Whether it’s the backyard pool, community pools, ocean pools, Olympic pools or outback billabongs, unlike any other country Australians come together around the pool, in all its iterations.
But it’s not just a hedonistic playground, or a way to get fit -- beneath the surface there’s a surprising and untold story about the pool as a battleground where feminism, racism and sexuality were explored, and sporting heroes born.
If you think about the above ground plastic pools that scattered our suburbs in the 70’s – remember the smell of those yellow plastic floaties and the sting of chlorine in the eyes -- to the amount of homes that have fancy in-ground pools now…they also tell the story of our economic success.
Over two consecutive nights we’ll tell the story of Charlie Perkins’ Freedom Rides to end segregation at the Moree Pool, we’ll find out how and why some ocean pools use anti-discrimination laws to pools let women in, but keep men out. And we’ll hear about the pool as the Australian version of a promenade – where what you wore reflected huge social changes going on outside the pool fence.
Written by Christos Tsiolkas, directed by Sally Aitken and produced by the people behind Streets of Your Town and Brilliant Creatures -- The Pool brings together sport, design, politics, nostalgia, factual and lifestyle in a compelling story that focuses on the importance of community, health and well-being.