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Black Girl Rising
A dark comedy piece interrogating black lives and mental health as a result of systemic racism.
Dates
17 - 22 Jul 2023Location
Metro Arts Studios, West EndWhat does being systematically oppressed, individually targeted and told that you have to be strong, do to one’s psyche? Black Girl Rising is about a woman rising, but not quietly and conveniently. She will disrupt, lash out and she will rise on her own terms.
Black Girl Rising is a dark comedy piece interrogating black women and mental health as a result of systemic racism. This quirky, one woman show centres on a black girl who is tired of having to justify her innocence, nationality, and intelligence. She conducts an experiment by inviting the audience into her space, a space that she takes up unapologetically, flipping the script on the racism she has endured. She will disrupt, she will lash out and she will rise on her own terms.
She will RISE on her own terms.
From the Artist
“I would love for black women to see their experience reflected on stage. To feel seen, to know that they are allowed to be all they are, whether it be angry, strong, or weak in the healing process. That they are allowed to be happy. That being happy is in fact an act of resistance. I think this is important now because we are making progress in identifying and combating mental illness as a society, which must include the black perspective. We are creating representation where there was none.” – Linnea Tengroth
Linnea Tengroth is an emerging theatremaker and performer from Stockholm, Sweden. Her work is driven by the desire to give a voice to those who aren’t given the space or freedom to speak.
Image: Amy McDonald
The artists
LINNEA TENGROTH - Writer and Performer
Linnea Tengroth is an emerging theatre-maker and performer from Stockholm, Sweden. Graduating from Calle Flygare theatre school (Stockholm) in 2014, and the Performance Making course at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in 2019. Linnea brings a big passion for intercultural theatre, physical theatre, and female-driven narratives. Her work is driven by the desire to give a voice to those who aren’t given the space or freedom to speak.
This year she has been working on Black Girl Rising an original dark comedy piece interrogating black lives and mental health as a result of systemic racism. With the help and support of Metro Arts.
Some of Linnea’s notable performances include her solo performance PLASTIC PLANET being chosen to represent WAAPA at the Asia Pacific Bureau of Theatre Festival in Yogyakarta, Indonesia in 2018.
N'GADIE ROBERTS - Writing Mentor
N’Gadie Roberts is a clinical audiologist and author born in Sierra Leone, West Africa and raised in Perth. She is passionate about community involvement and over the years has worked as a tutor and mentor for the WA Department of Child Protection and Family Support, volunteered for the WA United Nations Women’s Association, and acted as a student ambassador for the University of Western Australia’s (UWA) equity programs Aspire and Fairway.
Last year she completed her Master of Clinical Audiology at The University of Western Australia. Prior to studying Audiology, N’Gadie completed her Honours in English and Creative Writing at UWA. Her area of speciality is the gothic and the uncanny. She is also an avid travel writer, and has run creating writing workshops in London schools. Her book ‘Grave Delights’ (2021) has received raving reviews.
MARK MCDONALD - Director
Mark McDonald is an Actor, Musician and Theatre Maker from Brisbane, Australia. Mark completed the Bachelor of Performance Making course at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts in 2019. Where he was commended for his third-year projects: ‘FIFO’ (Director) and ‘3º’ (Co-deviser and Performer). Since graduating Mark has followed his passion for performance in several mediums.
This includes partaking in The Dead Puppet Society Academy Program in 2020, playing in the hugely successful show ‘The Underground’ in multiple stagings, and acting in The Naughty Corner Collective’s ‘Maze’ at the Brisbane Powerhouse in 2021
WATCH INTERVIEW
Black Girl Rising is part of Metro Arts 2023 Creative Development Program.