Back to Back Theatre

Back to Back Theatre is an Australian theater company that engages with disabilities on stage. The company is based in Geelong, Victoria. It creates its work nationally and tours around the world. The work produced by the company explores questions about politics, ethics, and philosophy in humanity.^{[citation needed]}

The company originated in 1987, and a year later its first performance Big Bag was put on stage.^[1]

The ensemble currently consists of six actors, all of whom are neurodivergent or disabled. As of May 2022, the Back to Back ensemble is: Simon Laherty, Sarah Mainwaring, Scott Price, Mark Deans, and Breanna Deleo.^[2]

Back to Back Theatre gained international attention in 2007 after touring with small metal objects and winning a Green Room Award.^[1] Another play Ganesh versus the Third Reich revolved around ideas of eugenics and Nazism and received a Helpmann award after its first performance in 2012.^[3] In 2019, the company also engaged in some film work creating Oddlands, a 28-minute pilot for TV that will grow into a six-part series.^[1]

In 2013, Back to Back Theatre published a book We're People Who Do Shows ― Back to Back Theatre Performance, Politics, Visibility that expanded on the company's artistic vision, process, and history.^[1]

The company's film Shadow was showcased at the Sydney Film Festival in 2022.^[4] The film is a contradictory commentary on activism in disabled communities.

Touring works

As of June 5, 2022

Single Channel Video
Shadow film
The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes
Ganesh Versus the Third Reich
Small Metal Objects
The Democratic Set
Food Court
Lady Eats Apple

Awards

For Back to Back Theatre

Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement (2024)^[5]
International Ibsen Award (2022)^[5]
Australian Disability Enterprise of Excellence Award (2012)
Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards - Group Award (2005)

Ganesh Versus the Third Reich

Edinburgh International Festival Herald Angel Critics' Award (2014)
Kunstfest Weimar Very Young Jury's All Round Award (2014)
Green Room Award Best Ensemble Performance in Alternative & Hybrid Performance (2012)
Green Room Award Best Direction in Theatre (2012)
Green Room Award Best Production in Theatre (2012)
Helpmann Award for Best Play (2012)
Melbourne Festival Age Critics' Award (2012)
Kit Denton Fellowship for Theatrical Courage (2009)

Small Metal Objects

Bessie Award, New York (2008)
Green Room Award - Best Theatre Production (New Form), Victoria (2007)
ZKB Appreciation Prize, Zurich Theatre Festival (2007)
Inaugural Age Critics' Special Commendation, Melbourne Festival (2005)

Soft

The Age Critics' Award for Creative Excellence, Melbourne Festival (2002)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "A History of Back to Back Theatre | Stanford Live". live.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2022-05-09.
^ "People". Back to Back Theatre. Retrieved 2022-05-29.
^ "Disability and the 'new normal': why Australia needs to ramp up access to stage and screen". the Guardian. 2016-09-23. Retrieved 2022-05-09.
^ "SHADOW | Film". Back to Back Theatre. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
^ ^a ^b Burke, Kelly (2024-02-14). "Venice Biennale: regional Australian theatre company wins prestigious Golden Lion". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-02-14.

Costa, Maddy (13 December 2012). "Best theatre of 2012, No 7: Ganesh versus the Third Reich". Retrieved 6 April 2017 – via The Guardian.
Brantley, Ben (10 January 2013). "'Ganesh Versus the Third Reich,' at Under the Radar". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
https://web.archive.org/web/20160314205655/http://creative.vic.gov.au/Arts_in_Victoria/Features/Feature_Stories/Challenging_perceptions_Geelong%E2%80%99s_Back_to_Back_Theatre
Cuthbertson, Debbie (3 August 2016). "Melbourne Festival 2016: Jonathan Holloway's first program to inflate Back to Back Theatre's reputation". Retrieved 6 April 2017 – via The Sydney Morning Herald.
Brantley, Ben (24 January 2013). "Theater Talkback: Defying Expectations Off Broadway". Retrieved 6 April 2017.
Rychter, Tacey (2016-08-03). "Melbourne Festival 2016 Program Announced". Broadsheet. Retrieved 2022-12-04.
"Lady Eats Apple - Melbourne Festival, 06—23 October 2016". Archived from the original on 24 October 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
https://web.archive.org/web/20160819051347/http://www.performingartsmarket.com.au/program/details/lady-eats-apple

^[1] Roger Wooster (2009) Creative inclusion in community theatre: a journey with Odyssey Theatre, Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 14:1, 79–90, doi:10.1080/13569780802655814
^[2] Schmidt, T. (2013). Acting, Disabled: Back to Back Theatre and the Politics of Appearance. In K. Jüers-Munby, J. Carroll, & S. Giles (Eds.), Postdramatic Theatre and the Political: International Perspectives on Contemporary Performance (1st ed., pp. 189–207). Bloomsbury Methuen Drama. https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/files/37318239/Schmidt_Back_to_Back_Theatre_and_the_politics_of_appearance.pdf
^[3] H., Grehan, (2013). 'We're people who do shows': Back to Back Theatre - Performance Politics Visibility. PR Books. OCLC 864694297.
^[4] Titchkosky, T. (2003). Chapter 6: Revealing Culture's Eye. In Disability, self, and Society. Essay.
^[5] Dave Calvert (2016) 'Everything Has a Fucking Value': Negative Dialectics in the Work of Back to Back Theatre, Contemporary Theatre Review, 26:2, 134–152, doi:10.1080/10486801.2015.1105799