of humour and an enormous maypole/Hills hoist as its central prop. The performers refused to divulge to Green Left Weekly how they would be able to ride on public transport with the hoist, but said "just wait and see!".
Ambush has been performing throughout Adelaide during the last 18 months addressing issues such as Indonesia's occupation of East Timor, Adelaide's public transport system, unemployment, the 1993 federal elections and even the issue of Christmas shopping. This latest venture will continue to promote community level action and spread the word that local government is yet another opportunity to promote progressive politics.