BLEACH* Festival, Everybody NOW! and HOTA, Home of the Arts are bringing a brand-new production based on real stories to the Gold Coast this August. For 3 performances only this action-packed roller skating spectacle, celebrating the rough and tumble ride of life on wheels, will roll onto a transformed outdoor stage at HOTA from 3 to 5 August!
Sam was once star Jammer with the East Coast Rockets Roller Derby crew. Now she’s the overstretched manager of a suburban roller rink, with two ratbag kids, a useless ex, and no room for dreams. Tully’s a teen street skater yearning to belong. A ‘staff wanted’ sign collides their destinies, sending them smashing into the very best versions of themselves.
Executive Director, Kate Baggerson said, “The idea for Roller Coaster began just prior to the worldwide, ‘lock-down inspired’ roller revival, when a local skater, shared her story, and ushered us into the world of skating. Skating had been her currency to move through difficult times; to find a community; and to learn how to fly again. She described her skates as ‘her anti-depressants’.”
As part of the development of the show, Everybody NOW! invited the broader roller-skating community to come and skate; tell stories; discuss gender, mental health and movement; and write new original music about their lives and about skating.
It soon became clear that the roller world was a place for fierce inclusivity with diversity at its core and a spiritual home for many. It’s also a bunch of fun, thrilling to watch and exhilarating to try!
As theatre makers, who collaborate with local communities and professional artists, the combination of powerful, nuanced storytelling with the highly visual performative language of roller skating, was an exciting opportunity to tell universal stories through a very specific artistic and community lens.
The result is a high-octane, one-of-a-kind performance that is part rock concert, part theatre and part participatory event, starring dozens of local roller skaters, an epic live band, and an all-star team of performers.
What: Roller Coaster by Everybody NOW!
Presented by BLEACH* Festival & HOTA, Home of the Arts
When: 3 to 5 August @ 7.30pm
Where: HOTA Outdoor Stage, Gold Coast
Tickets: From $25 plus booking fee
Bookings: https://bleachfestival.com.au/events/roller-coaster/
Watch: https://tinyurl.com/488pc8pv
SheSociety is a site for the women of Australia to share our stories, our experiences, shared learnings and opportunities to connect.
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