Celebrating Stories in Many Voices
Launching an initiative that champions culturally-responsive theatre reviews and spotlighting groundbreaking performances across the city, MAV has teamed up with La Mama, APHIDS, and Amarantha Robinson as a community engagement partner.
Photo from La Mama’s Festival of Mother Tongues show, I’m a virtual being, take photos of me. Image by Darren Gill.
MAV is excited to collaborate with local theatre-makers showcasing the talented storytellers who bring diversity and vibrancy to our culturally rich landscape.
Opening this Tuesday, 12 November 2024 is La Mama’s Festival of Mother Tongues, their first multi-lingual theatre festival featuring an impressive line up of 18 shows performed in a variety of mother tongue languages. This includes; Farsi, French, Greek, Italian, Macedonian, Madarin, Maori, Marathi, Persian, Polish, Sicilian, Spanish, and Tagalog.
From 27 November - 1 December, EDGING by APHIDS runs at Arts House. Exploring the intersections of popular culture, border control and queerness, EDGING is a new collaboration between APHIDS’ Lara Thoms and artists Sammaneh Pourshafighi and Eden Falk.
And from 5 - 15 December is ILARUN: The Cutting Comb by Amarantha Robinson, showing at fortyfivedownstairs. A stirring new production inspired by the life of Jamaica’s Nanny of Maroons honouring the fierce spirit of resistance.
MAV has commissioned 14 writers, storytellers and artists to review the works of fellow creatives from the lens of shared lived, or cultural experiences. These writers were selected from our open Freelancers Database, which prioritises collaborating with community directly to produce content and advocate for a truly multicultural arts sector.
MAV aims to promote the importance of theatre reviews that challenge dominant narratives and offer deeper, culturally grounded perspectives. You can view our Guide to Culturally Responsive Reviews here.
Explore the upcoming season of brilliant stories below:
La Mama’s Festival of Mother Tongues:
This incredible line up of shows will be running between 12 - 24 November. Please click on the image below for more details and to book.
EDGING by APHIDS
Sammaneh Pourshafighi stars in EDGING by APHIDS. Image by Bryony Jackson.
Are Virgos really bossy? What’s the best Bette Midler movie? How do you get into the Berghain? A queer performer shares opinions and asks questions about movie stars, reality TV, gossip, fashion and sex.
Though these cultural references might seem fun and flippant, as they unfold it becomes apparent that there is a common thread: they all connect to real Australian border control practices.
Turning power dynamics on their head in playful and unforgettable ways, EDGING interrogates how queerness, popular culture and border control intersect. This powerful pat down uncovers the practices that border control protection officials have tried to keep in the closet.
EDGING is a new collaboration between APHIDS’ Lara Thoms and artists Sammaneh Pourshafighi and Eden Falk. Showing at Arts House from 27 November to 1 December.
ILARUN: The Cutting Comb by Amarantha Robinson
Amarantha Robinson stars in ILARUN: The Cutting Comb. Image by Davide Balduzzi.
Witness a stirring new production inspired by the life of Jamaica's Nanny of the Maroons, and honours the fierce spirit of resistance.
Through a mystical encounter, a powerful ancestral spirit rises to confront the horrors of enslavement, igniting a battle for liberation that reverberates through time.
An original show by Amarantha Robinson and presented in association with Quiet Riot will feature Culture Yard, a catered celebration for the Black, Blak and BIPOC community on opening night.
