NEANDERTHAL - Histoire(s) du Théâtre VIII at Monash University's Performing Arts Centre (MPAC)

A major new work from Back to Back Theatre, inspired by conversations with paleoanthropologists, a philosopher, a Lacanian psychoanalyst and six actors with an intellectual disability. The work interrogates themes of extinction and cognition, following a voice over artist recording a natural history series who is forced to confront his own obsolescence, set against the extinction of the Neanderthal species. Devised by Bruce Gladwin, Alana Hoggart, Erin Kearns, Grace Kenny, Simon Laherty, Nathan Legg, Sarah Mainwaring, Scott Price, Ingrid Voorendt and Jessica Walker, and directed by Bruce Gladwin. Features a musical score by Grammy-nominated composer Andy Clausen performed live by a brass quintet alongside eleven performers on stage.