Telling the story of six residents of a regional town “somewhere” in Queensland, Perseverance Street Theatre Company will bring its production, GRIT: The Stories. The Town. The Music. to Bundaberg on Saturday 16 March.
A heartfelt performance with stunning vocals and originals songs, GRIT emerged from a collection of stories of resilience and hope from over 30 residents in the Gympie Region.
The first ever mainstage production developed by Perseverance Street Theatre Company from Gympie, GRIT explores one of the most important personal qualities supporting success and happiness.
The production developed around the theme of grit; a combination of motivation, effort, resilience and hope, and how through applying grit, challenges can be met.
The Perseverance Street Team interviewed artists, mothers, doctors, engineers, veterans, pensioners – people of all ages and backgrounds who faced different challenges.
Through these interviews, six fictional, but authentic, characters were born.
Key creative devisor Sofia Abbey said it was an amazing experience.
“Being able to have deep and meaningful conversation with strangers and discover stories of hope, resilience and humour,” she said.
The creative team will bring a new iteration of GRIT to Bundaberg, with the music and stories rewritten and edited to enhance the overall performance.
Revisiting the work has enabled the company to engage with other creators and artists such as jazz musician and composer Alex Harvey.
After working internationally, Alex now calls Gympie home and lends his incredible musicianship to the new iteration, along with 20-year-old Fletcher Colfs reprising the lead role of ‘The Storyteller’.
Bridges Health and Community Care CEO Sharon Sarah said the organisation was bringing the production to Bundaberg as part of their Arts-Led Wellbeing programming in partnership with JUTE Theatre in Cairns.
“We see the benefits that the arts can bring in sharing stories that connect people and communities,” Sharon said.
See GRIT: The Stories. The Town. The Music at St Lukes Anglican College at 7 pm on Saturday 16 March.
Tickets are priced from $15-$25 and available here.
GRIT has been supported by the JUTE Theatre’s Building Back Better program supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland and the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund, provided through Regional Arts Australia, administered in Queensland by Flying Arts Alliance.
The local presentation is also supported by RADF.
The Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) is a partnership between the Queensland Government and Bundaberg Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.
