A castle stands below a clear night sky as whispers ripple through a crowd gathered by the banks of the River Shannon in Limerick, western Ireland.
Out of nowhere an earth-shattering explosion pierces the silence; rockets streak into the night and then vanish into darkness before showering the sky with colour.
The audience erupts in celebration.
This was the moment the world first came to know of Brian Thunder. It was also the moment Brian Thunder came to know the world.
Hooked on the sights, sounds and adrenaline of this experience, Thunder began a journey that would take him from castles in Europe to festivals on every continent except Antarctica. Now he’s in Brisbane bringing the world premiere of Afterglow to light.
So how does one come to be a fire producer? In Thunder’s case, he didn’t. At least not in the way you might expect.
“At University I studied philosophy and at the end of my course my professor offered me a fellowship to stay on and study Immanuel Kant.
“I had been offered, at the same time, the opportunity to train as a director at The Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland’s National Theatre.
“I asked him if he would defer the offer for a year. He kindly agreed but rightly predicted I wouldn’t be back,” Thunder said.
So, while in some parallel world he may be known as ‘Dr Brian Thunder: Author of many clever and erudite books,’ in this one, he’s closed the door and never looked back.
This decision, while seemingly small at the time, saw Thunder go on to experience and create many extraordinary things, with one highlight being the opportunity to work on a show called Crackers.
“One of my career highlights would be working on Crackers with The World Famous which involved getting an audience of around five thousand people to stand in a circle.
“We then surrounded them with fireworks so that no matter where you looked, all you could see were beautiful colours exploding in the sky,” he said.
It’s incredible experiences such as these that have made fire installations synonymous with fireworks in the sky. However, Thunder’s work goes far beyond that and into creating experiences people can truly feel. Here’s how he does it:
“The starting point is always the venue. I am very privileged that as a canvas I have some of the most spectacular gardens across the world to work with.
“The next point of inspiration is to put yourself in the audience’s position and to always remember that what you are doing should be about creating something that will excite them,” Thunder said.
And while large spectacle might part of the job, Thunder says the real magic lies in creating experiences that feel personal.
“The absolute favourite highlight for me was performing to an audience of 25,000 people at the Malta Festival in Poland and then immediately afterwards performing to just 500 people in a small-town square in the west of Ireland.
“The same energy, the same excitement, just different scales,” he said.
It’s this combination of grandeur and intimacy that Thunder will bring to Afterglow, a 1.4-kilometre fire and light trail set to transform the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens into a glowing dreamscape.
“When people think of fire shows they usually have a picture of big flames and exploding fireworks. The trick is always to find the right space and respond to it by putting the right thing in it.
“If it works, the audience should feel like they have sat down beside a campfire and become mesmerised as they stare into the flames, much the way humans have done for thousands of years,” Thunder said.
Afterglow welcomes audiences into this very feeling, designed to spark a sense of wonder that can only come from being completely immersed in the moment.
It’s an opportunity to share in Thunder’s decision he made many years ago; step into the glow and perhaps, in some ways, embrace Kant’s theory dare to know.
Afterglow is part of the Brisbane Festival and runs from September 5 until September 25. Click here for more information.
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