Upon returning from a season in London, The Sui Ensemble will be making an appearance at MELT Festival this June at Brisbane Powerhouse.
The ensemble will perform their show 'La Silhouette'; theatre that immerses audiences in the personal, political and playful stories that have made queer culture the powerful and profoundly resilient presence it is today.
Director Dan Gough believes the show is vital exploration into Brisbane’s queer history.
“It's vitally important that we stop and look backward at our history and especially at a time when we may feel like we're the only ones at any point in time that are fighting for any sort of equality or freedom,” Dan says.
'La Silhouette' began development approximately 18 months ago during Sui Ensemble's residency at Backbone Theatre.
Backbone is a youth arts organisation based in East Brisbane, having been around for over 30 years and supports curious, untamed, and experimental thinkers to challenge ideas and express themselves through creative art forms.
From there, the cast travelled to London as part of the Occupy Festival held at the Battersea Art Centre.
“Occupy Festival is about underprivileged voices getting a stage and a space to express themselves,” Dan says.
The Australian ensemble of eight sold out over in the UK.
“It was a four-night season and the reception there was wonderful, while we were there we got to learn more about surrounding theatre companies and see shows like the ones that we make that don’t usually pop up in Brisbane city.”
This opportunity occurred after 'La Silhouette' was featured as a 'Work In Progress' piece at the Backbone Festival.
“Well, Katherine Quigley who is the Artistic Director and CEO of Backbone talked to us about coming to London to do the show as part of a huge experience. Backbone were the ones who built that connection and facilitated that opportunity,” Dan says.
In the past 18 months the show has continued to change and develop.
“There has been a few iterations, the first one was looking at the world's queer history and then as we realised Brisbane's queer history is just as exciting and just as amazing and there's some incredible stories in this city, we wanted the chance to give those stories a stage for a change,” Dan explains.
In preparation for Brisbane's MELT Festival, Dan is making further adjustments and striving to get in touch with Brisbane's queer community to ensure their stories are being told effectively.
“We are drawing from the all of the best parts from the three iterations we did before this one, so taking what works and ditching what hasn’t, so that we can perform the best version of the show. We have been reconnecting with the community and making sure that all of the important stories are being told.
“The sad truth is there's just not a chance to tell them all, and it's been a really difficult process of selecting the stories we can tell and telling those as well as we can, and then of course leaving space for people to recognise and think about the stories we haven’t been able to tell.”
