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Kelly, Kathryn(2018)Rovers.

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https:// www.brisbanefestival.com.au/ whats-on/ rovers

Queensland University of Technology

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FOR CODE: 190402RM: 20181017 Kathryn Kelly

NTRO ROVERS

Queensland University of Technology

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ROVERS Description of the Work (Abstract)

Rovers is a new intercultural performance work, developed from the true stories of two of Australia’s most experienced and acclaimedperformers – Roxanne MacDonald and Barb Lowing. Rovers extends the intercultural practice of Belloo creative (Kathryn Kelly iscompany dramaturg) and was also a trial of an innovative community engagement project to connect with and welcome Aboriginalaudiences to the Brisbane Festival. Roxy is one of country’s most experienced and beloved Aboriginal performers and Barb is one ofQueensland’s most renowned dramatic performers. Their friendship was forged in an iconic 1990s Mabo inspired revamp of TheTaming of the Shrew which saw them tour Central Australia together, visiting Uluru and eating oysters late at night in their hotel roomin Alice Springs. Barb went onto to work on Australian mainstages and Roxy with the vibrant Aboriginal theatre movement, but theywere never cast together again—until Rovers. The show was built as an economic and creative vehicle for both performers, whoselifelong dedication to acting had left them in precarious financial circumstances.

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The innovative creative practice developed for Rovers is part verbatim, part fictive memory and deliberately draws on feminist tropes of the road movie and the notion of the ‘wild woman’ to celebrate the power of these two extraordinary performers. Through their ancestral memories, Rovers explores Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal experiences of colonisation, reconciliation, memory and aging.

The dramaturgy of the work is deliberately non-linear, honouring what Helen Cixious describes as “the laughing Medusa” – the fluid, subjective and embodied experience of the feminine. Rovers is also part of an exciting resurgence of intercultural performance work on Australian stages. The project trials an innovative community engagement project to ensure cultural safety and respect in mainstream Australian venues for Aboriginal audiences and to build ongoing relationships and connections into community. It was also an important ethical commitment that an intercultural work about Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal connection was enjoyed by both communities in the same space at the same time. The learnings from the roll-out of the community engagement is being published in an upcoming article about community engagement in Social Alternatives, co-authored by Jeremy Neideck.

Barb Lowing and Roxy MacDonald as bushrangers

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Documentation

Trailer of Rovers: https://vimeo.com/287545136

Video about community engagement: password ‘rovershttps://vimeo.com/285923563

Aunty Melita Orcher, Kathryn Kelly, Cinnamon Watson, Aunty Estelle, Emily Coleman, Aunty Berenice and Danielle Shankey at the opening of Rovers

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ROVERS CREATIVES AND CAST

CREATIVE TEAMWriter / Katherine Lyall-Watson

Director / Caroline DunphyStarring / Roxanne McDonald and Barbara Lowing

Vocal Artist / Kirk PageComposer & Sound Designer / Dane Alexander

Lighting Designer / Christine FelminghamSet Designer / Jonathan Shankey & Caroline Dunphy

Costume Design / Oscar Hannah ClarkCultural Consultant / Nadine McDonald-Dowd

Dramaturg / Kathryn KellyProducer / Danielle Shankey

Sound Design Intern / Isabella HallVideography & Performance / Joel Kishinevsky & Michael Tuahine

Technical Manager & Projection Designer / Jeremy GordonProduction Manager / Peter Cossar

Community Engagement / Emily ColemanMarketing / Cinnamon Smith

SUPPORTERS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSRovers was developed with the support of NORPA and premiered at NORPA on 17 August 2018.

Belloo Creative is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland.Rovers is proudly supported by Creative Sparks. The Creative Sparks Fund is a partnership between the Queensland

Government and Brisbane City Council to support local arts and culture in Brisbane.This project is supported by YWCA Queensland.

Kathryn Kelly’s role supported by Queensland University of Technology.This project was supported by Queensland Theatre through the provision of in-kind venues.

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ROVERS PERFORMANCES - 2018

It is rare that a new performance work debuts and tours before the work has been seen in production, however, Rovers was programmed by both NORPA, the Maleny Arts Festival and Brisbane Festival on the basis of Belloo Creative’s reputation, the calibre of the two performers and the strength of the performance script. Rovers was also accepted through competitive selection to showcase at the national performance marketplace, PAX and the Queensland marketplace, Artour in 2018 both and has attracted interest for 2019 and 2020 tour. The details of the 2018 tour are as follows:

Belloo Creative International Women’s Day Celebrations at Queensland Theatre Women and Well Being: excerpt performance, March 9, 2018.

Inclusion of work in progress as part of the Commonwealth Games Festival 2018 in the Indigenous program, which was curated by Indigenous artist, Alethea Beetson. https://gc2018.com/event/rovers

World Premiere of Rovers at NORPA (Lismore): https://norpa.org.au/events/rovers/

Inclusion in the Maleny Arts Festival: https://www.malenyartscouncil.com/rovers.html

Season at the Theatre Republic in the Brisbane Festival: https://www.brisbanefestival.com.au/whats-on/rovers

Queensland University of Technology

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ROVERS Research Statement

Queensland University of Technology

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Research Statement

FieldThis research project with Jeremy Neideck provides an overview of current perspectives on best practice in community engagement strategies for independent performance-makers and institutions in Australia today. The research contextualises a broad literature review through two case-studies that are exemplars for exploring effective community engagement strategies, the first of which is Belloo Creative’s Rovers.

By collecting and analysing oral histories gathered through semi-structured interviews, the researchers will interrogate the processes of creative development, and cultural and community engagement and consultation undertaken by Belloo Creative. Through case-study and practice-led methodology, the research will contribute to the development of models of community engagement for end-users (independent performance-makers and institutions) and further knowledge for the fields of inter/cross/transcultural performance.

ContextCase Study 1 - ‘Rovers’ (Belloo Creative)‘Rovers’ is a contemporary comedy-drama written by Katherine Lyall-Watson and produced by independent performance company Belloo Creative. Woven from true stories collected from the lives of performers Roxanne McDonald and Barbara Lowing, ‘Rovers’ has undergone a substantial period of development driven by Lyall-Watson and her collaborators: director Caroline Dunphy, dramaturg Kathryn Kelly, producer Danielle Shankey, and Indigenous cultural consultant Nadine McDonald-Dowd. ‘Rovers’ has been developed as a partnership between artists from Australia’s Indigenous and settler communities.

An important component of this project has been that concurrent to the development of the creative work, there has been the development of a community engagement strategy, the goal of which is to diversify the audience base for the work, grow contemporary performance literacy in Indigenous communities and to ensure that the invited audiences from Aboriginal communities feel welcomed and connected to the theatre venue and presenting institution.

Research Question

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Research Statement

"Belloo Creative is continuing their streak of developing outstanding shows. They’ve brought us a production that celebrates women without alienating men. They’ve delivered a performance with diversity that isn’t tokenistic or patronising. They discuss serious and important concepts without lecturing or depressing. This is a cast and crew delivering state of the art theatre. It’s a standard to which other productions can aspire." - Stage Whispers

“I remain gobsmacked, with lingering scenes, words and music still rattling around my brain. I want to witness it all over again!”— Australian Stage

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ROVERS

Research Question: What intercultural, transdisciplinary and community engagement protocols and creative practice can be developed and deployed to ensure respectful and culturally impactful performance for audiences in diverse cultures?

Research ContributionThis research into intercultural performance is particularly important for Australian theatre, for which “staging the nation”(Glow 2006) has been an infectious preoccupation. Australian performance has been privileged to see the rise of sovereign Aboriginal theatre companies and repertory, from the earliest works of Jack Davis and Robert Merritt, to the cultural resurgent contemporary work of Alethea Beetson and Rachel Maza. In recent years, there has also been a surge of intercultural collaborative work in partnership between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal creatives. However, audiences attending works outside of the Aboriginal theatre movement still continue to be dominated by white audiences. This research offers practical case studies showcasing how independent theatre companies can leverage resources and relationships to engender more innovative and culturally respectful community engagement to grow culturally safe and respectful spaces for Aboriginal audiences.

Research SignificanceThe aim is to develop a model for community engagement for independent theatre companies in Australian performance. Independent theatre companies do not usually receive ongoing (operational) funding and do not have an established track record of developing community engagement strategies. This project will make an important contribution to the broad research field of inter/cross/transcultural performance and a specific intervention for end-users (independent theatre and dance companies and institutions) in audience development in the non-funded performance sector in Australia.

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Research Significance - Excellence

• Award nominations will not be released until early in 2019, however, Rovers has been greeted with unequivocal critical acclaim in all productions and venues, both in Queensland where the company is well known and in NSW.

• As noted previously the quality of Rovers is affirmed not only by the quality of venues that have programmed it –through a rigorous curatorial process, including Queensland’s largest Festival (Brisbane Festival) and mainstage regional theatre, NORPA but that this has happened in a premiere season.

• Rovers has also undergone extensive competitive peer review to be awarded funding including:• Arts Queensland QASP Program - $29,900 for Rovers and SAND creative development• Brisbane City Council Creative Sparks - $19,900 for Rovers and SAND creative development