Artist Sabio Evans is not happy about the lack of opportunities for and recognition of Tasmanian performers.
She claims her ‘From Scapegoat to God‘ – a new theatre work exploring survival, exile and resurrection set to premiere at Theatre Royal’s Studio is month — is “ignored by media but backed by truth.”
Evans confirmed that show has been produced entirely without government support, and received no coverage or acknowledgement from “all the major Tasmanian media outlets (sic) and contacts since its initial media release on 3 June, written and sent by an experienced, professional arts PR and marketing person, Laura Purcell, to over 25 contacts — including the ABC, The Mercury, ABC Radio, 7 News and WIN TV.”
“This is despite the show being the only Tasmanian production at Theatre Royal in June, created by recognised artists with international awards.”
“The silence itself is becoming part of the work’s myth,” Evans said.
Evans’ work has featured at the Sydney Opera House, within Netflix productions and has been presented nationally. In July, this work will be scaled up and installed at Circular Quay, Sydney, as a month-long installation. But in her home state, her voice is unheard.
“We’ve come through months on life support in ICU, cancer and artistic exile,” said Evans, co-creator and performer.
“This show is not part of Dark Mofo. It’s not sanctioned. But it is very real. My bare chest, after a double mastectomy, becomes the site of a live ritual. The audience marks it with gold.”
Audiences are each handed a single glove and invited to participate, hands on body, in a transformative ritual. The work is a one-day-only act of collective reckoning.
Evans argues that tn a state consumed by politics and AFL investment, with the AFL playing hardball and the Governor mulling over the state’s fate, there’s an uncomfortable truth about the cultural scene.
“Tasmania’s major government-funded cultural festivals with arts development — Dark MOFO, Ten Days on the Island, Beaker Street, The Unconformity, The Wooden Boat Festival — are all led by non-Tasmanian Artistic Directors, CEOs and Executive Producers.
“If Ricky Ponting, Jacqui Lambie, Richard Flanagan, Ariarne Titmus, Jack Riewoldt, Errol Flynn and David Boon are considered icons of local identity, then why are local-born artists now erased?” asked Evans rhetorically. “Who really gets to shape Tasmanian culture?”
The majority of artists and acts for Dark MOFO and other major Tasmanian festivals are fly-in fly-out (FIFO) performers along with the FIFO technical crews and FIFO producers.
Meanwhile every week two and a half plane loads of Tasmanians leave the state for good. Tasmania has faced ten consecutive quarters of net interstate migration losses, indicating a sustained trend.
Factors contributing to this outflow include limited well-paid job opportunities, as noted by workplace demographer Lisa Denny.
“Where is the agency for people who were born in Tas, or grew up in Tas, those who have spent decades here?” asked Evans, who was born in Devonport and grew up in Railton.
“This show is about exile,” stated Evans. “And now, we’re watching it play out in real time. It’s … is more than a performance — it’s a protest and a cultural diagnosis.”
The artist promises that beyond participation, the audience will “see and feel the creative power of over seven compelling, imaginative characters, incredible costumes and deep stories.”
The artistic and theatrical style is self-described as partly minimalist, partly surreal, all hybrid theatre.
👉 https://www.theatreroyal.com.au/show-categories/tasmanian
Images courtesy Paul Evans.
Tasmanian Times notes that the artist generally refers to self as Sabio only however it is long-standing policy of this publication to use surnames in stories for clarity and consistency.
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