THE second annual Flinders Fringe Festival in February will be headlined by Sea Wolves Howl, a theatre piece based on a group of women who daily plunge into the sea at Mount Martha.
Written and performed by Mornington Peninsula artist Carole Patullo with Jane Bayly, Melanie Beddie and Kelly Nash, the piece was commissioned by the festival. Direction and dramaturgy are by Melanie Beddie with music by John Thorn.
The Mount Martha Sea Wolves, an intergenerational group of up to 60 Mornington Peninsula-based women and non-binary people, gather on the beach daily at dawn.
As they hold hands and enter the sea the women howl like wolves in what is described as a transformative ritual.
Patullo and her collaborators are developing Sea Wolves Howl from stories gathered from the swimmers.
“… It will embrace the life-affirming spirit of the Sea Wolves and celebrate the transformative power of the sea,” she said.
Sea Wolves Howl will be performed at the Flinders Community Hall from 22 to 24 February and tickets can be bought at flindersfringe.com.au.
“To have the privilege of inhabiting the characters that emerge, and bring them to life, is incredibly satisfying,” Patullo said.
First published in the Mornington News – 12 December 2023
