Regions

The Farm reach full Throttle

Never known as sticklers for convention, having performed in offices, phone boxes, in trees, and even for 48 hours on a sandbar as the tide came in, The Farm are back with a new genre-defying dance theatre performance mash-up Throttle.

This time, they’re turning their attention to the much-loved but sadly disappearing drive-in movie theatre.

Commissioned by and premiering at Bleach* Festival this week, Throttle puts you in the driver’s seat as a dark and dangerous tale unfurls in and around an abandoned oval at night. You tune into the show soundtrack through your car radio and turn up your highbeams to catch the action.

It’s a b-grade horror spectacle you experience from the (relative) safety of your own car, but the story behind the creation of this ambitious new show is just as innovative.

Performing Lines and The Farm have been working with a group of intrepid regional presenters to give the team with the chance to create and hone the show in their communities ahead of premiere.

Gavin, Grayson and the team immersed themselves in car culture during residencies at BMEC Bathurst and HotHouse Theatre in Albury-Wodonga.

The gang got to experience the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour, the longest car race in Australia that tests the endurance of driver and punter alike at Bathurst famed Mount Panorama track.

The Farm then travelled to HotHouse for a residency, where they had time to develop the work and to head to Chryslers on the Murray – one of the largest vintage car shows in the world.

Both of these experiences have fed into the development of the work, with stories from and aesthetic cues being incorporated into the show.

These residencies also provided The Farm with the chance to test material as they developed it, seeing what resonated with local audiences, who have been able to follow the show as it took shape.

Following its premiere season this week, we will look for future touring opportunities so more communities can experience this fun and frightening new work.

This project is part of Performing Lines’ Regional Presenter Strategy, that includes the development of new work in regional areas, our newly-launched Regional Residency Program, and other sector development activities focused on artists and presenters outside of our major cities.

This strategy has been supported by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.

In everything we do, we acknowledge that we live on Aboriginal land and constantly learn from the wisdom of First Peoples.

Where we are and the history that precedes us informs how we work and how we move forward.