Young performers step into the shadows

A GROUP of young Tasmanian performers will explore fear, division and hope when DRILL Performance Company brings its latest contemporary dance work, Deep Dark Tales, to Hobart’s Theatre Royal.
The youth-led production draws on folklore, cautionary tales and mythical creatures to create a world of monsters that reflect some of the challenges facing young people today.
Through a series of theatrical vignettes, the performers explore themes including climate grief, isolation, division, social cohesion and hope, using allegory and symbolism to encourage audiences to consider the world around them.
Eleven young performers have been developing Deep Dark Tales collaboratively since April alongside DRILL Artistic Director Tara Robertson and choreographers Tyrel Dulvarie and Gabriel Comerford.
Robertson brings extensive experience including eight years with Bangarra Dance Theatre, while Dulvarie has performed nationally and internationally with Bangarra and received an Australian Dance Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Dancer.
Comerford has more than 15 years of professional experience and regularly collaborates with companies including Tasdance, Stompin’, DRILL and GUTS Dance.
At the heart of the work is a question about where hope can be found when the outside world feels as though it is fading to black.
One of the young performers explores that idea through an original poem featured in the production.
“Yet within this solitude I also find a seed of hope, growing in my palm,” the performer said.
“It cuts through the silence and all the sadness. It adds a little bit of light.”
Moving from darkness towards possibility, the production provides a creative space for young people to reflect on the world they are inheriting and imagine how it could be different.
By placing young voices at the centre of the creative process, DRILL aims to encourage artistic expression, critical thinking and resilience while inviting audiences to consider what it might take to overcome the “monsters” created by society.
Deep Dark Tales will be performed at the Theatre Royal in Hobart at 7pm from September 24 to 26.
Tickets are available through the Theatre Royal box office.