SIARAD, Spoken Word Theatre on the Move

Earlier this year I was invited to present my spoken word theatre show SIARAD in Mt Gambier as part of the Mt Gambier Fringe Festival, presented by Writes SA as an Arts Industry Collaboration with Adelaide Fringe. The Mt Gambier community were so welcoming. Many folk stayed behind to have a chat after the show, which was just brilliant. 

 Taking SIARAD on the road to Mt Gambier made me realise how much I want to present this show to audiences outside of an urban setting. The experience resonated with me on a deep level. Perhaps it was the drive, the quiet, the space to think and be. Time stretches on the the road. There's more space for contemplation. And because my mother had died just 2 months prior to doing the show in Mt Gambier, I still very much needed time, for contemplation and grieving. And because I was able to honour the memory of my mother in the show, this performance in Mt Gambier has become a part of my healing.

Plus, I was born in a small town and grew up in regional Western Australia and it seems to me that a kind of 'country' sensibility has never quite left me. What about you? Did you grow up outside of a major city and somehow feel that you still don't quite fit in an urban environment?

It's now been 6 months since my mother died. I'm still grieving and unable to write very much. In fact, I haven't been doing much at all, except feel sad. But the thing is, I want to feel sad. It's important to acknowledge this profound loss. What I have been doing is learning. I signed up for an excellent 4 month online course presented by Writes SA: 'Poetic Studio' with poet and teacher, Jill Jones. There was a lot of reading and many poetic experiments. But I'm still in a kind of stalled space, not quite sure what I want to write next. That's not to say there isn't a gathering of energy, there is. I'm just not sure in which direction that energy is headed.

Which is why I'm so pleased to be in rehearsal again. And this time I'm taking SIARAD on the road to Mparntwe (Alice Springs) in the Northern Territory as part of the Red Dirt Poetry Festival. Yay! Just one show only, I'll be performing SIARAD in the Totem Theatre Courtyard on August 6th at 5.30pm. You can book your tickets HERE. I'm also involved in a couple of other events: on a panel talking about poetry with regards to the theme 'Looking Forward, Looking Back' and as part of a showcase called Prickly Pear. I can't wait!

Festival Director Laurie May has done an incredible job at putting this festival together. Entirely run by First Nations Australians, Red Dirt Poetry Festival truly is unique: in management, content, talent, location and spirit. Do check out the program. And if you have the resources, why not come play poetry with us in the desert? And further to that, if you live in regional or rural Australia and are interested in SIARAD, a spoken word theatre show about love, loss and aging being performed in your town/place/region please drop me a line. Let's make this happen.

C x