Artists, Projects and Collaborators Set for Antipodes 2023 Winter Lab

Antipodes Theatre Company has announced the lead artists and collaborators who will be participating in the fourth annual Winter Lab for bold work and new ideas, taking place 19 June - 1 July, 2023.

This unique development initiative pairs lead artists from across Australia with collaborators (actors, dramaturges, mentors, musicians, designers, and more) to develop a variety of works, all of which are intended for live performance. This year’s slate includes four musicals, two plays, a multi-disciplinary work and a hybrid cabaret-social experiment. The other main objective of the Winter Lab is to create a community space where artists can get to know each other outside of their individual projects through group events and workshops. 

Artists who were chosen to develop projects as part of the Winter Lab include: Andy Freeborn (they/them), Jess Ramsey (they/she), Alex Duncan (he/him), Domenica Garrett (she/they), Kaliya Arumugam (she/they), Akansha Hungenahally (she/her), Ruwanthi Wijetunga (she/her), Malith (he/they), Sophie Smyth (she/her), Holland Brooks (she/they), Tomas Parrish (they/them), and Abigail Banister-Jones (she/her) and below is a list of collaborators working across the projects.

A total of eight projects were selected by a panel of prominent artists from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds, including Trudy Dunn (she/her, Tick, Tick, Boom), Jayde Kirchert (she/her, Artistic Director of Citizen Theatre) and Margot Morales (she/they, Artistic Associate at Melbourne Theatre Company) alongside Antipodes Theatre Company representatives Cameron Steens (they/them, New Work Manager & Lead Producer) and Co-Producers Brandon Pape (he/him, Artistic Director), and Ashleigh Walwyn (she/her, Resident Stage Manager).

Antipodes Theatre Company seeks to provide a collaborative and inclusive environment for producing independent theatre in Melbourne by maintaining or exceeding a minimum of 50% representation – on stage and off – by women, ethnically diverse artists, people with disability, trans and non-binary people, seniors or other members of historically or culturally marginalised communities who are not well represented on stage.

2023 WINTER LAB PROJECTS

Death To A Butterfly by Andy Freeborn (they/them) and Jess Ramsey (they/she)

Collaborators: Flick (they/them), Lucy Ross (she/they), they/them (they/them), Teo Vergara (they/them)

A story of queer identity and queer erasure, inspired by the extravagant and indulgent life of Henry Cyril Paget, the 5th Marquess of Anglesey. In an estate in 1890’s Wales, Henry, Lilian and Fleur break the boundaries of gender identity, what it means to be passionate, and what it means to love. 

Driscoll by Alex Duncan (he/him) and Domenica Garrett (she/they)

Collaborators: Sarah Fitzgerald (they/them), Megan Scolyer-Gray (she/her), Nina Tuschhaurser (she/her), Chloe Towan (she/her)

This absurd comedy interrogates one woman's psyche and her relationship with her home, her friends and her sense of self worth after she brings home her new emotional support animal – a monkey named Driscoll. Originally conceived for Antipodes’ ‘Play in a Day’ event. 

The Faces Of Kali (Working Title) by Kaliya Arumugam (she/they)

Collaborators: Alex Jackson (he/him), Margot Morales (she/they), Shamita Siva (she/they)

A collection of monologues, poetry and movement, this piece is a meditation on home, heritage and history. A young woman channels her namesake - Kali, the fearsome Divine Mother - and the many forms she takes, reckoning with her place in the world and discovering those that carved it out for her. 

Performative Allies (Working Title) by Akansha Hungenahally (she/her), Ruwanthi Wijetunga (she/her) and Malith (he/they)

Collaborators: Tahlia Jameson (she/her), Lydia Kuelsen (she/they), Sebastian Li (he/him), Prashanti Middling (she/her), Shamita Siva (she/they), Kikki Temple (she/her)

Performative Allies follows three actors of colour, living in the absurdly racist landscape of the Australian performing arts industry. By reimagining racialised experiences as fantastical, vaudevillian, comedic skits, this celebration of IBPOC resilience explores the absurdity of racial microaggressions, and how to survive them. 

Typical (Working Title) by Sophie Smyth (she/her)

Collaborators: Conor Beaumont (he/him), Amy May Numm (they/them, Andi Snelling (she/her)

An AuDHD protagonist learns her life expectancy is 36 because of high suicide rates. Desperate to be in a musical before then, she must write herself into one before her diagnoses convince her to become a statistic. This self-referential meta-musical with embedded access dares to ask: what if disability was the typical in musical theatre?

Unnatural by Holland Brooks (she/they)

Collaborators: Conor Beaumont (she/her), Nathan Fernandez (he/they), Emily Fraser (they/them), Will Hall (he/him), Jonathan Homsey (he/him), Alex Jackson (he/him), Tahlia Jameson (she/her), Michelle Myers (she/her), Em Tambree (they/them), Chloe Towan (she/her), Keziah Warner (she/her)

This series of seven intersecting monologues channels contemporary supernatural and psychological horror motifs to diversify, queerify and contemporise the Gothic tradition of storytelling – championing those who have historically been villainised and shunned by the genre.

Views & Visions (Working Title) by Tomas Parrish (they/them)

Collaborators: Will Hall (he/him), Miranda Middleton (she/her), Sara Reed (she/her), Ziggy Resnick (they/she), Willow Sizer (they/them)

In a time where neo-Nazism and anti-transness are on the rise, this piece explores the lives, battles, and triumphs of two gender-nonconforming artists as they resist Nazi occupation of their home during World War Two. Even in 2023, Lucy and Suzanne’s story is more galvanising - and sadly more poignant - than ever.

The Year Without A Summer by Abigail Banister-Jones (she/her)

Collaborators: Trudy Dunn (she/her), Nathan Fernandez  (he/they), Hugo Gutteridge (he/they), Milo Hartill (she/they), Karoi Maeda-Judge (she/her), Mitch Ralston (they/them), Elliot Wood (they/he)

It’s 1916 and volcanic ash darkens the sky. This ghost-musical reaches back in time through shadows and music to capture the fear of the past – and the fear of the future – inspired by the origin stories of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Dr John Polidori's The Vampyre.

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