Dive. Poetic. Murri.
Sizzling hot concrete. Rainbow towels on half-dead grass. On a hot summer’s day, bodies of all shapes, colours and sizes journey to the public pool longing to do one thing…
swim.
Mununjali poet Ellen van Neerven is one of Australia’s finest and most awarded writers (Throat, Heat and Light). swim is their debut work for the stage.
Genderfluid protagonist E negotiates the space between the men’s and women’s change rooms. They flex in front of the cute pool attendant. As they step onto the diving blocks, the words of their Aunty come to them—and suddenly, the crystalline blue tiles give way to much deeper water.
swim is delicate and tough, honest and achingly beautiful—and it muses on everything from the sovereignty of water to gender identity and the binding strength of culture and family. Told with cheek and heart by Baad/Yawuru performer Dani Sibosado (Bran Nue Dae), Griffin Theatre Company is proud to premiere this work on Gadigal Land at Carriageworks before it travels to Yugambeh Country (Gold Coast) for an exclusive season on Country at BLEACH* Festival.
Don your goggles and get ready to hit the fast lane.
Director Andrea James
Choreographer Kirk Page
Lighting Designer Karen Norris
Composer and Sound Designer Brendon Boney
With Dani Sibosado
Presented at Carriageworks
10 – 27 July
Venue
Carriageworks, Track 8
Previews 10 & 11 July
Opening Nights 12 & 13 July
Season 15 – 27 July
Performance Times
Monday – Friday 7pm
Saturday 1pm & 7pm
Meet The Artists Tuesday 16 July
Captioned Performance Tuesday 23 July
Also presented at BLEACH* Festival 2024, Yugambeh Country (Gold Coast)
1 – 11 August
Book tickets at bleachfestival.com.au
Subscribing to Griffin is the best way to experience our 2024 Season—with savings galore and early access to the shows you want to see before tickets are released to the general public.
Check out the most affordable theatre subscriptions in Sydney and choose the package that best suits you when you subscribe to 2024.
Single tickets will go on sale in early 2024.
Content warnings will be published here nearer to the time of the production. Please contact us on [email protected] or (02) 9332 1052 if you require further detail, additional specific content specifications or have any questions.
swim has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body and supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland and by the NSW Government through Create NSW. This project was first developed by Moogahlin Performing Arts through the Yellamundie Festival 2019. Script development continued in 2020 by Moogahlin Performing Arts, with the support of the Department of Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Sydney. Creative developments have received generous support from Malcolm Robertson Foundation, Robert Dick and Erin Shiel and Home of the Arts (HOTA). swim has been developed with support from BlakDance and continued support from Queensland Performing Arts Centre.
Playful, poetic and political
- The Bleeding Tree by Angus Cerini
- Dogged by Andrea James & Catherine Ryan
- Since Ali Died by Omar Musa
@griffintheatre