RAWCUS program

A RESOURCEFUL HERO STRUGGLING AGAINST INCREDIBLE ODDS

5–13 February 2022 Malthouse Outdoor Stage

Midsumma acknowledges that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians are the first peoples of these lands. We pay our respects to all First Nation Australians, past, present and emerging, and we recognise their continuing spiritual and cultural connection to the land. We would like to acknowledge that Aboriginal sovereignty has not been ceded.

Midsumma Festival occurs across the Kulin Nations on the lands of Boon Wurrung, Taungurung, Dja Dja Wurrung, Wathaurong and Wurundjeri (Woiwurrung) peoples.

Midsumma Festival takes place between High Summer and Late Summer according to the Wurundjeri calendar of seasons, on whose land much of this Festival is taking place.

Welcome to Midsumma Festival 2022!

We at Midsumma are thrilled to have Rawcus and their show A Resourceful Hero Struggling Against Incredible Odds as part of our signature Midsumma 2022 program And / Or .

And / Or is a program focused on the development and presentation of new disability led art representing the skills, creativity, stories, and ideas of a range of disabled, deaf and hearing impaired LGBTQIA+ artists. It is a nationally significant project providing a platform of support and profile for diverse professional queer artists and communities who identity with a variety of lived disabilities, deaf / hard of hearing, and neurodiverse.

of us grew up with on our big (or small) screens.

Rawcus is a wonderful critically acclaimed group with diverse minds, bodies and imaginations who for over 21 years have been creating audacious performances and arts experiences. This project sees the company collaborating with the makers of the sold out The Bachelor S17E05 and award nominated A Disorganised Zoom Reading of the script from Contagion to create a new verbatim pop adventure.

Midsumma is extremely proud to support Rawcus in the development of this project.

A Resourceful Hero Struggling Against Incredible Odds has been funded by the Midsumma Festival, Australia Council for the Arts, and the City of Melbourne.”

Presented by Midsumma Festival and Rawcus, in partnership with St Martins Youth Arts Centre, this playful deconstruction of the ‘hero’ sits at the intersection of queerness Happy Midsumma and disability. A celebration of diversity and visual story-telling, — Karen Bryant this performance offers a Midsumma Chief Executive chance to see the heroes none

Rawcus

Creative Producer Project/Production Manager Co-creator/Director Co-creator/Writer Co-creator/Rawcus Ensemble

Sound Designer Visual Designer Design Assistant Technical Manager Stage Manager Rawcus Artistic Director Rawcus Executive Producer

St Martins Youth Arts Centre Co-creator/Performers

Assistant Director St Martins Artistic Director St Martins Acting Executive Director

Harriet Devlin-Dunbar Alana Hoggart Katrina Cornwell Morgan Rose Clement Baade Harriet Devlin Joshua Lynzaat Kerryn Poke Rachel Edward Daniel Nixon Emily Collett Xasha Chua-Huggins Justin Gardam Vivienne Poznanski Kate Sulan Jacque Robinson Alice Qin Isaac Edwards Hattie Elliott Ben Goss Belle Hansen Summer Metcalf Oscar Nelson-Smith Maya Sandon Ruben Waters Vito van Hout Cassandra Gray Nadja Kostich Kirstie Ellem

Support and Access Team

Rawcus Ensemble Artist Support St Martins Ensemble Artist Support Co-Creator/One on One Artist Support Auslan Interpreter Team Deaf Interpreter and Access Consultant Team Audio Description

Malthouse

Rachel Edward Alice Qin Cameron Waters Kirri Dangerfield Sarah Field Gus Bagger Danni Wright Catherine Dunn Sam Martin Nilgun Guven

Artistic Director & Co-CEO Executive Producer & Co-CEO Creative Producer Marketing & Communications Manager Brand Marketing Coordinator CRM & Ticketing Manager Content Producer Production Manager Operations Manager Production Coordinator Sound Technician Stage Manager Venue Manager Front of House Manager Facilities Coordinator Equity & Inclusion Manager Box Office Supervisor & Education Bookings

Matthew Lutton Sarah Neal Linda Catalano Davey Simmons Julia Antique Prue Sutherland Tamarah Scott David Miller Dexter Varley Tia Clark Edwin Cheah Cointha Walkenden John Byrne Emma Corbett Steve Hearne Cessalee Smith-Stovall Fiona Wiseman

Chief Executive Acting Program Manager And/Or Program Coordinator Marketing & Communications Manager Volunteer Coordinator

Karen Bryant Brendan Cooney Aamer Ahmed Felicity McIntosh Martin Broadley

Midsumma

A Resourceful Hero Struggling Against Incredible Odds is part of The Rawcus Public Program, a curated program with offerings that are created through on-going conversations between the Rawcus Ensemble and diverse range of artists and communities. This program is responsive to time and place, and is expansive and varied in form, scale, timeframe and audience. The Rawcus Public Program enlivens people, place and perspectives. www.rawcus.org.au

A Resourceful Hero Struggling Against Incredible Odds is presented by the Midsumma Festival 2022 and Rawcus in partnership with St Martins Youth Arts Centre. This project has been supported by the City of Melbourne and the Malthouse Theatre.

Rawcus receives organisation support from the Victorian State Government Creative Victoria, The City of Port Phillip’s Key Arts Organisation Program and the Shulu Foundation.

Thank you to our everyday heroes Chunky Move for their in kind support for this project.

Photography: Sarah Walker

Notes

This is a play about action movies. We chose to zero in on the quintessential film of the genre: Die Hard.

When we see Bruce Willis we know we can count on everything being fine in the end.

There will be trouble, it will be difficult, but it will work out, and order will be restored.

The past couple of years we’ve all grown weary of ‘strange and uncertain times’. We would love for a hero to swoop in and make it all better. We’re still waiting... watching hours of content on our laptops at home, waiting…

inevitable happy resolution for us to aspire to. Yes, the fantasy is clunky, consistently centred around a young, strong, able bodied, straight man. Most of us in this world, don’t relate to him. But we relate to the difficulty, the summoning of courage, the desire to make the world a better place…and the calm in the end, the sense of achievement, we all want that---straight or not, white or not, male or not, able-bodied or not…we all want that.

This work is about action films, regular people, uncertainty, and the everyday battles swirling around our brains. We’re all Bruce, Keanu, Arnold and the staring down obstacles, we’re safety these tough-dudeall trying, we’re all being brave, bodies connote are useful as a salve in moments of uncertainty. always, always. We thought perhaps you might feel the They help us through the hard same way. times by presenting us with an — Morgan and Kat

Katrina Cornwell Co-creator/Director

Morgan Rose Co-creator/Writer