Acting Out

Acting Out is theatre with young people who have an experience of homelessness.

On Friday nights is Acting Out in the city – a focus on having fun in public space, meeting new people and showcasing a positive profile of young  people who have an experience of homelessness.

On Thursday afternoons is Acting In at Visible-ink Valley – a crew of young people who are developing a public performance. They have already taken their performances to Valley Fiesta and are set to ignite the 2High Festival in November….we’d love you to come see the show.

Street life unleashed in creative festival

A group of young people experiencing or at risk of homelessness will share their experiences and outlooks on life in a performance at Brisbane’s 2high Festival this month.

The “Acting Out” performance has been created through a theatre program of the same name that aims to provide young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness with drama skills and opportunities to express themselves.

The project is run by Liminal Performance Group, a group of young freelance arts facilitators, with support from Brisbane City Council’s Visible Ink (Valley) youth program and Brisbane Youth Service, with funding from a Council Community Grant.

Project facilitator Amy Bradney-George said the 2high Festival performance would showcase the creative talents of the young people and the facilitators.

“Being a part of the 2high Festival has given the young people we work with a platform to share their experiences of what life is like,” she said.

“The performance is also an opportunity for us to share what Acting Out is about, so it’s rewarding for the participants and for those of us working as facilitators and managers of the project.”

Participants of the project bring their unique experience in living and surviving with homelessness, which will all be used as material to develop the final performance.

Hugh “Irish” Bedford, a participant in the project said Acting Out had helped him move forward this year.

“When I joined this project I was living through hell. I was on the streets, sleeping in fire escapes and parks carrying my entire life in one bag on my back.

“I was reliant on the youth services operating in Brisbane for everything from being able to shower and shave to just getting something to eat,” he said.

Bedford said the 2high Festival had given him something to work on, and that the final result was due to the “unbelievable amount of hard work and commitment that has been put into the project by everyone involved.”

“Through our performance we hope to raise awareness of the harsh reality of life on the streets and the impossible struggle young people on the streets face in order to get out of their situation.”

“I also hope that people will see that although I lived on the streets for almost 7 months I am not a failure or a bad influence on society,” he said.

“Now that I have been given a chance to be a constructive part of society I have embraced that chance and made a success out of it.”

Due to the nature of homelessness the group of young people has evolved and changes over the performance development process.

The creative process used in Acting Out was shaped to accommodate the changeable nature of homelessness and allow more young people to contribute to the performance.

The result is an innovative piece of theatre that will move throughout the Brisbane Powerhouse, engaging and involving the audience along the way.

Acting Out will be performed at 2:30pm on Saturday, November 14, at the Brisbane Powerhouse as part of the 2009 Brisbane 2high Festival.