Andrea Gibbs loves footy. She’s well on her way to becoming a ‘footy nanna’, she says, so much so that she has written a play about it. It’s called Barracking for the Umpire, a phrase coined by her mum, who … Continue reading INTERVIEW: Andrea Gibbs for Barracking for the Umpire
STRUT Dance is presenting the inaugural season of GROUNDWORKS, a platform that offers unique and essential support for mid-length contemporary dance works to be presented in front of an audience in a theatre setting. The event will feature a double … Continue reading INTERVIEW: Kimberley Parkin for Killjoy | STRUT Dance GROUNDWORKS
Hysteria. The word’s etymology stems from the Greek word for ‘uterus’, and for centuries, it was used to medically diagnose a range of female problems; in extreme cases a diagnosis of female hysteria meant the sufferer would be dumped in an asylum or have her uterus removed. Of course, now we know better, but there’s still a lot of shame around talking openly and publicly about periods, and illnesses, syndromes and disorders involving the female anatomy. Women’s bodies are still seen as a deviation from the male ‘standard’ and therefore, abnormal, and not worthy of frank, direct discussion. Well, … Continue reading INTERVIEW: Susie Conte || The Communists are in the Funhouse
Theatre maker Michelle Aitken, fresh from performing in Bow & Dagger’s The Double, is about to open a show of her own at The Blue Room Theatre called Unrule. She and her team of collaborators are tackling the ickiness of women’s bodies, or rather, women’s anxieties around the perceived ickiness of their bodies. Aitken gives us some insights into making this show, and what audiences can look forward to. What made you look to the prom scene in Carrie for inspiration? What is it about that scene that resonates with you? While I was researching for the show I read a paper … Continue reading INTERVIEW: Michelle Aitken || Unrule
On the back of their huge success with Ohad Naharin‘s Decadance Perth 2016, STRUT Dance are bringing another dance work to Perth that is normally quarantined to major dance companies: William Forsyth‘s One Flat Thing, Reproduced. The 20-minute piece will be performed outdoors and with a roaming audience for the first time ever at the State Theatre Centre courtyard from 29 March to 1 April, as a curtain-raiser to Black Swan State Theatre Company‘s Once in Royal David’s City by Michael Gow. The piece for 14 dancers using 20 specially-constructed tables was first performed in 2000 by Forsyth’s Ballett Frankfurt, and STRUT Dance … Continue reading INTERVIEW: Paul Selwyn Norton for One Flat Thing, Reproduced | STRUT Dance
The Blue Room Theatre will open its April – July season with a show from sandpaperplane, the folks behind Fringe sensations Fairybread and 34,000 Forks. So You Think You’re Charlie Smith is an original work that takes a dark look into the world of reality television, “explor[ing] identity, purpose and escapism to interrogate what is the nature of reality in an unreal world.” We spoke to co-writer and co-producer Ben Thomas for a bit of background about the show. Why did you want to tell this story? We had tossed up a few concepts when thinking about a new idea for a show, and … Continue reading INTERVIEW: 7 Questions with Ben Thomas for So You Think You’re Charlie Smith
“In a world simultaneously soaked with sex, pornography, hook-up apps, sexism and slut-shaming, how do young people today navigate physical relationships?” ask the team behind a new original production coming to The Blue Room in November. Co-created/co-directed by Tim Green and Samantha Maclean, Tissue delves into how relationships are affected by sex and porn in media and pop culture. Green takes us through the show’s inception and sheds light on what he and Maclean are preparing to reveal. How have you gone about gathering and compiling material for the show? The initial concept for Tissue was born from previous short work ‘Porn-Oh’ written and performed … Continue reading INTERVIEW: 7 Questions with Tim Green for Tissue
A long time in the making, Project Xan, a powerful performance documentary, is coming to PICA performance space in November. The result of a five year collaboration between playwright Hellie Turner and Xan Fraser, Project Xan brings Fraser’s story to light: a young girl becomes intoxicated to the point of unconsciousness and is violated by three young men. Throughout the subsequent trial, she is subject to victim-blaming while the young men get a ‘slap on the wrist.’ Writer/director Hellie Turner tells us how the project came about, and how she and the creative team have approached this very difficult territory. You have been working with Xan … Continue reading INTERVIEW: 7 Questions with Hellie Turner for Project Xan
Fremantle Festival is just around the corner, and promises 10 days of curated events that highlight Fremantle’s vibrant arts and culture. CircusWA is as a vital part of the city’s unique flavour, and their youth troupe Sliders is an integral part of the organisation’s mission of fostering circus skills in the community. Sliders is taking part in this year’s Festival with a show called Cirquepop, directed by the multi-skilled Ross Vegas, who has traveled the world as a circus performer. He takes a moment to give us the low-down on the high-flying world of circus. How do you go … Continue reading INTERVIEW: 7 Questions with Ross Vegas for Cirquepop
Bizet’s romantic opera The Pearl Fishers gets a makeover by Australian playwright and director Michael Gow, and WA Opera brings his revised production to His Majesty’s Theatre and WA audiences in just one week. Gow has made the three main male parts European, with Perth home-grown baritone Sam Roberts-Smith performing the role of Zurga. Roberts-Smith has had a very welcome homecoming from WAO in the production after travelling the world with The Ten Tenors; he gives us a few insights into the secret of his success. How is this role and the production challenging you as a performer? Vocally it’s demanding. Most … Continue reading INTERVIEW: 7 Questions with Sam Roberts-Smith for The Pearl Fishers
Perth Arts Live 