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Back to Back is Back for 2012!

Posted July 13th, 2011

Thanks to a major grant from the Philadelphia Theatre Initiative, we’re bringing Geelong, Australia’s Back to Back Theatre back! Back to Back generates work out of the interests and skills of actors labeled as intellectually disabled, and its production of small metal objects was among the most beautiful shows of the 2009 Live Arts Festival.

Back to Back’s work frequently investigates the social assumptions and prejudices—both articulated and unconscious—that operate on the dignity of a group of people so often classified as something “other.” It also exposes those prejudices frankly, boldly, and sometimes brutally. For the 2012 Live Arts Festival, Back to Back will present the only American performance of its new work, FOOD COURT, which tackles the disturbingly thorough humiliation of one such woman. Back to Back’s core ensemble comprises artists of mixed intellectual ability, and next fall they’ll engage similarly mixed audiences not just through the performance, but through a series of pre-show discussions and a workshop exploring their creative processes.

Can’t wait? Preview the lush FOOD COURT below:



And congratulations to the other PTI grantees, who include Geoff Sobelle for the 2011 Live Arts Festival production of Elephant Room; Pig Iron, whose collaboration with Japanese playwright, director, and choreographer Toshi Okada will premiere at the 2012 Live Arts Festival; Charlotte Ford, who’s examining the nexus of humor and sexiness for women in theater; Thaddeus Phillips, who will flesh out and remount his Red-Eye to Havre de Grace for an October 2010 production; along with The Wilma Theater, People’s Light & Theatre, Painted Bride, First Person Arts, and 1812 Productions. For information on all the projects, click here.

–Nicholas Gilewicz