Never Trust a Creative City
Emma McManus & Maria White
World Premiere
Presented by Arts House for Festival of Live Art
8.30pm, Wed 21 Mar
60 mins
$20 / $15
Arts House
North Melbourne Town Hall
521 Queensberry St,
North Melbourne
Warning:
Partial nudity
Accessibility:
Wheelchair Accessibile
Artist Statement:
PDF version
Word version
A little bit TED talk, a little bit buddy comedy and a little bit dystopian science fiction, Never Trust a Creative City untangles the complex relationship between artists and gentrification. Laugh, rail and weep with protagonists Emma McManus and Maria White (Too Rude), as they embark on a comedic journey through rising rents and social dislocation, arts-led urban renewal, pop-up galleries and ‘really dumb things on the internet’.
Disillusioned with the state of arts funding, the dismantling of public services and art history’s problematic narratives, McManus and White inject a healthy dose of feminist chutzpah and attempt to unravel the terrible formula: art + city = gentrification. Inviting audiences into both circular reasoning and ethical quandaries, Never Trust a Creative City steps beyond the creative precinct to expose the gentrification of our minds, bodies and behaviours.
Creators & Performers:
Emma McManus & Maria White
Dramaturge:
Jennifer Medway
Sound Designer:
Tom Hogan
Lighting Designer:
Emma Lockhart-Wilson
Set Design:
Romanie Harper
Costume Design:
Verity Mackey
Supported by – Arts House through CultureLAB; the ACT Government through artsACT; and Crack Theatre Festival through the Setting Stages initiative funded through the Australia Council
Acknowledgement – Never Trust a Creative city undertook creative development as part of Vitalstatistix’s interdisciplinary hothouse, Adhocracy, in 2016
Image by – Too Rude