PHASES

A performance event created by Joshua Pether in collaboration with Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre) students from the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) as part of Alter State 2024.

Phases I II & III explores the notion of duration as an extension of the performance time and space. Created by Joshua Pether, independent artist and CEO of Arts Access Victoria, in collaboration with VCA Bachelor of Fine Arts (Theatre) students with dramaturgical support from Sarah Austin, PHASES builds upon Pether's interest in duration and ritual practice to create a ceremony that extends beyond the space and walls of the performance space.

PHASES is a relaxed durational performance work evolving over three nights. Each night runs for three and half hours and no night is the same. You can enter, leave or return to the performance at any time between 6PM and 9.30PM.

TICKET - SEASON PASS

Your ticket to PHASES is a pass to attend the whole season.

Book a ticket for your preferred performance, then use that ticket to gain entry on any night of the season. You are welcome to enter, leave or return to the performance at any time between 6PM and 9.30PM.

For the best experience we encourage you to arrive at least 1 hour prior to the end of the performance.

Given the nature of a durational performance, our Front of House may ask that you wait before entering the performance space to ensure the safety of all patrons and performers.

WHAT TO EXPECT?

PHASES is a durational performance work with elements of scored improvisation which explores ritual and our relationship to place and time.

The work evolves over three nights of consecutive performance. Each night runs for three and half hours, and no night is the same. You are invited to reserve a ticket to the performance night that you can dedicate most time to, but your ticket will get you into any night during the performance season.

You are free to come and go as you wish each night, and a sausage sizzle and drinks (included in your ticket) beside a fire pit will be available between 7PM and 8.30PM each night of the performance.

Thursday 3 October, 6PM - 9.30PM - Describer Guide available

Friday 4 October, 6PM - 9.30PM - Auslan interpreted performance, Describer Guide available

Saturday 5 October, 5PM - Tactile Tour in Martyn Myer Arena

Saturday 5 October, 6PM - 9.30PM - Describer Guide available (this performance will be photographed)

VENUE ENTRY

This performance takes place in Martyn Myer Arena. Please meet Front of House outside The Octagon, located on the corner of Grant and Dodds Street, to be admitted to the performance space.

ACCESSIBILITY

If you have any specific access requirement or questions about the access services available for this performance, please let us know when registering your ticket(s).

Accessible and Gender Neutral Toilets

Auslan Interpreted

Friday 4 October will be an Auslan interpreted performance by Auslan Stage Left.

Companion Card

Companion tickets are available (for valid Companion Card holders) to reserve a ticket for your companion at no additional cost. Simply select one Companion ticket in addition when booking.

Describer Guide (for Audio Description)

Describer guides (for Audio Description) will be available at all of the performances. We are currently taking expressions of interest for patrons interested in utilising a Describer Guide during the performance. Please indicate on your order if you are interested in using this service.

Social Stories / Wayfinding

A Social Story and Wayfinding information will be provided to all registered patrons in the week leading up to the performance season.

Tactile Tour

A tactile tour by Vitae Veritas will commence at 5PM on Saturday 5 October at the venue, prior to the performance. Please indicate on your order if you are interested in attending the tour.

Water / Toilet spaces for Assistance Dogs

Wheelchair Accessible

CREDITS

Director/Choreographer

Joshua Pether

Associate Artist

Dr Sarah Austin

Performers/Devisors*

Bailey Ackling Beecham, Taina Araujo, Halle Blake-Burrows, Delia Breen, Rex Cameron, Gryff Connah, Alex Fimeri, Gisele Forsyth, Cosima Gilbert, Narii Hamill Salmon, Lou Martin, Joshua Mitchell, Brodie Murray, Matias Nunez, Hamish Payne, Diana Quarshie, Mary Schofield, Alexandra Smith, Issy Staiger-Creed, Lana Tancred, Charlotte Vella, Sarah Warren

Composer

Morgan May^

* VCA Theatre Company 2025
^ Bachelor of Music (Interactive Composition) student

JOSHUA PETHER

Joshua Pether is of Kalkadoon heritage and lives and works in Naarm. He is an experimental performance artist, ritual practitioner and choreographer of movement, temporary ritual and imagined realties. His practice is influenced by his two cultural histories- indigeneity and disability and the hybridization of the two with particular interest in the aesthetics of the disabled body and also that of the colonized body. As ritual practitioner he has an interest in durational work that allows the body to undergo and manifest energetic transformations that oscillate between the world of now and the hereafter. Joshua's work has been shown nationally and internationally and has been commissioned for various events and institutions such as the Undercover Artist Festival (AU), Yirramboi Festival (AU), Next Wave Festival (AU), APAM (AU), Short Cuts (AU), MoveMe Festival (AU) SuperCell Festival of Contemporary Dance (AU) In Situ (AU) The First Nations Dialogues in New York (US), Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA) (AU), The Pickle Factory (IND), National Museum of Australia (AU) , RMIT Gallery (AU) and the Kier Choreographic Award (AU), in which he was the first WA artist selected as a finalist for the award since its inception in 2014. He is the creator of two solo works, ‘Monster’ and ‘Jupiter Orbiting’. He is a foundation artist for Alter State presented in partnership with Arts Centre Melbourne and Arts Access Victoria (AAV). His advocacy position has explored the roles and relationships between dance/performance and the disabled body and most recently the intersection of First Nations culture and disability. He is currently the Executive Director of Arts Access Victoria.

Image by Alexander Mitchell.

ABOUT ALTER STATE

A celebration of disability, creativity and culture.
Alter State is Arts Centre Melbourne’s disability-led arts initiative engaging artists and audiences from Australia and Aotearoa (New Zealand). Our ambition is to alter the current state of the arts by investing in Deaf and Disability Leadership as creative intervention to bring about significant cultural and structural change. Founded and presented by Arts Centre Melbourne and Arts Access Victoria, Alter State aims to:

• Explore Deaf and Disability led art from Australia and Aotearoa
• Enjoy works that engage audiences in new and exciting ways
• Be part of making space for kōrero and storytelling shaped by disability

In October 2024, Alter State features more than 100 Deaf and Disabled artists performing and participating in performances, events and talks in-person and online across ten venues over 12 days.

Banner: Tragedy Project, 2024. Image by TJ Garvie.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Due to current University guidelines, there are a number of conditions currently in place for our in-person events.

• The University continues to strongly encourage individuals to remain up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations, but no longer requires evidence of vaccination in order to access campus.
• You are welcome to wear a face mask anywhere on campus for personal and community safety.
• Please stay at home if you feel unwell or have been ordered to isolate.
  Walk-ups and latecomers will be admitted at the discretion of front of house staff.

To read more about the University's COVID-19 response, please visit: https://www.unimelb.edu.au/coronavirus.