Big World, Up Close is a powerhouse performance series showcasing the most compelling new works from across the globe at Arts Centre Melbourne from July to September 2018.
In 2017, the series gripped audiences with intimate theatre full of emotion and drama. This year the canvas is stretched event further, with each piece tapping urgent energies from Africa to the Middle East and Australia’s own shores, delivering profound and personal stories from vital voices in music and theatre.
Palestinian writer-performer Amer Hlehel tells the story of the great poet Taha Muhammed Ali, whose beloved verses document the compelling and heartbreaking experiences of Palestinian refugees with hope and optimism.
Based on Adina Hoffman’s book My Happiness Bears No Relation to Happiness, Hlehel skilfully interweaves Taha’s exquisite poetry with his compelling life journey – a journey that sees a humble, engaging man evolve into a renowned Palestinian writer against all the odds.
With no props other than a bench and a briefcase, Hlehel delivers a deeply affecting, tour-de-force solo performance. TAHA received critical acclaim in London, Edinburgh and Adelaide festivals and continues to tour internationally.
Local music trailblazer Mojo Juju pulls back the curtain on the raw, honest and intrinsically political stories behind the songs in her album Native Tongue. It is a show that is raw, honest, emotional and intrinsically political.
Contemplating her Mother’s Indigenous heritage, her Father’s experience as a Filipino immigrant and her own place in the cultural landscape of modern Australia, this is a show about self-discovery, revealing the true stories that inspired the songs from her latest release.
In April 2015, a student revolution at the University of Cape Town rocked South Africa and made waves around the world. The movement sought to bring down the statue of colonialist Cecil Rhodes, in protest of the white, Euro-centric cultural experience which dominated South African student life.
Rising from the #RhodesMustFall movement, this collaborative piece of theatre emerges from the heart of South Africa, written and performed by seven students who were involved in the uprising. Race, class, gender, sexism, colonialism and ideologies of patriarchy – core to global conversations and interventions today – are recounted in personal experiences and tackled head-on, seeking to unpack discrimination in all its forms.
Fresh from its resounding success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, having received two top awards and multiple five-star reviews, docu-drama The Fall lands in Melbourne for its Australian debut – starring those directly involved.
TAHA
State Theatre – Arts Centre Melbourne, 100 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne
Season: 10 – 14 July 2018
Information and Bookings: www.artscentremelbourne.com.au
Mojo Juju: Native Tongue
Fairfax Studio – Arts Centre Melbourne, 100 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne
Season: 8 – 11 August 2018
Information and Bookings: www.artscentremelbourne.com.au
The Fall
Fairfax Studio – Arts Centre Melbourne, 100 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne
Season: 28 August – 2 September 2018
Information and Bookings: www.artscentremelbourne.com.au
Image: TAHA – photo courtesy of Arts Centre Melbourne