Two performers embrace at center stage under sweeping white beams, isolated against a broad patterned pool of light.

Rayne Theatre, Chickenshed2025

The Washing Line

The Production

Chickenshed’s 2025 revival of The Washing Line was an immersive, large-scale production exploring Jim Jones and The People’s Temple through movement, music, dance and multimedia. Reworked and developed from Chickenshed’s earlier staging, it examined community, manipulation and the devastating Jonestown tragedy.

31 photographs in the curated edit

Director: Michael Bossisse, Bethany Hamlin
Musical Director: Dave Carey
Choreographer: Michael Bossisse, Bethany Hamlin
Lighting Design: Andrew Caddies
Set Design: Andrew Caddies
Costume Design: Emma Gale
Sound Design: Phil Haines
Commissioned by: Chickenshed Theatre
Photography: Steve Gregson

A large ensemble reaches upward toward a performer on an elevated platform, filling the stage with warm color and haze.

Two seated performers lean close together, one wrapped in a textured yellow-and-white blanket under cool stage light.

A lone figure stands below a washing line of fabric as golden beams rake across the stage floor.

Silhouetted performers dance in a blue wash while a figure at the side raises an arm beneath angled yellow and blue lights.

A performer in a red shirt and sunglasses holds their arms open in a tight blue haze.

A mass of performers lies across the stage under smoky overhead beams, with bodies stretching from the foreground into the set.

Performers move through a red-lit stage in a low, driving formation beneath sharp white beams and a projected flag.

A small seated pair is isolated at the edge of the stage by a single cone of light against deep darkness.

A performer works inside a large metal wheel while others move through red light around the stage.

Several performers lean along an upper railing in purple light beneath rough timber framing.

Three formally dressed performers cluster around a seated person at a table in a stark, dark setting.

Backlit performers stand in a blue haze facing an elevated figure under a cluster of overhead spotlights.

Five performers crouch closely together in blue light, their faces turned forward with tense expressions.

Performers bend and reach around a red rectangular frame while a figure stands elevated inside it under white light.

A singer in a red top holds a microphone in a tight purple-blue spotlight, with other performers receding into shadow.

Two performers stand before a large chorus in red under magenta lighting and a patterned floor wash.

A line of performers moves across the stage in saturated purple, yellow and green light, led by an outstretched gesture.

Bodies lie across a pale stage as a lone standing performer is caught in smoky white beams.

Two performers stand close in front of a Welcome to Jonestown sign, one reaching toward the other's face.

An ensemble huddles tightly in a circular blue spotlight, their bodies forming a compact shape on the floor.

A crowd reaches up toward a yellow-framed platform in a deep blue wash, hands converging on the central figure.

A performer in white stands on a red-railed platform with arms open beneath intense red and blue beams.

Rows of kneeling performers face a raised platform in red light, arms lifted in unison beneath smoky beams.

An ensemble surges across the stage in green-blue light, arms flung upward toward bright overhead beams.

Performers gather around a seated person in a wheelchair in a blue-lit circle, with projected text visible on the back wall.

A singer in a red shirt performs with a microphone as a red-clad chorus fills the tiered set behind.

Performers lie scattered across the stage in blue and white light while bright beams descend through haze.

A smiling singer holds a microphone at the front of a purple-lit stage with a chorus gathered behind.

A performer climbs within a red-framed structure above a crowded stage, caught by a narrow white spotlight.

A vertical shaft of light falls on a small group beside a red-framed structure, leaving the surrounding stage in darkness.

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