After sell-out performances across Sydney and regional New South Wales, New Balance returns to the city it premiered in.
“I remember when I was 8 watching SBS through the crack of my bedroom door. I could see two women getting it on. It was a dangerous and exciting image, and I knew I should forget it… but instead I took it to bed with me. I remember promising myself each time: ‘this is the last time I’ll do this.’ I also remember not believing it, not even one little bit.”
Built from a tapestry of intersecting stories of the queer disabled experience, New Balance celebrates the intimacy and surprising universality of the experience growing up queer and disabled. In doing so, Bryant and Palackic interrogate and constellate the moments that formed and hurt us in equal measure.
What are the points of connection that are unique for the queer community? What formulates these points of connection and makes them special? How can I be proud when not even events with ‘pride’ in the title hold space for me – and how can we be truly self-reflexive within a community that is trying to progress while still under attack?
From the inaugural winners of the Melbourne Fringe & Midsumma Queer Development award (Intoxication, 2017), New Balance moves beyond trauma to imagine a brightly queer, brightly accessible new future.
Past Seasons include: Midsumma Festival/Theatre Works (2020), The Old Fitz (2023), Merrigong Theatre Co. (2024), Lake Macquarie Arts (2025).
October 14 – 18
melbournefringe.com.au
