|
After a sell-out season of Jane Harrison's powerful and moving play Stolen in 2011, the talented students of the Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts (ACPA) return with their new production Up the Ladder.
This year, under the guidance of Queensland Theatre Company Artistic Director, renowned playwright and director Wesley Enoch, the ACPA students bring their own dynamic style of music, dance and acting to Roger Bennett’s animated play Up the Ladder.
An inspiring story of triumph over adversity, Up the Ladder evokes the carnival atmosphere, humour and energy of 1940s and 50s sideshows as we follow an Aboriginal man’s journey from the humble rough and tumble of post-war Australian boxing tents to a high profile professional career as a champion boxer.
This exciting new production of Up the Ladder will showcase the next generation of emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait performing artists, share potent memories of Australia’s post-war history and provide a joyous message of redemption and reconciliation.
UP THE LADDER features more than 50 dancers, singers, actors and musicians from the Aboriginal Centre for the Performing Arts
DIRECTOR:
Directed by Wesley Enoch who is originally from Stradbroke Island (Minjeribah) and is a proud Noonuccal Nuugi man. He is the current Artistic Director of Queensland Theatre Company and a renowned director and writer for the stage. Wesley has been the Artistic Director for a number of companies including; Kooemba Jdarra Indigenous Performing Arts (1994): LITTLE WHITE DRESS (Queensland Performing Arts Centre/Out of the Box Festival), A LIFE OF GRACE AND PIETY (Just Us Theatre Ensemble) and THE 7 STAGES OF GRIEVING. Wesley became the Associate Artist for Queensland Theatre Company (1998): RADIANCE, BLACK-ED UP, THE SUNSHINE CLUB and FOUNTAINS BEYOND. His other credits in that time include: THE 7 STAGES OF GRIEVING, STOLEN (Playbox Theatre) and ROMEO AND JULIET (Bell Shakespeare). Wesley went on to then become the Resident Director at Sydney Theatre Company (2000): BLACK MEDEA, THE SUNSHINE CLUB, BLACK-ED UP, THE CHERRY PICKERS (2002 UK Tour), STOLEN and a remount of THE 7 STAGES OF GRIEVING. He then became Artistic Director of the Ilbijerri Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Theatre Co-operative (2003): SHRUNKEN IRIS and RAINBOW'S END. As Associate Artist at Company B (2006-2008): CAPRICORNIA, PAUL, PARRAMATTA GIRLS and YIBIYUNG (with Malthouse Theatre). Other directing credits include THE DREAMERS, CONVERSATIONS WITH THE DEAD, BLACK MEDEA (with Malthouse Theatre), THE SAPPHIRES (Melbourne Theatre Company) all with Company B; EORA CROSSING (Legs on the Wall/Museum of Sydney/Sydney Festival) and RIVERLAND (Windmill Performing Arts), NARGUN AND THE STARS (Performing Lines), THE MAN FROM MUKINUPIN (Company B/Melbourne Theatre Company), ONE NIGHT, THE MOON (Malthouse Theatre), a revival of THE SAPPHIRES (Company B/Black Swan Theatre Company) and BOMBSHELLS (Queensland Theatre Company), WALTZING THE WILARRA (Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company/Perth Festival) and I AM EORA (Performing Lines/Sydney Festival).
PLAYWRIGHT:
Roger Bennett (1948 – 1997) was an Arrernte man from Central Australia, an actor, and a playwright. His best known works are Up the Ladder and Funerals and Circuses. They dealt with his life experiences, particularly the travelling boxing tents, where his father, Elley Bennett, was a boxing champion during the 1940s and ‘50s. Learn more:
|
