THE RIOT ACT
Thursday, June 25, 2009
A New Australian Theatre Work
2, 3, 4 July 2009, 7:30pm, Blacktown Arts Centre
Blacktown Arts Centre will stage a short season of the new Australian theatre work The Riot Act, by Karen Therese over three nights, July 2 - 4 at 7.30pm.
The Riot Act is an emotive reflection on the forces and opinions that shape communities experiencing social unrest. Having worked extensively with residents, police, youth and social workers, writer and director Karen Therese provides firsthand insight into three of Sydney's most notorious riots.
Ms Therese, who grew up in Bidwill, wrote the performance in response to the media's coverage of the Redfern (2003) and Macquarie Fields (2004) riots and her memories, as a nine year old, of the Bidwill riot in 1983.
The Riot Act presents the community's stories and the media's response in a performance equally poetic and breathtaking.
Stark and brooding, the tense portrayal of urban conflict in the Riot Act combines movement, multimedia and theatre to create a truly lyrical production. The unique blend of innovative performance and community engagement connects The Riot Act with issues that continue to shape contemporary urban life.
The Blacktown Arts Centre and Campbelltown Arts Centre have supported the production through a series of creative development residencies between 2007-2009.
Campbelltown Art Centre's recent production of The Riot Act saw the play highly acclaimed by both critics and audiences. As NIDA's Kevin Jackson asserts; 'The performance has such a deep, integral understanding and empathy to the world that they are creating…episodes in the work are both devastatingly "real" and yet, also, subsume into poetic imagery of "accidental" creativity of great beauty and yet didactic punch".
Cost: General: $20
Concession and Friends of Blacktown Arts Centre: $13
Times: Evenings: Thursday 2, Friday 3 & Saturday 4 July, 7:30 pm
Matinee: Thursday 2 10:30am
Bookings: 9839 6558
12 month membership is $10 for individual, $15 for family, $5 concession and $30 for community organisations.
Membership is for 12 months, January to December however we are having a special offer, anyone who joins before December 2009 will receive membership until January 2011.
Friends receive invites to all exhibitions openings, musical performances, social events and 'Friends of the Arts Centre' only events. Friends also receive at least 10% discount on workshops and art courses run by the centre as well as discounts in selected local stores.
