Riptide brings performance into the streets of Mandurah for Stretch Festival

Based out of the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre (MPAC), Riptide is an ensemble of about 20 local young people ages 15-23, who work towards performance-based projects throughout the year.

Artistic director Kathryn Osborne said the group is looking forward to taking on the Stretch Festival again in 2017, where they will engage the community in six outdoor performance installations.

“Each of those performances has been created collaboratively by myself and the team,” Ms Osborne said.

“They will happen a couple of times each day, and they range from completely non-verbal, physical pieces, we’ve also got a game we’ve created that people can play out the back of Cicerellos, a more theatrical performance outside MPAC, you can take photos with one of our performers in a costume, you can do a meditation under the fig tree, about the future of Mandurah and dreaming what it can be, that’s just a couple of them.”

The performances will repeat throughout the day on 20 minute intervals, so the public can engage at their leisure.

“All of them except one are solo performances, and this is our opportunity to test some ideas we’re interested in expanding on later on for the festival next year, so we’re really hoping we can get feedback from people and try different ways of engaging people in a public space,” Ms Osborne said.

“It’s challenging, not being in a traditional context, lots can happen, people can come up to you and try to talk to you, but its part of a more holistic performance-making program I’m interested in.

“It’s another way of them exploring possibilities of how you can make art and how you can perform art.”

On Saturday May 6 the Riptide performers will be around MPAC and the Mandurah Foreshore from 2.20-4pm.

On Sunday May 7, the performances will run from 11.20am-1pm.

For more information on Stretch Festival events, visit the website.