In the eternal fight of good versus evil, the ultimate winner will be a new kind of hero – low fi, profoundly human, and more resplendent in the strength of his beliefs than his natty lycra costume.
This is the world of Super Discount, where the super in superhuman no longer involves square jaws and a set of washboard abs.
Following Back to Back Theatre’s internationally acclaimed Ganesh Versus the Third Reich, a production the New York Times dubbed “a vital, senses-sharpening tonic for theatre-goers who feel they’ve seen it all”, emerges the company’s next excursion to the very limits of theatrical wonder.
With inspiration from the real-life passion for comic books of Brian Tilley, a Back to Back Theatre ensemble member, Super Discount teases out the fictive frontier between alternate worlds and asks the audience what it means to be a hero.
This is a riotous new work that explores what it means to be different, and how to unleash the caped crusader in all of us.
Labelled “exhilarating” by The Australian, Super Discount is a daring new work that will make you think, force you to question and, of course, help unearth your own superpowers.
Back to Back Theatre was founded in Geelong in 1987 to create theatre with people who are perceived to have a disability. It has since become one of Australia’s leading creative voices, focusing on moral, philosophical and political questions about the value of individual lives.
With a full-time ensemble of five actors, Back to Back creates work that is idiosyncratic, passionate and at times confronting. Back to Back’s ensemble is made up of actors perceived to have intellectual disabilities, a group of people who, in a culture obsessed with perfection are the real outsiders.
This position of marginality provides them with a unique, and at times, subversive view of the world. With Bruce Gladwin as Artistic Director, Back to Back has nurtured a unique artistic voice, placing the ensemble at the centre of social and cultural dialogue.
Through a process of research, improvisation and scripting, and collaboration between the ensemble, Artistic Director and invited guests, new work is realised and performed to audiences around the world.
Director: Bruce Gladwin Featuring: Mark Deans, Simon Laherty, Sarah Mainwaring, Scott Price, Brian Tilley and David Woods Lighting Design: Andrew Livingston Costume Design: Shio Otani Choreography: Antony Hamilton
Super Discount
Merlyn Theatre – The Malthouse, 113 Sturt Street, Southbank
Season: 13 November – 1 December 2013
Bookings: (03) 9685 5111 or online at: www.malthousetheatre.com.au
For more information, visit: www.backtobacktheatre.com for details.
Image: by Jeff Busby