A world-premiere performance will mark the 25th anniversary of the Childers Palace Backpackers Hostel fire with a powerful blend of music, storytelling and community connection.
Tickets are available now for ‘The Palace’, an original 50-minute song cycle that draws on real-life interviews with locals and presents their experiences through spoken word, original music and song.
Created by Bundaberg-based writer and director Rod Ainsworth, in collaboration with composer John Babbage of acclaimed Brisbane ensemble Topology, ‘The Palace’ shines a light on the community’s extraordinary response to the fire that claimed the lives of 15 young people on 23 June 2000.
Rod said the performance focuses on the compassion, unity and strength shown by the Childers community in the wake of the fire as they supported the survivors.
“The Palace reflects what the community asked for: something hopeful, creative and true to their experience,” Rod said.
“The Palace isn’t a memorial – it’s a commemoration.
“The work acknowledges the tragic event and honours the 15 lives lost, but it’s not aboutretelling the horror or focusing on grief.
“It’s about the community’s response – the way people came together, opened their homes, fed strangers, and worked around the clock.
“It’s about resilience, care, and shared humanity.”
Combining verbatim theatre with contemporary musical composition, ‘The Palace’features a 15-member community choir, four voice actors, and three vocal leads performing alongside Topology’s five musicians on saxophone, piano, violin, viola and bass.
Many of the performers, like Childers resident and vocal lead Sue McCloy, have a personal connection to the event, bringing raw authenticity to the work.
“It’s not just a beautiful piece of art – it gives people a sense of pride and, hopefully, closure,” Sue said.
“It really does highlight who we are – our empathy, our caring, how nothing was too much trouble when it came to wrapping our arms around the survivors.
“It makes me so proud to be a Childers-ite.”
Music is central to the emotional power of ‘The Palace’.
Composer John Babbage’s score draws inspiration not only from Rod Ainsworth’s text, but also from the people, stories and landscape of Childers.
“Music can carry emotion in ways that words can’t,” John said.
“As Yip Harburg said, ‘Music makes you feel feelings, words make you think thoughts, and songs make you feel thoughts’; that concept guided my composition.”
‘The Palace’
Date: Saturday 21 June
Time: Afternoon show 1 pm and Evening show 6 pm
Where: Isis Cultural Centre and Library, Churchill Street, Childers
Cost: $25 General Admission
Book now here.
This project has been partly funded by the Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF), a partnership between the Queensland Government and Bundaberg Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.
