THE MIGRANT PROJECT: JUNCTURE
Unfortunately, it’s all too rare that we get to see a positive portrayal of multiculturalism in motion. The Migrant Project: Juncture is just that: a vibrant and affirming story-based show that steps beyond the political rhetoric to get at the heart of what’s happening for migrant communities and Sydney at large. Ashfield Youth Theatre Artistic Director and the director of this production, Aimée Falzon, tells us more.
How much is this personal story, how much guided performance? It’s both. The Migrant Project: Juncture is nearly entirely comprised of the personal stories and histories of the cast members. But the cast have been taken through a process of exploring those stories and then finding the best medium to communicate that story in a theatre space. So you see a mix of text-based, movement, music and image in Juncture. The personal stories are at the heart of it, and the whole team works together to breathe life into each person’s story. Juncture also investigates the stories and histories of this place, where we rehearse and perform; Sydney’s Inner West.
What kind of common experiences come up in the telling? The mothers. Right from the start, a lot of stories about matriarchs, mums and grand-mothers who have been a force in people’s lives who tenaciously, lovingly hold families and systems together.
The age of the cast is 12-18 – and perhaps it’s something about this generation – but one of the interesting things that has emerged is nearly all of them have a mixed background. Not only are the cast incredibly diverse but each individual is diverse within themselves – it’s as though you’re seeing the embodiment of this idea of multiculturalism, at its most intimate. Unfortunately one of the common experiences is that they don’t feel that mainstream forms of media have really caught up with the reality of this diversity enough to represent it accurately.
At the end of each performance you encourage a discussion forum – how important is this? It is an essential part of the experience. The performance has arrived out of a conversation, it IS a big and beautiful conversation and it’s appropriate that we extend that conversation to our audiences. Juncture, I believe, opens up the space for dialogue and I think people will feel compelled to perhaps share a little of their story and also, I’m sure the audience will want to grill the amazing cast after the show!
The show also incorporates choreography and audio visuals – can you give us a sense of those? Movement leaps over the boundaries between people in ways that language never could, so in a show that investigates people’s identities, cultures and differences it’s important – and at times best – to close your mouth and let the body speak what it knows. It’s a quite a physical show – at times gentle, at times violent – and we’re lucky to have the wonderful Rosealee Pearson on board as choreographer! The visuals are also there to help serve the stories, to provide a backdrop to them, there are glimpses of old family photos, snippets of news, political speeches, and of course, some beautiful homegrown music with its roots stretching across continents.
And where does Juncture sit in the overall Migrant Project initiative? It’s very exciting for Ashfield Youth Theatre – this is the first time that The Migrant Project concept has been ‘adopted-out’ as a model. To provide some context; The Migrant Project was originally conceived by Shakthi Sivanathan for CuriousWorks in 2005, and over a period of four years there were three live performances, countless workshops, forums and a documentary film was made. I worked as a performance artist on those projects, it was a wonderful experience and even after the shows were completed, the film made – the ideas have stuck with me and continued to grow and wrestle in my mind… I’m not finished with them yet and I don’t think Sydney’s finished with them either. The Migrant Project has become a model for artful engagement with people and places that are nerve-centres of diversity. This year, AYT has taken on that model with a new team: the young people of Sydney’s Inner West. It’s very exciting because it’s as though a baton has been passed and it’s now in the hands of the next generation!
Mar 29-31, PACT Theatre, 107 Railway Pde, Erskineville, free but bookings recommended, 9716 1846, ashfieldyouththeatre.com
