We make new work. We build pathways for artists.
We drive industry-wide change.
For over two decades, Contemporary Asian Australian Performance has been dedicated to uplifting Asian Australian artists and fostering a more inclusive theatre industry.
Late at night in a rundown skatepark, Jett and Kai meet for an arrangement: Kai will get $500 if he allows Jett to beat him up for 5 minutes. With violence hanging over them, the two young men must decide whether they’ll go through with it, or if they can give each other something more. Below The Neck explores how men of colour connect to their bodies, to violence, and to each other.
“I am writing this play for the men of colour in my life, the people who raise me and taught me what it means to be a man, and, hopefully, for future generations , to redefine that meaning for themselves.”
Two orphans find their own way into adulthood in this moving, high-octane, and often hilarious coming-of-age drama, set amongst the steamy, tropical backstreets of Singapore’s criminal underworld.
In a once-grand apartment, two estranged siblings – 14-year-old Girland 21-year-old Boy – are thrown back together after the unexpected death of their mother. The naive but headstrong Girl elects Boy as her legal guardian. The only problem is that Boy is a fledgling gangster. The audience watches rapt as this unconventional family grows up, gets entangled in a darkly glamorous world of crime and luxury, and comes to confront the ghosts of their past.
Past Seasons
Griffin Theatre Co (2022) *world premiere
Sydney Theatre Company (2024)
Melbourne Theatre Company (2024)
★★★★★ “Bringing with it a strong sense of self, pace, and culture… it’s a remarkable work.”
– Time Out★★★★ “Effortlessly funny and wonderfully twisty”
– The Age★★★★
– Cultural Binge
1947 is known to be a pivotal year in Indian history. It is the year that some may say India gains Azadi from the British Rule and is divided in two nations, one for the Hindu majority, i.e., India and one for the Muslim majority, i.e., Pakistan. It’s a violent affair. No one talks about it.
Qala, born in an Indian Hindu household is taught one thing: she cannot marry a Muslim man. Amir, born in a Pakistani Muslim household is taught the opposite: no Hindu women. Their fated love demands Qala to search for answers from her history where she meets her great-grandmother, Sarasvati, a survivor of Partition.
“I am writing this work for the people who belong to the future, especially the people of India and Pakistan. In many ways we are one and the same, but there are great barriers that stop us from realizing this. I want Azadi to be one story, among many, to be a space where those barriers are questioned and hopefully broken.”
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging, celebrate their continuing culture and the contribution First Nations people make to the life of this region and our country.