THE DPS LAB

Dead Puppet Society, Brisbane Powerhouse, 2 November 2022

Internationally renowned, Brisbane-based Dead Puppet Society (DPS) have distinct streams of work: Production for original visual theatre; Activation for bringing unique experiences to public spaces and events; and Education for professional development and training the next generation of puppeteers and visual performers. As part of their education stream, their flagship training programme, DPS Academy, presents a showcase of their trained talent pipeline. This year’s showcase highlights new bite-sized pieces featuring puppetry and visual theatre from three groups: circus performer Grace Law, creative partnership BLAT Productions, and independent theatre collective Yours Sincerely. THE DPS LAB is on for one night only at the Brisbane Powerhouse on Wednesday 2 November. Billed as “contemporary, colourful, bite-sized visual theatre works”, audiences are advised to expect the unexpected in this place of fruition for experimentation and multidisciplinary mash-ups.

Image: DPS HQ at the start of the DPS Academy: Yours Sincerely, BLAT Productions and Grace Law and team with Matt Seery and Helen Stephens.

Now in its fifth year, the DPS Academy is a 14-week series of professional development and creative workshops where emerging and independent theatre-makers can develop their original ideas with the experts at DPS. DPS Associate Creative Director, Matt Seery, is producing this year’s programme with DPS Head of Youth and Engagement Helen Stephens. Matt told Stage Whispers:

“We spend a number of weeks sharing with local artists everything DPS has learned about design-led theatre-making in its 13-year history. But then we flip the artist/mentor dynamic on its head. We follow the independent creators down creative rabbit holes of their own choosing. They’re making works that are truly their own, while the backing of DPS and Brisbane Powerhouse allows them to dream big and experiment in a way that they otherwise mightn’t have dared! This year, THE DPS LAB gives us a glimpse at three brand new visual theatre works. It’s a night full of surprises, born from our unusual approach to artist training.”

‘How to be Human’ by Creative Producer and circus performer Grace Law, blends circus and spoken word in its exploration of the tension between our head and our heart, shown through the eyes of an aerialist, a clown and a poet. Grace has assembled a team of circus artists, poets and physical-theatre makers including Lauren Hale, Regan Ainslie and Claire Alcock, with support from director Celia White, to create a gravity-defying theatre piece. Grace told us: “Being involved in THE DPS LAB has been a truly collaborative process and we hope to deliver something that the audience can really relate to and get on board with.”

‘Ta da!’ by BLAT Productions, a creative partnership between actor and playwright Egan Sun Bin and creative producer Victoria Barns, looks at how we can find hope from the family members we miss. Victoria said: “DPS has helped us with the skills to create something magical. Working with a group of talented, diverse artists has been such an honour and can't wait for you to see as we explore a story about culture, legacy, magic and grief.”

‘Deep Breath In’ by Yours Sincerely gets political with work by writer/performer trio Madeleine Border, Luke Diamond and Honor Webster-Mannison. Luke explained: “Our show explores what happens when the political system fails, when your right to protest has been eroded, and the air is so toxic a deep breath in could kill you. In THE DPS LAB we’ve learnt new skills that have expanded our theatre-making process, helping to bring our ambitious vision to life.”

THE DPS LAB is presented by Dead Puppet Society and Brisbane Powerhouse with support from The Jelley Family Foundation and Arts Queensland. I’ll be sitting in on rehearsals to follow up on the DPS Academy offering for 2023 for Stage Whispers. Meanwhile, I’ll let the show’s producers have the closing comments.

Helen Stephens says, “We’re especially proud of the 2022 line-up; there are names here that I think audiences should expect to see again and again in the future.” And Matt Seery concludes: “This is a night for theatre-makers and theatre-lovers to come together and witness ambitious new artists launch cool new things onto the stage for the very first time.”

Find out more: https://brisbanepowerhouse.org/whats-on/event/the-dps-lab/

Images courtesy of Dead Puppet Society.