Sydney Writers' Festival 2009 - Online Program

Please note all these events have been completed.

Tongue Tide: Writing for Performance with Diverse Communities
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Whose voices are heard in contemporary Australian theatre? A panel will discuss bridging the gap between the rich, grassroots voices of multicultural Australia and mainstream theatre.

The panel discussion will be followed by a short reading of extracts from Two Ways Diverging - a script developed as part of Blacktown Art Centre’s African Theatre Project. This script development faced the challenges of writing for performance with second-language English-speakers about the African migrant experience in Western Sydney.

Two Ways Diverging is a window into the lives of Western Sydney’s emerging Sudanese community. A son turns against his family; lost between two cultures. His mother helps him find his way by adapting traditional African rituals of manhood to modern Australian culture. Written by a Sudanese youth group of first-time theatre writers: Yuol Yuol, Akoi Majak, Monica Kualba and John Garang.

Panel  |  Scriptwriting, Culture & Heritage
Participants
Robert Colman, Claudia Chidiac, Maria Mitar, Yuol Yuol, Chris Mead

When
Saturday, May 23 2009
14:30 - 16:00

Where
Blacktown Arts Centre
78 Flushcombe Rd
Blacktown
 Venue and Transport Info

Cost
Free

Bookings
9839 6558

Schedule
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ROBERT COLMAN (LOCAL)Colman, Robert
ROBERT COLMAN is a Johannesburg-based theatre director, writer and performer currently working in Sydney as artist-in-residence on Blacktown Arts Centre’s African Theatre Project. He specialises in developing new work with diverse communities. His work has toured nationally and internationally.

CLAUDIA CHIDIAC (LOCAL)Chidiac, Claudia
CLAUDIA CHIDIAC is the artistic director of Powerhouse Youth Theatre, where she has been responsible for directing and producing the company’s artistic program and developing training opportunities for emerging artists in Western Sydney.

MARIA MITAR (LOCAL)
MARIA MITAR is the performing arts development officer at Blacktown Arts Centre. She initiated and facilitates the African Theatre Project.

YUOL YUOL (LOCAL)Yuol, Yuol
YUOL YUOL arrived as a Southern Sudanese refugee and is now a Blacktown resident. He is one of the young writers in Blacktown Arts Centre’s African Theatre Project.

CHRIS MEAD (LOCAL)Mead, Chris
CHRIS MEAD is currently the inaugural artistic director of the national playwriting advocacy body, PlayWriting Australia. His platform paper on institutional racism in Australian theatre and outreach strategies was published in 2008.