Telling the story about the complexity of trauma-laden memories, love, and family relationships, the powerful and poignant theatre show NIUSIA will take to the Clocktower Centre stage on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 October 2025.
Writer Beth Paterson and director Kat Yates were able to develop this show thanks to the Clocktower Centre’s Ignite and Create Residency program which provided venue space and ongoing assistance.
NIUSIA tells the story of a Holocaust survivor through the eyes of her granddaughter, Beth, who only remembers an angry, dying woman. She’s ready to learn her stories, but what she discovers is all the questions she didn’t know existed, and wasn’t allowed to ask.
Through NIUSIA, Beth weaves memories, handed-down stories, and interviews into an attempt to reconcile her own mixed cultural inheritance and comprehend her grandmother’s complex legacy. Beth asks: “what does remembrance look like when all I remember is the space where questions should go?”
Beth looks back at her family’s history to begin to understand her role in its future. Her ancestors fled war and devastation to seek belonging and safety, and NIUSIA interrogates what happens when aspiration becomes assimilation and asks what our roles are in keeping these stories alive.
NIUSIA is embarking on a 2025 tour across Metropolitan and Regional Victoria and is a timely reminder of the weight and importance of sharing our family’s histories, created by a ry presentation, a Melbourne/Naarm-based production company that is centred on presenting and platforming new theatrical works and artists.
They work with up-and-coming artists, often emerging from historically disenfranchised communities, to give voice to stories that have been long neglected from the theatrical canon and are very privileged to be a part of the lineage of storytelling that has existed on these lands for millennia.
NIUSIA is writer Beth Paterson’s debut following the Ignite and Create Residency at Clocktower Centre. As recipients of this residency, the show received exclusive in-kind venue hire for Clocktower Centre Studio space, marketing and publicity through Clocktower Centre’s online channels, support from Clocktower Centre’s specialist performing arts team and more.
NIUSIA
Clocktower Centre, 750 Mt Alexander Road, Moonee Ponds
Performances: 4 & 5 October 2025
Information and Bookings: www.clocktowercentre.com.au
Image: NIUSIA (supplied)