CATASTROPHES By Renée Newman and Ella Hetherington Comes to PICA

Created on the cusp of internal and external crises, Catastrophes is a brutally honest, funny and hopeful journey into being a parent and a human in the current global shitstorm, showing at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA) from 16 to 23 August 2023.

Commissioned by PICA for their Djilba/Kambarang season program, Boorloo (Perth)-based theatre makers Renée Newman and Ella Hetherington take the audience on a deeply personal tale of becoming parents, rising water, inadequate bodies, sleeplessness and imminent global failure.

The leading mid-career artists – who are also close friends – spent over five years creating Catastrophes, weaving a show that is part scenic poem, part performance lecture, part storytelling.

Set beneath the soft, omniscient folds of the billowing, cloud-like set, grounded by a perimeter of chairs on loan from family and friends, Catastrophes is an absurdist archive of the pair's friendship as they became first-time mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic. It's a soul-bearing tale – as funny as it is poignant.

Renée Newman and Ella Hetherington said: 'We are incredibly privileged. That privilege weighs on us when faced with a seemingly perpetual shitstorm of myriad global crises. How do we grapple with all of this, especially when we are responsible for young children?' 'Largely composed of 4am text messages and some truly humiliating stories, we have come to realise that truth-telling, no matter how risky, and especially if you do it with a best mate, is actually an act of self-care.'

PICA's Producer Ariane Katscherian said: 'PICA's delighted to present Catastrophes, having commissioned the work and supported its development since 2018.'  'We're dedicated to working with artists who are innovators and change-makers, who make powerful work that provokes connection and conversation. Renée and Ella do this – their latest work is an often hilarious, heart-warming account of how friendship can take you through even the most challenging of catastrophes.'

Catastrophes is a timely reminder that although the world may be ending, we are not alone.

The world premiere performance runs 16 to 26 August at PICA with tickets on sale now from pica.org.au.

Running from August to September, Djilba is the Noongar season of growth and conception, marked by the blooming of wildflowers and cold, clear days. From October till November, Kambarang arrives and with it the return of hot weather.

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