BIG HEAT
ASSEMBLY 197 x MUDLARK x TCW
Junction Arts Festival
21 – 23 SEPTEMBER 2023
BIG HEAT peeks behind the curtain of Tasmanian Championship Wrestling to tell an underdog story of 17-year-old Izzy becoming a local wrestling celebrity. This multi-artform feast captures the significance of our innate need for community and connection. Built on real-life accounts of the trials and tribulations of professional wrestling in Launceston.
BIG HEAT involves performers from Tasdance, Mudlark Theatre Company, Rooke Circus and Tasmanian Championship Wrestling and is presented as part of Junction Arts Festival in 2023.
Image description: 4 performers acting out a wrestling scene in bright pink, green and purple clothing. Graphic design by Studio Bacon, original photography by Nick Hanson.
CREATIVE TEAM
LEAD CREATIVES
ADAM WHEELER
AMELIA EVANS
CHEYNE MITCHELL
PRODUCER
EMMA PORTEUS
ARTISTS
ANNA WHITAKER
CONOR WILD
FREYJA WILD
GABRIEL COMERFORD
GRADY LYNCH
ISABEL PARTRIDGE
JANE JOHNSON
JENNI LARGE
and…
featuring guest friendly matches from your favourite TCW wrestlers!
Adam Wheeler
Adam is a Tasmanian born contemporary dance artist. He is a Stompin and Victorian College of the Arts alumni whose practice is curious about diversifying how dance can be experienced both as a performer and viewer. He has invested the better part of his 20 year career developing programs and projects in the pursuit of enhancing how young people connect with dance and enter the professional dance industry in Australia.
Adam has been commissioned to make work across the country and has choreographed for Lucy Guerin Inc (Pieces for Small Spaces), Stompin, QL2, Steps Youth Dance Company, fLing Physical Theatre, Tasdance and was a Next Move choreographer in 2011 for Chunky Move with It Sounds Silly. The success of It Sounds Silly was the launching pad for Adam to create Yellow Wheel and has only recently stepped down as the Artistic Director. Adam returned to his home state in 2018 to take the position of Artistic Director at Tasdance.
Amelia Evans
Amelia is a Melbourne based theatremaker.
As writer and director her credits include Mad as a Cute Snake with Dan Giovannoni (Theatreworks 2019) and TRAPS: A Romantic Comedy for the Modern Sociopath (One Word/Melb Fringe 2017). She also written plays; Atomic (Malthouse Theatre 2018/2019), The Myth Project: Twin (Arthur/MTC NEON 2014), Cut Snake (Arthur, Theatreworks/TRS/Brisbane Festival 2011-2015), Lyrebird (TRS 2011), Waltzing Wooloomooloo: The Tale of Frankie Jones (Arthur 2012) and The Saturated World (Melbourne Fringe 2004).
Her short films include Unity (VCA 2021) and EXT. THE EDGE. DAY (VCA 2021).
As dramaturg her credits include Voices of Joan of Arc (Next Wave), The Sea Project (Arthur, Griffin Theatre), Wrecking (TRS), Dirtyland (Arthur, The Spare Room) and Private View (NIDA, Theatre Works). She was attached as the dramaturgy Besen fellow on Love and Information (Malthouse Theatre 2015) She graduated from NIDA in 2010.
Anna Whitaker
Anna Whitaker is a multi award-winning Meanjin/Brisbane based sound designer and composer with a palate for experimental, acousmatic works and surround sound composition. She graduated from Queensland Conservatorium of Music with a Bachelor of Music Technology, and since has designed and composed for productions including MONA FOMA, Sydney Dance Company, Australasian Dance Company, The Farm, tasdance, Stompin', Aha Ensemble, La Boite Theatre Company, Brisbane Festival, Bleach* Festival, HOTA Gold Coast, Festival 2018, Vulcana Circus and Playlab.
Her vast background in classical music and technology-based sound art result in musical concoctions from the traditional and contemporary worlds. Anna received the 2020/2021 and 2019 Matilda Award for Best Sound Design for her work on Michael Smith’s ‘Cowboy’ and The Farm’s ‘Throttle’ respectively. Anna's unique voice is also evident in her installation works which have exhibited at Bleach* Festival, HOTA, MetroArts and QPAC Museum. Anna has a strong interest in composition for contemporary dance, and making and collaborating with regional artists and communities.
Cheyne Mitchell
Cheyne graduated from the SVPA in 2006 with a Bachelor of Contemporary Arts, majoring in Theatre, also completing a BCA with Honours in 2007. He has worked for a number of Tasmanian theatre companies in varied roles including Mudlark’s Rooted, Action and The Possum. He is the ‘most capped’ actor in Mudlark’s exciting One Day projects and has also directed multiple works for the event. Cheyne performed on several occasions for the former CentrStage Theatre Company in Love, Tamar Tidings, Who’s Afraid of Working Class?, Some Girl(s), Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, Osama the Hero, When the Rain Stops Falling, The Goat, and the Australian premiere of Stephen Sewell’s The Photo. Cheyne has performed with the Cue Theatre Company presenting the Port Arthur summer play series. He has worked with Three River Theatre Company in Twelve Angry Men, performed with Launceston musical society, and played Dr Dillamond in Encore Theatre Company’s award-winning production of Wicked. Cheyne has directed major musical productions for Launceston College since 2011. He has also been the Artistic Director and a founding member of the Relevant Theatre Company, where he has directed and performed in both Pronoun and WILD as part of the 2017 and 2018 Junction Arts Festivals.
As Artistic Director of Mudlark Cheyne has produced and overseen It Happened One Day (Junction Arts 2019), 4 iterations of the One Day project. He has produced Girl Running Boy Falling, Garden on the Moon, the original production of Caravan Boat Treehouse and Directed re-make of the show He has also performed in Jingled.
Conor Wild
Born in London, Conor spent a lot of his life turning upside down. Eventually he decided it would be easier to move to Australia so he could be upside down all the time. Luckily he found the love of his life down here - solid reason to stay. Conor is a nerd and an over-thinker and loves rolling on the floor. He has an honours degree in Circus Arts and a keen interest in the cross section between dance and circus. He has lived and toured around the world performing with Cirque Éloize, Circa, Circus Oz and Les 7 Doigts de la Main. In creation Conor spends most of his time trying to make things that can be described as either ‘gooey’ or ‘schloopy’. Sometimes just plain ‘sick’ will cut the mustard. Conor also enjoys being stood on and rolling dice, although not at the same time.
Emma Porteus
Emma is deeply passionate about the power of site specific, non-traditional and experimental art practices to make real change. These new and innovative forms of art practice serve to immerse the viewer in the experience.
Emma has over 13 years’ experience working as a performance maker and producer on projects throughout Australia and Internationally, including with Sydney Festival (NSW) Dancehouse (Vic), Melbourne Fringe Festival (Vic), Next Wave (Vic), Tracks (NT), Tasdance, Ten Days on the Island, Festival of Voices, Junction Arts Festival and Tasmania Performs (Tas). From 2010 - 2016 Emma was the Artistic Director of Stompin, where she created and produced large-scale, site-specific dance works for the company and communities. In 2014 Emma was selected as one of four Tasmanians to be mentored as a Creative Producer in the Producing Cultural Leaders Program. In 2015 she received the Regional Arts Australia International Professional Development Fellowship. In 2017, Emma was appointed the role of Executive Producer for SITUATE Art in Festivals.
Freyja Wild
Freyja is a multi-disciplinary contemporary circus artist with fifteen years experience working in world-class ensemble acrobatic companies including CIRCA, Circus Oz and Les 7 Doigts de la Main. She now runs ROOKE in Lutruwita/Tasmania as well as working as an Associate Producer with Lauren Eisinger Productions.
With a strong focus on emotional safety within acrobatics and weaving conceptual, social and political ideas into physical representations, Freyja has spent her career defying the boxes others aim to put her in. Bringing strength into femininity, humour into pathos, and community connection into elite industry, Freyja believes circus represents and communicates many important ideals for today’s society.
Photo by Gabriel Comerford
Gabriel Comerford
Gabriel Comerford is an Australian-Malaysian man and independent artist with over 10 years professional experience as a maker and performer. Having spent the majority of his career based in Brisbane, in recent years he has relocated to Launceston, Tasmania.
He is a founding member of MakeShift Dance Collective, is currently an ensemble member of Tasdance and working with Stompin Youth Dance Company in a varying range of capacities.
He thrives off working across disciplines and is constantly seeking to challenge and extend himself. Whilst his practice is rooted in dance, his experiences have allowed him to learn from and incorporate elements of physical theatre, object theatre, puppetry, visual-arts, site-specific, Butoh, Suzuki integrated practice, installation and durational performance.
His interest lies in collaboration and the creative process; sifting through first impressions to expose the core of the theme or concepts at hand. He has an inquisitive mind, a powerful physicality and a captivating stage presence.
Currently he is working to bring elements of his arts, ritual and spiritual practices together to create and hold, sharing and healing spaces for people.
Grady Lynch
Grady Lynch is, as weird as it sounds, a professional wrestler from Tasmanian Championship Wrestling. Wrestling under the name 'Aaron Lynch, The Showman' he is also third year theatre and performance student at the University of Tasmania and has been passionately involved in the performing arts for many years beginning from early high-school productions in class rooms and all the way through his life to now doing works in the theatre and beyond. Grady hopes you come to appreciate professional wrestling through the lens of this amazing multi-artform show.
Isabel Partridge
Isabel, is a 17 year old professional wrestler who wrestles under the name of Allie Galvin. She has been a wrestling fan for almost a decade. Their first experience was being reluctantly taken to Melbourne to watch WWE but from there she was hooked. She began training when she was 14, debuted a year later and since then, she’s become a much-loved member of the Tasmanian Championship Wrestling community. Their favourite wrestler is AJ Lee and she hopes to one day inspire young girls to follow their passions too.
Jane Johnson
Jane is an actress, director and producer and has worked with organisations including; Archipelago Productions, Tasmanian Theatre Company, Blue Cow Theatre, Mudlark, Tasdance, Theatre North, Ten Days on the Island, Tasmania Performs, Terrapin Puppet Theatre, The Unconformity, Tasmanian Regional Arts, The Australian Script Centre and JUTE. Jane was a founding member and co-artistic director of Mudlark Theatre (for whom she is currently an Artistic Associate), and the founding AD of Launceston Youth Theatre Ensemble.
Acting credits include; Bay of Fires (Archipelago, Freemantle, ABC), The Women of Troy, The Bleeding Tree (Archipelago), The Winter’s Tale (Blue Cow), The Mares (TTC/Ten Days on the Island), The Tree Widows, Two Pairs of Shorts (TTC), Caravan Boat Treehouse, The Sea Project, Beautiful: a Ghost Story, Cross, Voices from the Grave, Rooted, What is the Matter with Mary Jane?, One Day Projects (Mudlark), Dancing Back Home (Mudlark/JUTE), Ghosts of the Olympic (Jane Woollard/Junction Arts Festival), Our Path (Theatre North/Ten Days on the Island), Timon of Athens (independent), F:emails, Hit and Run, Hedda Gabler, A Doll’s House (CentrStage), Cosi, Little Murders, The Importance of Being Earnest, Dead White Males (TRT), The Coming of Stork, Leaving (SSTP), Romeo and Juliet (LC), as well as countless creative developments and script readings.
Jane was the joint 2020 recipient of the Tasmanian Theatre Award for Outstanding Performance in Professional Theatre for The Mares (Tasmanian Theatre Company and Ten Days on the Island).
Jenni Large
JENNI LARGE is an independent dancer, performer, teacher and award-winning choreographer based on unceded palawa country in lutruwita/Tasmania. Driven by the personal, political and transformational forces of embodiment, Jenni seeks joy and connection through the various limbs of her practice. Since graduating from WAAPA in 2010 Jenni has collaborated extensively throughout Australia and performed across the world with artists and companies including; Tasdance 2012-13 and 2019-present performing works by Adam Wheeler, Jo Lloyd, Larissa McGowan, Anna Smith, Byron Perry & Tanja Liedtke, Dancenorth (2015-2020 performing works by Kyle Page, Amber Haines, Lee Serle, Alisdair Macindoe, Lucy Guerin, Gideon Obarzanek, Stephanie Lake, Ross McCormack and Jo Lloyd) as well as Legs On The Wall, Leigh Warren & Dancers/SA Opera, GUTS Dance, Ashleigh Musk, Aimee Smith, Sue Peacock and Isabella Stone.
Jenni’s choreographic work is a cross-section of dancing, performance/endurance art, object and sculpture. Centering materials, apparatus and costume to subvert relational narratives, transfixed on unpacking socio-political themes that impact women. Her works imbue a playful/serious sexual undertone, utilising the tropes of popular-culture, horror and comedy as an entry point for this dialogue. Her recent works include ‘Faux Mo House Party’ - Mona Foma 2022, ‘Wet Hard’ - winner of the 2022 Keir Choreographic People’s Choice Award, ‘Body Body Commodity’ - Mona Foma 2023 and ‘Phantom Femme Fatale’ The Old Fitz & Desert Festival 2023. She has been commissioned to choreograph for WAAPA and Sydney Dance Company’s New Breed Season. Recently Jenni was a recipient of a Chloe Munro Fellowship and Asia Link Singapore Arts Now exchange program with Tasdance.
photo by Pedro Grieg
