Outer Urban Projects

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THE AUDITION

“Irine Vela seamlessly directs The Audition to create electrifying theatre… the work shimmers, mirage-like, between asylum seekers claiming protection and actors preparing to audition, with cognate politics and piercing resonance.” – Cameron Woodhead, The Age

Asylum seekers share something in common with Australian actors — they are both outsiders with an uncertain status. Just like actors, they become expert at waiting whilst remaining forever hopeful. But what if you are both an asylum seeker and an actor? How long must one wait?

The Audition is a theatre work performed with live music. It is inspired by two commanding young Iranian artists, Milad Norouzi & Sahra Davoudi, who were asylum seekers while developing & creating the work. They imbue the show with a tension & truth that is palpable, poetic and at times absurd. Joining them in the creative team are some of Australia’s finest writers and actors.

Premiered in late 2019, The Audition is being published as part of Currency Press’ Staging Asylum anthology in 2023, and is returning to stages in 2024.

POETIC LICENSE

“The work is electric. It is rich with story and has an amazing life force. …  It is a mix of forms and styles bound together by tight and fearless choreography.  It is vibrant. There’s an element of great joy which I have rarely witnessed in any performance. It’s contagious. And the contagion works to excite and at times boisterously enthuse an entire audience. And it’s an audience which is unlike most theatre audiences. It is filled with people, often entire families from grandparents to small children, and like the performers on stage, from cultural backgrounds from all over the world. It’s a true and powerful reflection of who we are.” – Patricia Cornelius, The Age

Poetic License is a multi-disciplinary and multilingual cross-generational performance work about the power and limitations of words. Poetic License is inspired by Aristophanes’ Ancient Greek comic masterpiece ‘The Frogs’ and metaphorically weaves Aristophanes ancient text into our contemporary context. A god descends to the underworld to resurrect the best tragic poet back to life to save the city from war and ruin. 2,500 years ago slam poetry and the rap battle were born. Can the spoken word really move and inspire. Can it change anything? It uses spoken word, poetry, rap, freestyle and song alongside live music.

Poetic License premiered at the Melbourne Writers Festival 2014, and had return seasons in 2015 and 2017 as well as a schools workshop tour. Returning in 2024, Poetic License is available as a school workshop, a full touring work, or a residency resulting in a performance including community artists.