Sometimes the biggest opportunities arrive looking exactly like junk mail.
When singer-songwriter and guitarist Luke Bennett spotted an unexpected email from someone called Jamie Birrell buried in his spam folder, he nearly ignored it. The sender’s address didn’t exactly scream theatre producer or creative visionary. “I remember his email address was something like Birrell Brothers Micro Packaging,” Luke laughs. “It was the sort of thing you would normally ignore.” Fortunately, curiosity got the better of him.
The email had come via a recommendation from local musician Mark Ridout and invited Luke to consider joining a new NORPA production called Love for One Night. At the time, Luke wasn’t even sure he was interested.
“I was kind of on the fence about it, to be honest,” he says. “I thought there could be other people better suited to the role.” Like many musicians hearing the words “theatre production”, Luke imagined sitting in an orchestra pit, largely hidden from view while accompanying the action on stage. What he couldn’t have known was that the invitation would lead not only to one of the most memorable productions in recent Northern Rivers theatre history, but also to creative partnerships that continue more than four years later.
The original Love for One Night production was unlike anything audiences had seen before. Premiering at the Eltham Hotel from 8–24 September 2022, it transformed the familiar country pub into a living theatre set where stories unfolded across balconies, rooms and courtyards beneath the stars. The production arrived at a time when the Northern Rivers was still recovering from the devastating floods and NORPA itself was rebuilding after losing access to its home at Lismore City Hall. The wider community was starting to feel its way into a ‘new normal’ following the pandemic lockdowns.
Luke joined drummer Ben Cox and musical director Jamie Birrell in what was initially a hastily assembled band created specifically for the show.
The first rehearsal took place at SAE Creative Media Institute while NORPA was still operating from temporary facilities post-flood. “That was when I met Ben and Jamie properly,” Luke recalls. “We played through some songs and I realised, ‘Yeah, I can do this’.”
What emerged wasn’t simply a backing band. The musicians became part of the storytelling itself.
Love for One Night centres around a series of intertwined love stories unfolding inside a country pub. The band provided not only the soundtrack but also much of the atmosphere, performing classic pub songs and weaving themselves into the fabric of the show.
“It was the idea that what’s an Aussie pub scene without a pub band?” says Luke. The musicians occupied the stage, interacted with the actors and, in Luke’s case, even stepped into speaking parts. “I ended up doing some acting in the show, which I’d never done before.”
For audiences, the combination proved magical. The pub itself became a character. Stories unfolded in multiple directions. Music drifted through the venue while actors appeared in windows, doorways and balconies. Looking back, Luke believes the site-specific nature of the production was central to its success. “Being under the stars and being at that pub was such a novelty for people. They didn’t really know what to expect.”
One musical moment remains particularly memorable for many audience members: the band’s rendition of Neil Young’s Harvest Moon. The song became closely associated with the production, drifting through the hotel as actor Claire Atkins’ character moved through the story. “It was based on this Poolside version,” Luke explains. “A more loungy, lo-fi interpretation.”
For many locals, it became one of those rare theatrical moments where music, place and story aligned perfectly. What none of the cast could have predicted was the scale of the response. By the end of the run, almost 4,000 people had experienced the show either in person or through an online streaming event. What began as an ambitious piece of site-specific theatre became one of NORPA’s most successful productions.
The chemistry between Luke, Ben and Jamie was immediately obvious. On stage they looked and sounded like a seasoned pub band. The audiences didn’t know was that the musicians had barely played together before rehearsals began. The collaboration could easily have ended when the production closed but instead, it became the foundation for something new and just as inspiring.
When pop-up pub choir Shire Choir, led by Melia Naughton and Jamie Birrell, was looking for a live band to support its hugely popular community singing events, the choice felt obvious. The musicians who had convincingly portrayed a pub band in Love for One Night became an actual pub band. Over the following years, the Birrell Brothers Band became a familiar presence at Shire Choir events at the Bangalow Hotel, helping hundreds of people discover the joy of singing together. Their role extended beyond Bangalow. Following the 2022 floods, the band accompanied Shire Choir on a tour of regional halls, bringing communities together through music at a time when many people needed it most.
The connections formed during Love for One Night continued well beyond the production Ben and Jamie later played on tracks for one of Luke’s EPs. Luke, Jamie and Melia performed together in other formats. Ben and Melia, along with Elodie Crowe, went on to form kids’ music group The Gumboots. New creative collaborations emerged organically in every direction. Now, as Love for One Night returns, Luke finds himself back where it all began, with Ben on the drums and a new musical director leading the band.
Sometimes opportunity arrives as almost unnoticed, sent by a micro packaging company you’ve never heard of, inviting you to take a chance on something you can’t quite imagine. In this case, a much-loved theatre production and musical partnerships that have taken on a creative life of their own. “You just never know where something is going to lead,” says Luke.
Love for One Night
The Eltham Hotel
27 August to 12 September
norpa.org.au/events/love-for-one-night
Sally Schofield