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Back To Back Theatre is a pioneering contemporary theatre company based in Geelong with a full-time ensemble of five actors considered to have an intellectual disability.
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| Simon Laherty, Sonia Teuben, SMO |
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Formed in 1987, Back to Back has created over 27 original works for theatre and eight short films. In the past this has included high profile collaborations with Circus Oz (Freak Show 1994), Melbourne Workers Theatre (Road Movie 1966), Handspan Visual Theatre (Minds Eye 1996) and Arena Theatre Company (Peter Pan 1997). Since 1999, Back to Back has concentrated on self-devised work with the ensemble at the creative core, producing Mental (1999), Dog Farm (2000) Soft (2002) and Small Metal Objects (2005).
In 2000 Back to Back was the subject of an SBS documentary, Out of our Minds, directed by then Board member David Carlin while Mental was performed at the Sydney Paralympics Cultural Festival. The following year Back to Back made Porn Star, a digital short film adapted by Bruce Gladwin and Rhian Hinkley from one of the Dog Farm stories. Porn Star screened at film festivals in Germany and Canada and in 2003 won the Adrian Clarke Development Award at the Sydney Mardi Gras Film Festival.
Soft was Back to Back’s first work to be premiered at the Melbourne International Arts Festival in 2002 where it jointly won The Age Critics’ Award for Creative Excellence. It subsequently was the only work written in Australia nominated for the 2002 Helpmann Awards for Best Play.
In 2003 Soft toured to the Zurich International Theatre Festival and Hamburg’s Laokoon Festival while Cow, one of the Dog Farm stories, performed at Hannover’s Long Night of the Churches and the London International Festival of Theatre. The experimental performance project, Pod, also had its first presentation in Hannover to coincide with the Cow tour. Soft’s sound and set design also won wide acclaim for its human rationale in technological experimentation and innovation.
In 2004 Back to Back began on two lengthy creative development processes – for Small Metal Objects and Dumb- as well as development of the Pod model at Night School in Geelong and the Awakenings Festival in Horsham.
Inn 2005 Back to Back premieres Small Metal Objects at the Melbourne International Arts Festival.
As well as professional theatre making, Back to Back concurrently runs a community theatre workshop program with the components Summer School and Theatre of Speed. Theatre of Speed has collaborated on two community theatre productions, Fishman (2001) and Inside the Angel House (2003) both directed by Marcia Ferguson. In 2004 Theatre of Speed also made a dance video, Theatre of Speed vs. BOZ'n'HOK with a group of choreographers and director Rhian Hinkley that screened at the 2005 Edinburgh International Film Festival.
In 2005 Back to Back continued the creative developments of Dumb and a new work, Bedroom, continued the Pod residencies in Ballarat and Colac, developed another short film with Theatre of Speed and premiered their new work, Minotaur, in Geelong.
When Back to Back toured SOFT to Europe in 2003, one critic declared: “You would have to create a new category of theatre to position Back to Back.”
“ These talented performers have a devastating ability to illuminate complex issues with their own form of lateral thinking. Their enjoyment of performance is infectious...”
- Helen Thomson, THE AGE
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