SHADOW is directed by Bruce Gladwin, produced by Alice Fleming and co conceived and co-authored by Back to Back Theatre’s core performing artists Michael Chan, Mark Deans, Sarah Mainwaring, Scott Price, Simon Laherty and Sonia Teuben, together with Gladwin. Filmed on location in and around Geelong in December 2020, SHADOW ambitiously builds upon the success of Back to Back’s debut short film, ODDLANDS, creating a feature film that is provocative and challenging, and opportunities for people with disabilities both in front of the camera and behind the scenes.
A Back to Back Pictures Production, SHADOW is a darkly humorous 56-minute film based on Back to Back Theatre’s award-winning The Shadow Whose Prey The Hunter Becomes (2019), which was developed, in part, at the 2019 Sundance Theatre Lab at MASS MoCA, and was described by The New York Times as “an extraordinary play”.
Jointly funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services, the City of Greater Geelong Arts & Culture Department’s Arts Industry Commissions Program and supported by Screen Australia through the COVID-19 Budget Support Fund Program., Shadow stars Back to Back’s professional ensemble, with Scott Price, Simon Laherty and Sarah Mainwaring in lead roles, playing a trio of disability activists who hold a public meeting, desperate to save the world. As the meeting unravels, they discover the greatest threat to their future is already in the room.
Actor and co-writer Scott Price said, “Shadow is a story that needs to be told, it’s about Artificial Intelligence and disability activism. The fact that it is premiering at a festival such as SXSW shows that it is a beautiful piece of work, and the importance of telling stories from perspective of people with disabilities.”
Producer Alice Fleming said: “Back to Back’s transition into the screen space is extremely exciting. Shadow’s World Premiere status at SXSW is something we dreamed about, but didn’t imagine would be possible for our debut into feature filmmaking. It is strong evidence for more inclusive film-making and storytelling teams. We couldn’t be more thrilled.”
Director Bruce Gladwin said: “Shadow uses a combination of dramatic and documentary-style elements to tell the story of a group of activists who hold a public meeting only to discover their own prejudices are their biggest obstacles to saving the world. Thematically, we wanted to understand individual and collective responsibility and question how we come together to make decisions that are in the best interests of society. As artists we are seeking alternative models of story creation and screen production. Created over two and a half years through conversation and improvisation, the performers are also the co-authors, 95% of the people on screen are people with disabilities, and the majority of the crew roles are fulfilled by interns who identify as people with disabilities supported by professional mentors. The narrative thematic and the film’s philosophical approach to the process of creation are intrinsically linked. This is community filmmaking.”
Bruce Gladwin – Writer & Director
Bruce specialises in the development of adventurous theatrical work, working as director, designer and writer. For Back to Back Theatre he has created Mental (1999), Dog Farm (2000), Soft (2002), small metal objects (2005), Food Court (2008), The Democratic Set (2009), Ganesh Versus The Third Reich (2011), Super Discount (2013), Lady Eats Apple (2016) and The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes (2019). Gladwin’s works with Back to Back Theatre have toured extensively, including presentations at the world’s preeminent contemporary arts festivals and cultural venues. He collaborated with Rosemary Myers at Arena Theatre Company to develop the Anthropop trilogy (Autopsy, Mass and Panacea), which has been recognised for its dynamic integration of technology and theatre. In 1999, the trilogy garnered the prestigious ASSITEJ International Honorary President’s Award for inspiring, provocative and experimental ways of expressing a new theatrical language. In 2015, Bruce was awarded the Australia Council for the Arts’ Inaugural Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theatre.
ALICE FLEMING – Producer
Alice Fleming is a creative producer in theatre and film. Her producing practice is focused primarily on community-engaged projects. She has extensive experience in touring performance work to international markets. More recently, for Australia’s Back to Back Theatre, she produced their first feature film Shadow. Currently, she is producing a 20-part animation series with a group of young people who identify as having a disability that will feature on ABC TV in early 2022. She is currently co-designing a project in Berlin for the Humboldt Forum which will work with a group of young people over a five-year period.
About Back to Back Theatre
Over the last thirty years, Back to Back Theatre has made a body of work that questions the assumptions of what is possible in theatre, but also the assumptions we hold about ourselves and others. As an ongoing dialogue with our audience, each new project is an investigation seeking answers to questions raised in previous works. Our attention lies with design, light, and sound. The stories we pursue weave the personal, the political and the cosmic. We work to curiosity and interest in the live moment, to what sits within and between. Seeking to make a body of work that exists in repertoire across time, the company tours extensively locally, nationally and internationally to the world’s leading festivals and cultural institutions. Over the last decade, Back to Back Theatre has presented 48 national and 74 international seasons of its theatre works, receiving 18 national and international awards. Back to Back Theatre is based in Geelong, Australia.
SHADOW will screen in the SXSW Festival’s Visions section on March 12 at 6pm and will be followed by a Q&A with the ensemble.
