A City Alive: Up There - Magazine6000

Up There is an immersive guided audio tour through a select number of streets of Walyalup (Fremantle) making a circuit around High Street Mall, Cantonment Street, and Westgate Mall. Up There engages with the history of the area, from recent peaks of culture and arts to the centuries of life that existed before colonisation, and it shows the struggles of working class business in an area of high rent and turnover.

The tour is a gorgeous heartfelt love letter to Walyalup, expressing the love for the people who call it home and how difficult change has been especially for the worse. We hear from the people who make the city what it is, from the currently empty Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, to a struggling tailoring business, we hear the emotional turmoil that changes to the city have caused. It’s harrowing.

Up There. Photography by Roel Loopers.

Especially upsetting was walking through Westgate Mall, seeing the empty boarded up shop windows. I had the privilege of seeing this show in a creative development some time ago and when we walked through Westgate Mall there was a hopscotch painted on the ground, other people walking through the show had some fun with it and enjoyed a lovely little moment, even that’s gone now.

I also had the privilege of seeing this show with the Mayor of Fremantle, Hannah Fitzhardinge, and let me tell you my eyes were trained on her anytime there was a mention on high rents and little assistance. That’s what I really love about art like this, it feels so tangible and real, connected to a real human cause which I think is often lost in the writing room.

Up There. Photography by Roel Loopers.

The lead creative team of Leah Robyn, Tay Conway, and Will Gammel achieve a heartbreaking melancholy interspersed with glimpses of humourous personality that brings alive the local area. Rebecca Riggs-Bennett as the sound designer and music producer ties every moment together perfectly and carries you through each abandonded shop front and childs painting.

I feel like this review is going to be much shorter than most only because there is only so much I can say about how beautifully the team have constructed this tour without just explaining every single moment. My only recommendation from here is to go see it!

UP THERE will run over two weekends: 29 NOV – 1 DEC, 6 DEC – 8 DEC with two shows occurring each day (4PM & 6:30PM).

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