The team from long-running Goldfields history podcast Tales from Rat City will give audiences a chance to experience theatre of centuries past this Heritage Festival, with a recently acquired 'magic lantern'.
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"Rich families would have [magic lanterns] in Victorian times where the family would all gather around and show images, either from postcards which were super popular in Victorian times, or, if you're super rich ... photographs of what's going on," performer Katrina Hill told The Courier.
A precursor to modern day cinema projectors, magic lanterns were once considered revolutionary technology and, as such, attracted the name.
"More powerful magic lanterns, powered by candles and then later on by electricity in the late 1800s', were developed and people would come and see shows," Ms Hill said.
"So BMI would have hosted hundreds of magic lantern shows in it's time."
This particular projector, from the 1920s', will facilitate two 10-minute shows in each sitting; an abridged version of Alice in Wonderland, followed by the 1800s' tragedy Jane Conquest.
"A comedy in a tragedy is what we're giving you," Ms Hill said.
The troupe will perform 11 sessions of The Magic Lantern Show across May 27 in the basement at the Ballaarat Mechanics Institute (BMI), showcasing at the same time a piece of Ballarat's architectural history in the basement space, which has not been open to the public in modern times.
"Due to the unique nature of the venue, seats for the show are strictly limited but multiple shows will be held throughout the day to ensure everyone has a chance to experience the magic," Ms Hill said.
The troupe have five other Heritage Festival offerings; Mystery Airships: A Night of Strange Things Seen In The Skies, a short lecture on the German Airship hysteria that swept Victoria in 1914, interactive town hall display History on the Line, interactive role-playing adventure set in 19th century Ballarat Call of Cthulhu, and tours of the Old Ballarat Gaol and the BMI "after dark".
BMI will also feature a rarely seen historic conservation collection and a mysterious oil painting as part of Heritage Festival.
- See events.humanitix.com/the-magic-lantern-show or buy tickets at the door. More information on all events can be found on the Tales From Rat City, Ballaarat Mechanics Institute or Ballarat Heritage Facebook pages.
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