2021 Past Event
Joel Bray has daddy issues. And his insatiable cravings for father figures always leave him wanting more.
Daddy is the latest work from one of the most electric new figures in Australian dance. Here he probes one of the paradoxes of our age: when so much is on offer, why are we left so hungry?
From the sugar-coated idyll of childhood reminiscence to the glazed excesses of queer adulthood, Joel’s story proves that a sweet tooth is a dangerous thing. Short-lived highs give way to the inevitable comedowns before the cycle begins all over again. And like a kid in a candy store, an imperial hunger for Aboriginal Australia consumes all it encounters – land, women and children – like fistfuls of sugar.
Hilarious, provocative and heartfelt, Daddy tickles the nerve endings of desire while prodding the cavities left by colonisation. Featuring Joel’s trademark confection of conversation, dance and all-you-can-eat audience participation, this is one sweet feast with a deadly aftertaste.
Stick around after the 1pm performance on Sat 7 Aug as trans-disciplinary artist Mathew Van Roden chats to creator and star of the show Joel Bray.
Reviews
‘A mixture of irresistible humour and breathtaking, desolating honesty.’
Witness Performance
‘A candy-coloured camp extravagance, which meshed the impact of colonisation with the quest for love in the Grindr era.’
ABC
Credits
Creator, Choreographer & Performer Joel Bray
- Composer & Sound Designer Naretha Williams
- Lighting Designer Katie Sfetkidis
- Set & Costume Designer James Lew
- Collaborating Director Stephen Nicolazzo
- Collaborating Choreographer Niharika Senapati
- Dramaturge SJ Norman
- Audio Technical Support Daniel Nixon
- Lighting Associate Nicholas Moloney
- Piano Niv Marinberg
- Voices Josh Price & Jason Tamiru
- Technical & Stage Manager Lucie Sutherland
- Creative Producer Josh Wright
- Program Producer Lucie Sutherland
- Photo James Henry
Supported by
Commissioned by the City of Melbourne through Arts House, YIRRAMBOI Festival and the Arts Grants Program; and by Performance Space, Sydney. Developed for YIRRAMBOI’s KIN Commissions and the Liveworks Festival 2019
Thanks to the Wiradjuri Condobolin Corporation for the recordings from the Wiradjuri Language App, based on the research of Dr Stan Grant and Dr John Rudder.
