THE Coffs Coast is undoubtedly a great place to bring up children, but many of them leave to seek other opportunities soon after finishing school.

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Darcy Cook finished his HSC at the Senior College in 2009 after starting his high school journey at Toormina High.

Throughout school, one of Darcy’s major interests was the entertainment industry.

For the next five years he worked around Coffs Harbour and the surrounding coasts as a technical specialist in stage production and lighting design.

After completing his Bachelor of Fine Arts, Technical Production from the Queensland University of Technology in 2015, Darcy founded Tourlights Australia, a production design company based in Sydney, and until recently worked on sets all over Australia and New Zealand.

In March this year he worked on the lighting for Handa Opera’s production of ‘La Traviata on Sydney Harbour.’

Unfortunately when pandemic restrictions were imposed, the production was cancelled, leaving Darcy, like so many others, looking for work.

As a result, Darcy upgraded his drivers’ licence to include semi-trailers, and is now operating a route between Sydney
and Melbourne, following strict minimal contact and cleaning regulations.

He has a philosophical view of his situation, saying “It has been a good opportunity for me to re-evaluate where I am in life and where I want to go in future, but I miss going out with my friends.”

On an optimistic note, he is booked to design and run the lighting for the Australian Dance Festival in Sydney at the end of September, providing current COVID-19 restrictions.

He is hoping that it might be some light at the end of the tunnel.

By David TUNE