  
Sideshow, Theatreworks, December 2003. Photos by Paul Dunn.
About Rawcus
Rawcus is a dynamic exchange between artists with and without disabilities producing some of Melbourne's most vibrant and original theatre. The company collaborates with professional arts practitioners and devises new work that gives a voice to the imaginative world of the ensemble. Rawcus won the 2002 Department of Human Services, Art and Culture Inclusion Award.
In 2005, Rawcus collaborated with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra on a creative development for the Melbourne International Arts Festival. Not Dead Yet, Rawcus' collaboration with Born in a Taxi won the Most Outstanding Production in the 2005 Melbourne Fringe Festival. In 2006, Rawcus is creating a work at ArtPlay with children with and without disabilities.
Beginnings
Rawcus began as a Scope (Vic) Leisure Action initiative to set up a drama group to perform at the 2000 Australian Cerebral Palsy Conference. Invited by Scope to help establish the project, the City of Port Phillip then began discussions with Theatreworks to find a home for the fledgling company. A three-way partnership was formed to support Rawcus, drawing on the combined expertise of a disability service, an arts organisation and local government.
Rawcus Artistic Director
Rawcus Artistic Director Kate Sulan has worked with the company since its inception. Trained at the Victorian College of the Arts, Kate has directed many disability theatre companies and programs including Back to Back, Theatre of Speed, DVA Theatre Company and Ignition Theatre Training at Northern Metropolitan College of TAFE. Kate directed the Women's Circus 2004 production Sacred and has worked as an assistant director and dramaturg with Stuck Pigs Squealing, the Melbourne Theatre Company and the State Theatre of South Australia. In 2002, Kate received an Ian Potter Cultural Trust Award to undertake placements with disability theatre companies in Europe.
Rawcus Productions
The Heart of Another Is A Dark Forest is a collaboration between Rawcus Theatre and Adelaide's Restless Dance Company. The work will premier at Dancehouse, Carlton in September 2008 as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival. Shows - 24th - 27th September. See the Melbourne Fringe Festival Guide for booking information.
Melbourne Fringe Festival 2008
Hunger was a collaboration between musicians from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Rawcus, an ensemble of performers with and without disabilities. In Hunger movement, music and theatre collide to create a unique performance piece exploring notions of desire, longing and love. More info - Rawcus 2007 production as part of the Melbourne International Arts Festival.
Flight was performed at Theatreworks, Melbourne Fringe Festival (Oct 2000); Melbourne Park, Australian Cerebral Palsy Association National Conference (Nov 2000); Theatreworks, International Day of People with a Disability (Dec 2000).
Designer Child explored a world of made-to-order children, wheelchair tangos and Mona Lisa clones. Part of the 2002 Next Wave Festival at Theatreworks, excerpts of the production were also performed at the Victorian Arts Centre, Black Box (April 2001), Theatreworks (Dec 2001) and the 13th World Conference of Inclusion, Melbourne Exhibition Centre (Sept 2002).
Born Rawcus was a collaboration with theatre company Born in a Taxi, first performed at Theatreworks (Dec 2002) followed by the Art of Difference Festival Gala Event at Gasworks Arts Park in May 2003.
Sideshow was a haunting journey into the world of the outsider performed at the North Melbourne Town Hall as part of the Next Wave Festival in May 2004. Excerpts of the production were performed at Theatreworks (Dec 2003) and at ArtPlay (July 2004).
Box Set featured short works with seven guest directors performed at Theatreworks in December 2004.
Not Dead Yet was a collaboration with Born in a Taxi at Theatreworks. Winner of the Most Outstanding Production in the 2005 Melbourne Fringe Festival.
Collisions was a creative development collaboration with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. After four days of rehearsals, a showing of the work in progress was presented as part of the 2005 Melbourne International Arts Festival. The work was also performed in March 2006 as part of the City of Port Phillip's celebrations in the lead up to the Commonwealth Games.
Media Coverage
A moving assertion of humanity ...with a wicked sense of humour. (Helen Thomson, the Age)
Designer Child creates an otherworldly space that hovers between an inexplicable nightmare and a blunt satire of a genetically modified future. (Keith Gallasch, RealTime)
The pleasure is in the spontaneous expression, diverse physical virtuosity, unpredictable leaps and turns and alternative communication. (Vanessa Rowell, RealTime)
Rawcus provides a tangible joy to the actors ...To the audience, it offers a chance to engage with a vibrant creative side of life with disabilities. (Marc Moncrief, The Age)
Each piece is a gem. (Kate Herbert, The Herald Sun)
Conference presentations and workshops
Rawcus, Artistic Director Kate Sulan and members of the steering committee have done many conference presentations about this groundbreaking company including the Council of Intellectual Disabilities Conference, Melbourne International Festival Art of Dissent conference, Australian Cerebral Palsy Association National Conference, the Cultural Development Network Fourth Pillar Conference, Not just for Arts Sake at the St Kilda Town Hall and On the Axis - a national conference for Youth, Arts and Cultural Development Workers in Brisbane. Rawcus has run workshops in schools for the Victorian Arts Centre VRAP program, for people with disabilities at the Art of Difference Festival and for primary school students at ArtPlay.
Rawcus is supported by a partnership of Scope (VIC) Leisure Action and the City of Port Phillip
For more information about Rawcus, please ring (03) 9209 6530 or email rawcus@theatreworks.org.au
 
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