GEELONG (AFP) – In a quiet room in the southeast Australian town of Geelong, a group of actors with disabilities has gathered to rehearse for their first shows since winning a coveted award for the arts that is likened to a Nobel prize for theatre.
Back to Back Theatre is the only Australian company ever to have won the NOK2.5 million (USD266,000) International Ibsen Award, with the selection committee saying they had “created some of the most memorable productions of 21st Century theatre”.
All of Back to Back’s actors are neurodiverse – a term that describes the idea that people displaying atypical behaviour or thought patterns, such as autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), should not be seen as deficient.
Back to Back’s work embraces this diversity, and subverts audience expectations of it.
Actor Scott Price, who has autism, told AFP it was “a privilege winning an award after all my hardships I’ve been through at school”, adding that it “probably tops” any other accolades the company has won.
In May, Back to Back will perform their play The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes in Australia and Europe, the company’s first overseas tour since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Price had never acted before he auditioned for Back to Back in 2007. At first, he admitted, he did not even want the job.
