Entering the Regional Scene with a Contemporary Lysistrata

LYS: What’s that babbling down there? Someone trying to penetrate our stronghold?1 How does an independent contemporary theatre maker enter a regional milieu dominated by repertory clubs, large-scale touring shows, and light opera? I found my answer in the form of a community production of Lysistrata grounded in a rigorous process that values collaboration and egalitarianism, embodied knowledge and improvisation. These qualities exemplify an everyday notion of ‘resilience’, the ability to rebound and recover. I directed and choreographed a contemporary adaptation of Aristophanes’ Old Comedy that was presented at Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre’s Cube Theatre in July 2015. This paper will address the application of my ongoing research enquiry into collaborative creative practice, which I call Underscore Alchemy, to a performance outcome. I will discuss resilience in the methodology employed, and of the people who participated in the work’s creation