COMING TOGETHER TO RECLAIM NARRATIVE EXHIBITION TOUR & WORKSHOPS
Milk Crate Theatre pays respect to the traditional custodians of our land, and to elders past, present and emerging. We are grateful to work and create theatre on land historically owned by the Gadigal and Wangal peoples of the Eora Nation – always was, and always will be, Aboriginal land.
Front cover: The cast of 'Natural Order' 2019, Photographed by Patrick Boland. Inside cover: Desmond Edwards in 'Tiny Universe' (2020) , Photographed by Clare Hawley.
02 Emergence 04 About Milk Crate Theatre 06 Emergence Theory 08 Exhibition Content 09 Workshops & Creative Development 12 Meet the Artistic Director
EMERGENCE
COMING TOGETHER TO RECLAIM NARRATIVE EXHIBITION TOUR & WORKSHOPS
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ommunity Arts and Cultural Development practice (CACD) is a powerful platform for expression and social justice. Milk Crate Theatre is but one of many cultural organisations in Australia - and the world - that functions as a space for the elevating this expression, making work specifically by and with people with lived experience of homelessness, mental health issues and disability. Emergence is an exhibition of photography and film that looks back on two-decade history of socially relevant and paradigm-shifting performance work made by our company. It weaves a narrative of artistry, ownership, and selfempowerment, in a way that only CACD best practice can do. The exhibition will tour in 2022-4, with Artistic Director Margot Politis and other members of the Milk Crate Theatre artistic team conducting masterclasses and small creative developments with host communities. Emergence will also be available as a Virtual Reality experience in 2022.
Image Credit: Film still from 'Coming Together' 2015, Director Sarah Emery
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"Im so very proud of my achievements, the achievements of us as a cast, and as an entire huge team, inluding the cast, crew, support and management." Natural Order Collaborative Artist
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ABOUT MILK CRATE THEATRE
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ilk Crate Theatre is the leading theatre company in Australia working in the unique intersection of the arts, homelessness, ageing, disability, and mental health. We seek to effect social change through the power of performance, and this goes far beyond a simple presentation of a lived experience story. We employ professional practicing artists to facilitate programs where all participants engage in creative expression and contribute genuinely to decision-making which forms the final work. Milk Crate Theatre works across a range of art forms so that people can contribute as they wish, supporting ownership, autonomy, and self-efficacy. Our practices of genuinely inclusive and collaborative material making is renowned nationally and internationally. We use performance and skills development to translate the sense of powerlessness and disquiet that accompanies difficult life experiences, into beautiful and resonant theatre works.
Milk Crate Theatre effects social change through the power of performance.
Milk Crate Theatre provides opportunities for people whose voices are underrepresented to engage in artistic practice to build confidence, skills andconnections; and shares bold and resonant stories to build empathy and break down barriers.
Our community of Collaborative Artists are people whose voices are underrepresented. They are generally living with, have experienced or are at risk of homelessness; living with mental health or disability support needs; have experienced domestic violence or come from culturally and linguistically diverse communities. We work with arts, social purpose, government, corporate and funding partners who can increase our participant and audience reach and impact.
Image Credit: Performance of 'Full Circle' 2013, photo by Patrick Boland.
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EMERGENCE THEORY
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n systems theory, emergence is the production of an outcome that cannot exist without the specific sum of all its parts. Like the alchemical process of theatre-making itself, Milk Crate Theatre has executed vital acts of emergence throughout its vast history, through multiple performance styles, structures, and processes – all dependent on who is in the room and what they wish to express. Emergence happens when we gather together in artistic enquiry, and again when we meet with our audience. Milk Crate Theatre audiences see work made by people with lived experience of homelessness that may not necessarily be about homelessness, or a stereotypical journey from struggle to redemption. We aim to shift the paradigm – to challenge audiences to consider what kind of work they expect to see made by people with these lived experiences. Viewers and performers engage together in an act of emergence, that goes far beyond what happens in the physical theatre space.
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"Milk Crate Theatre is Amazing. It fills a very special role in society to support people in need. I loved working with people whose needs are different to my own and seeing how the company works this into their ethos." Natural Order Collaborative Artist
Natural Order Collaborative Artist Image Credit Right: Performance of 'Intersection' 2010, photo by Patrick Boland.
Image Credit Right: The cast of 'Feast' 2016, photo by Patrick Boland.
EXHIBITION CONTENT All content will be curated between MCT and the host venue to accommodate specific spaces.
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Multiple prints; framed and unframed, various sizes (contact producer for selection) comprising photographic pieces, documentation of performance works, and documentation of CACD processes with community
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Collected short films – Artistic content; comprising multiple artistic works from Milk Crate Theatre’s history, including 2019 multi-artform presentation, Natural Order, about the myth of social mobility
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One film on durational rotation – Interview content; comprising interviews with artists, performers and arts workers from Milk Crate Theatre’s history, documenting the processes and art forms executed by the company in CACD best practice
Milk Crate Theatre
WORKSHOPS & CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT Artistic Director Margot Politis will co-curate with the host organisation a bespoke engagement of choice with the local community, which may be: •
a workshop series
• masterclasses • short creative development This engagement is for Milk Crate Theatre and people in the local community to gather for creative reflection on the theme of ‘Reclaiming Narrative’. The local group may create a work that can be exhibited alongside the Emergence collection, or can simply gather for a day of creative engagement.
Image Credit: The cast of 'Fearless' 2012, photo by Patrick Boland.
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MEET THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR MARGOT POLITIS The exhibition is curated by Margot Politis, and working closley with a varity of Milk Crate Theatre artists, they will faciliate a series of workshops that can be adapted to fit your space.
With over 18 years of practice, Margot has become a recognised leader in NSW inclusive arts practice as a performer, choreographer, film director, and devisor of new dance theatre. Margot was appointed Artistic Director of Milk Crate Theatre in 2018, after two years serving as Associate Director, and designed and directed the company's 2019 major production, Natural Order. Previous to this, she spent 2009-2016 as the Accessibility Director at Shopfront Arts Co-op, where she established the Accessibility Program, directing the Bodylines and Harness Ensembles of young people with disability in various performances and films; including the film Reaching Out Over & Over, which was an official selection of the 2016 NYC Indie Film Festival. She began her career performing with Restless Dance Theatre as a mentee to Kat Worth in 2004, after graduating from the Flinders University Drama Centre 2003. In 2017 Margot choreographed the Shopfront Arts Co-op and ATYP co-pro, Dignity of Risk alongside Natalie Rose, which won the Sydney Theatre Award for Best Production for Young People. Independently Margot has worked with Ausdance NSW, Accessible
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Arts NSW, Murmuration, Dirty Feet, The Song Room, Ever After Theatre, and Autism Spectrum Australia. She has been funded to study with various companies and artists in the USA: Axis Dance, The Gabrielle Roth Moving Centre, Tricia Brouk; and in 2013 was awarded a Cultural Leadership Grant from The Australia Council for the Arts to do the same in the UK, working with: Candoco Dance Company, Stopgap Dance, Mind The Gap, Graeae Theatre, and Oily Cart. In May 2015 she was artist in residence at Tasdance, Launceston, to provide skills development in inclusive practice for the company. Also in 2015, Margot established Self Help Arts, a collective of artists with lived experience of mental health support needs. Margot's focus as a practitioner is in making interdisciplinary and immersive performance work that explores social constructs, integrating theatre, film, movement, sound, setting and light. Margot has spoken at many events about disability and mental health, including as a panellist at the MCA Mental Health Awareness Week forum, and has consulted on the development of Arts and Health policy for government and organisations.
JESSICA SARAS Artistic Program Coordinator Jess is a professionally trained and working actress with over 15 years of experience in this field, holding a BA in Acting for Screen and Stage from CSU Wagga. Jess has been a part of the Milk Crate Community in various roles since 2016, currently serving as Artistic Program Coordinator, providing key support for the staff and artistic team in productions.
KAY ARMSTRONG Facilitating Artist 2020 marks Kay's 30th year as a professional artist. Kay is an award-winning dance artist (Robert Helpmann Scholarship 2004 / 2013 Dame Peggy Van Praagh Fellowship) Currently Kay is investigating the fusion of her visual arts and performance practice in her creative studio in Western Sydney. Tandem to her creative practice Kay also continues to mentor emerging dance artists and continue her creative facilitation work in the community arts sector.
ASLAM ABDUS-SAMAD Facilitating Artist Aslam Abdus-samad is an actor, performance maker and movement artist. He maintains his practice as a physical theatre performer throughout Australia and Internationally. He has trained with NIDA, Stella Adler Studio (NYC), IUGTE (Italy), MADimprov (Spain), ZenZenZo and holds a P. Grad Dip in Performance Creation (VCA).
LUCY WATSON Key Suppoprt Artist Lucy is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work spans and often combines writing, visual art and performance informed by acting, clowning, dance and storytelling. In 2020 she presented a solo exhibition called LiminalLatent at AirSpace Gallery, featuring abstract painting, video performance and installation, sculpture and live performance. She is currently working on performance processes with Milk Crate Theatre, For more information on Milk Crate Theatre staff, head to our website here.
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For more information contact
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t the Milk Crate Theatre Team
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Milk Crate Theatre Alexandria Town Hall 73 Garden Street Alexandria, NSW 2015 Phone: 0481 348 218 mail@milkcratetheatre.com www.milkcratetheatre.com
