International Ibsen Award-winning Geelong theatre company Back to Back is bringing its breakout work Small Metal Objects back to Geelong for five shows from April 27-29.
The work, which has been added to the VCE Drama playlist for 2023, will take place among the pedestrian traffic of Market Square Shopping Centre.
Audience members will sit on a raised seating bank with individual sets of headphones to watch the drama unfold as Gary and Steve – “the kind of men who normally escape notice” – meet two ambitious executives for an arranged transaction.
Back to Back executive producer and co-CEO Tim Stitz said he was thrilled to see Small Metal Objects return to Geelong for the first time since 2010.
“It’s been over a decade since the work has been seen in the Greater Geelong area, so it’s an opportunity for a whole new generation of people in the area to see it,” Mr Stitz said.
“We were founded in the northern suburbs of Geelong and we really proudly come from that area.
“Our ensemble who co-author and make the work with us, artists and guest artists, they have something really important to say and it’s still timely.”
Mr Stitz, who joined Back to Back in 2020, said he vividly recalled seeing Small Metal Objects performed for the first time.
“The first (Back to Back) work I saw was Small Metal Objects in 2005 in its world premiere season at Flinder St Station,” he said.
“For me, as an emerging practitioner in the arts and theatre, I was like, wow. It was really pushing the barrier and it was quite risky.
“It had a really big impact on me and still goes down as one of my all-time favourite theatre experiences.”
The play deals with the theme of respect – who gets it and who it is withheld from – and also plays with the idea of the audience as a part of art.
“You become very aware as an audience member that you’re being watched by passers-by,” Mr Stitz said.
“It’s not just the drama that Back to Back creates. The work creates this frame that is about the everyday and who is watched, who do we watch, who do we also dismiss.
“We might all pass somebody that’s begging and think they’re less than us, or I’m ashamed so I don’t want to interact. The work asks these questions of an audience member, and I think that’s relatable for anybody.”
For more information visit geelongartscentre.org.au/whats-on/all-events/small-metal-objects.
