The Talk Relaxed Performance Resource Pack Prepared by Mish Grigor and Tom Middleditch VENUE: Studio 1, rthcote Town Hall Arts Centre 189 High St, rthcote VIC 3070 DATE: Saturday 14th July, 2PM RUNTIME: 70 Minutes, Interval
WHAT THIS PACK CONTAINS: - What you can expect from this Relaxed Performance - What the show will be asking you to do - Getting to the Venue - Venue images and description - Stage images and description - Performer Images - Content Warnings - Contact Us
What you can expect from this Relaxed Performance What is a relaxed Performance? A relaxed performance is, philosophically, one that acknowledges it is asking it s audience to make an emotional commitment to a piece of art, and that that commitment is going to require different things from different audience members. It works to meet that audience halfway, giving reasonable permission for people to be comfortable as themselves, and relaxing the rules of theatre to allow this. What does this mean for you? Practically, the performance on the night will have its tech augmented to make the theatre space more relaxed for those who have sensory requirements and comfort behaviors, including stimming, pacing, rocking, humming, and other noise making The lighting and sounds will be altered to become softer, while still eliciting the same emotional response from an audience. The house lights will remain on through the show, so there is never any moment of complete darkness. The door to the front of house area will remain open, so that people may come and go at any time. Should an audience member need to leave to de-stress, a space connected to the performance area has been designated the relaxed room. Darebin or A_tistic staff will be on hand to take you there and monitor the room.
What the show will be asking you to do This performance has a few dimensions of audience interactions. They are outlined below: The performer, Mish Grigor, will have audience members read out scripts as part of the show. She will be selecting these people during the show. If you do not wish to speak, simply decline if Mish asks you. You will not be made to speak against your will At times, Mish will directly address audience members to scold and admonish them. These are all simply her character, and not a criticism of you or your behaviour. If she asks you to concentrate, do your best to respond appropriately This show relies of awkward and cringe inducing experiences. If at any time these stories become too much to listen to, there is a relaxed space you are welcome to use to cool off and return at your leisure.
Getting to the Venue If you are taking Public Transport, you have two key option: Option one, take the 86 Tram from Bourke Street towards Bundoora, and get off at rthcote Town Hall: The second option is to take the South Morang Train, get off at Merri Station, and walk the rest of the way to rthcote Town Hall:
Venue images and description The show takes place in Studio 1 in the West Wing Studio space, rthcote Town Hall. When you arrive at the venue, you want to approach it from the Tram Side entrance, then head around the building on the left. When you head down far enough, you will come to the West Wing Studios.
Inside is the main Foyer for the studios. We will be in studio one, the closest studio to the door you just walked in
This is what it looks like in the studio without the stage or set This seating bank will also be available to sit in for the performance.
To get to the Relaxed Space, you will head towards the back of the studio space Heading through the door at the back on the right hand side.
Through it you will arrive in the Ballroom Hall, the designated Relaxed Space The space will have comfy chairs to sit in and space to walk around Whenever you wish to return to the performance space, you can simply do so through the door you took to arrive here!
Stage images and description This is a base layout of the stage: The Red Squares are Audience Seating Areas. The Green Square is the Performance area. The Blue Square is the doorway to enter the performance space. The Purple Square is the entrance to the Relaxed Area.
Performer Image The show has one performer Mish Grigor She will be wearing a different shirt, and the background will look different.
Content Warnings Below is an itemised list of everything we feel you should be warned about. If you wish to avoid everything that could be spoiler related, we suggest you do not read this section. Otherwise, please look through to see what content is being presented. Content In the performance? ( + details where appropriate) Swearing Yes - F word, Shit. Rape and Sexual Assault Abuse (physical, mental, emotional, verbal, sexual), but there is a fight where there is yelling about sex confessions Child abuse/pedophilia no Self-injurious behavior (self-harm, eating disorders, etc.) Talk of drug use (legal, illegal or psychiatric) Yes, it is mentioned that nightclubs Are full of people taking drugs Suicide Descriptions/pictures of medical procedures (even if they don t contain blood or gore) Yes - taking medication
Descriptions/pictures of violence or warfare (including instruments of violence, such as knives or guns) Corpses, skulls or skeletons Needles Diabetes treatment is mentioned Discussions of -isms, shaming, or hatred of any kind (racism, classism, hatred of cultures/ethnicities that differ from your own, sexism, hatred of sexualities or genders that differ from your own, anti-multiple, non-vanilla shaming, sex positive shaming, fat shaming/body image shaming, neuroatypical shaming) Sex shaming is mentioned, as is Stigma towards people with STIs. Any time slurs are used (this includes words like stupid or dumb, which are still widely considered to be socially acceptable) Trans* degendering, or anti-trans* views of bodies
Dismissal of lived oppressions, marginalization, illness or differences Illness, living with STIs, Kidnapping (forceful deprivation of/disregard for personal autonomy) Discussions of sex (even consensual) Yes, lots Death or dying Yes Spiders, Insects, Snakes, Scorpions, other potentially alarming animals Vomit/Defecation Pregnancy/childbirth Blood Yes Serious injury STIs Scarification Nazi paraphernalia, and other Hate Symbols
Animal cruelty or animal death Depictions of Violence, realistic or comic Depiction of pornography (including child pornography) Incest (including consensual relationships) Miscarriages/Abortion Torture Jump Scare scenes Mental illness Yes - not specific but implied Contact Us Did this pack give you everything you need? Anything that hasn t been explained clearly enough? Want to give feedback? You can contact A_tistic at: atistictheatre@gmail.com Thank you, and looking forward to seeing you there Mish and Tom