PYT Launches Fairfield 2018 Program

After a critically acclaimed program in 2017 which saw PYT | Fairfield win Western Sydney's first Helpmann Award (Best Presentation for Children, PYT and Force Majeure, JUMP FIRST, ASK LATER) the company announce their 2018 Program. Now considered one of the most exciting arts companies in the country, in 2018 their work will be presented in Carriageworks for Sydney Festival, Sydney Opera House, Museum of Contemporary Art and sites across Western Sydney including the local pool and a garden created by refugees to support the settlement of asylum seekers.

"There is a great urgency in creating radical shifts in the world" says PYT Artistic Director, Karen Therese. "There is urgency to PYT's work in creating these shifts, by telling contemporary Australian stories that promote the perspective and creative language of young people in Western Sydney." PYT Fairfield's 2018 program deals with these contemporary times.

Highlights of the 2018 program include PYT's acclaimed work TRIBUNAL that interrogates Australia's refugee policy, presented as part of the 2018 Sydney Festival at Carriageworks.

THE PLAYLIST will debut this year as PYTs major new work. A dance theatre piece which explores the state of feminisms in pop culture and music from the perspectives of five young female identifying performers from Western Sydney. Created by PYT Artistic Director Karen Therese, Choreographer Larissa McGowan (Deputy Director Australian Dance Theatre), acclaimed Visual Artists Zanny Begg (the National, MCA) and Creative Producer Kate Armstrong Smith (ArtsRadar, Playwave).

In the grand tradition of contemporary theatre to emerge from Sydney, the renowned Branch Nebula will work with PYT to create ENFLAME, a fluid guerilla interventionist work for multi-art form events; festivals, foyers, conferences and openings.

LITTLE BAGHDAD: CAFES & GARDENS is a dinner party and installation event set inside The Parents' Café Gardens at Fairfield High School. LITTLE BAGHDAD offers the rare opportunity for audiences to engage with the Parents Café whose social enterprise has been acknowledged by the United Nations as one of the best refugee resettlement programs in the world.

PYT will launch a critical new podcast WHERE ARE YOU FROM? which explores Western Sydney and its significance in Australian culture. Hosted by PYT Artistic Director, Karen Therese will talk to artists and cultural leaders from all over the world including Elizabeth Ann McGregor, astronaut and artist Sarah Jane Pell and First Nations American artist Emily Johnson.

'Some very interesting things are happening in the arts in Western Sydney just now. Perhaps the best exemplar is PYT Fairfield, which seems to be going from strength to strength. PYT Fairfield is led by Karen Therese, an artist of singular dedication and strength of vision. In recent years, Therese has emerged as one of the most exciting voices in Australian culture ..." - Ben Eltham

PYT Fairfield 2108 Program Launch is Monday 11th December at 6.30pm at PYT, 19 Harris St Fairfield.

The night will include an Afghan BBQ and Iraqi band and a dance performance from some of Australia's most exciting young artists choreographed by Martin Del Amo.

Information in embargoed til Monday 11th December, 2017.

For more information contact: Caitlin Gibson Caitlin@pyt.com.au or phone Karen Therese 0415 110 411

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