Win or lose it’s just a game, right?
Guttered explores the notion of being a winner or a loser within the context of ten pin bowling and reunites the award-winning creative team from Intimate Space. Set in a classic bowling alley, with the mesmerising sights and sounds, the audience are up close to the action as the performers put themselves on the line for success or failure.
Set in a classic bowling alley, with the mesmerising sights and sounds, the audience are immersed in the competitive and social interaction of a game.
Guttered further develops the presentation of work in non-traditional venues, which Restless explored so successfully in the work: Intimate Space set in a working hotel.
The unusual venue helps audiences sidestep their own prejudices and see the dancers as what they are: dancers performing exceptional work – who happen to have disability.
Michelle Ryan with her quirky and emotionally charged directing style questions how a social game can bring out the best and worst in people and explores the sometimes delicate edge between competitiveness and camaraderie.
Think Pina Bausch meets Punchdrunk!
“Why don’t we allow people with disability to have the dignity of risk? Disability Service lanes restrict failure. Failure is a key motivation to develop and learn. A bowling alley is such a theatrical setting, the noise of the pins falling, the smell of the oil from the hot chips, the classic bowling shirts and shoes and the raucous interaction of the bowlers, it is almost a sensory overload. In this work we share the dancer’s intimate stories of winning and losing is this intimate but public context.” – Michelle Ryan
Presentations:
- Adelaide Festival, Kingpin Norwood, March 2021
- Brisbane Festival, Kingpin Chemside, September 2022
- Sydney Festival, Kicks Tenpin & Arcade Parramatta, January 2023
Awards:
- The Ruby Awards 2022, Special Commendation – Best Work Within a Festival
