A local community theatre groups aims to break down social barriers between disabled and non-disabled people with a touching and personal production for Stretch Festival.
Poles Apart Theatre Company, organised by Kellee Aberg and featuring exclusively performers with mental or physical disabilities, has organised a show for the yearly arts festival called The Good The Bad and The Ugly, which delves into the often-contentious issues of social stereotypes.
“We created Poles Apart three years ago, and it was just a little theatre program we ran in Greenfields,” Ms Aberg said.
“It really turned into a theatre company because these guys have the right to perform, and have the right to tell their stories in a professional setting, and the community and MPAC have really been behind that.”
Ms Aberg said the company has established a strong professional base, and the performers had come into their own working at the level offered by events like Stretch Festival.
“You know, I’m basically just here to facilitate the whole thing,” she said.
“It’s their stories, their life stories and hardships, and really their opportunity to get on stage and share that.
“They’re not just acting; they’re creating shows at a professional level, and that’s the purpose of it.”
Ms Aberg and the performers aim to have Poles Apart accepted as a high-level company not through the performer’s disabilities, but rather through their capabilities and the unique stories they can tell.
“Of course they live different lives, in a way, but they’re just regular people,” she said.
“There might be people out there going, ‘wow, it’s so great that they can do this’, but really it’s just people doing what they want to do.”
Ms Aberg said one of the advantages of workin in a space where performers are telling such personal stories is that you can use their personalities as part of the production.
“They bring a lot of themselves (to the play), but when they have strengths you want to highlight them,” she said.
For The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, the performers have merged classical and contemporary theatre with a strong message.
They’ve chosen to meld the story of Hephaestus, the Greek god of blacksmiths who was thrown from Olympus for being a cripple, and the controversial story of Baby Gammy.
“It’s a touchy subject, but one these guys feel really strongly about and one they feel like they have a lot to say on,” Ms Aberg said.
“It’s about issues of inclusion and being accepted by family and friends, and by society. And that’s a message we’re really passionate about spreading.”
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly plays at Mandurah Performing Arts Centre’s Fishtrap Theatre on May 11 and 12.
For tickets and more information call the Box Office 9550 3900 or visit the website, manpac.com.au
