The Royal Easter Show

The Brief

The Royal Easter Show is the largest event in Australia, attracting nearly one million visitors each year with the Arena Spectacular the highlight of the show’s entertainment.

Fourth Wall Events were briefed to create, write, direct and produce a standout, original, arena spectacular show to be held for fourteen consecutive nights over the course of the Royal Easter Show. The spectacular must act as a drawcard to the show in the wider marketing material and create word of mouth buzz around the event.

The Approach

The Story of True Blue was created by Fourth Wall Events as a tale of a loyal country dog called Bluey and his family who become separated in a bush fire and their journey of discovery to find each other again.

An emotive script and soundtrack was created by Fourth Wall Events to create and heighten the dramatic journey for the audience. To compliment the script, Shannon Noel was chosen as the narrator of the story and John Williamson’s classic song True Blue provided the centrepiece of the soundscape.

The technical design included complex pyrotechnics, lighting and moveable stage sets which required quick turnarounds in tight timeframes. The show also traversed different landscapes and settings inside a large area, so each set had to seem to ‘fill’ the whole arena in order to keep the audience engaged.

The production also included the incorporation and direction of 64 head of cattle, 50 sheep, 30 brumbies, 3 horses, 4 dogs, 40 stockmen, a cast of 25 professional performers and a crew of 30.

The Results

The show was a huge success. The characters Fourth Wall Events created became the backbone for the pre-show marketing campaign and were so successful that they were used again the following year to promote the Show. The spectacular received a standing ovation – the only Royal Easter Show Arena Show to achieve this – and generated widespread national and international media coverage.