Charlie Bloom

Charlie Bloom written by Kathleen Gallagher and produced by Carol Dee is a play about a fictitious victim of radiation poisoning which looks at the effect this had on him and his wife, Ola, who recounts the story. In Samoa on September 1966 a 120 kiloton bomb hanging under a balloon was exploded at 600 metres, despite unfavourable wind conditions. 3610km from Mururoa a rainstorm hotspot occurred. A hotspot occurs when a fallout cloud meets a rainstorm. "Charlie Bloom" tells the story of one couple and the suffering caused through undiagnosed radiation poisoning.

Charlie suffered lethargy, aching, itching, diarrhoea, vomiting, temporary blindness, nausea, allergies, odd cancers, overactive thyroid, sterility, undiagnosable rare diseases. This production uses traditional instrumentation of Māori and Aboriginal music. Michael Dee also plays the harmonica live in the production.

CAST:
Ola Bloom - Dame Patricia Evison
Patrick Perks - Mick Rose
Charlie Bloom - Michael Wilson
Young Ola - Madeline McNamara
Gypsy - Donna Muir
Doctors - Deidre O'Connor
Michael Peck

See docs in tape box for more details.