IN collaboration with TheatreiNQ, JUTE Theatre Company presents the fierce and irreverent one-woman show, Chewing Gum Dreams, at Bulmba-ja Arts Centre from 16 to 18 November 2023.
Enrapturing audiences worldwide for its hilarious warts and all portrayal of adolescence, Chewing Gum Dreams, by multi-award-winning playwright and actor Michaela Coel, is a fast-paced monologue that examines sex, race, friendship, and a faltering sense of self-belief through the eyes of 14-year-old Tracey Gordon.
The universal themes associated with puberty are beautifully translated in TheatreiNQ’s touring iteration of Chewing Gum Dreams, directed by TheatreiNQ’s Artistic Director, Terri Brabon and brought to life by Townsville actor Faduma Ali, who delivers a convincing portrayal of Tracey Gordon – the bored and restless teenager bursting with hormones and hungry for adult experiences, despite the fact she is still just a kid.
Produced with the support of Townsville City Council and the Queensland Government, the regional tour of Chewing Gum Dreams has been made possible by JUTE Theatre Company’s Build Back Better Project funding from the Australian Government’s Regional Arts Fund.
JUTE Theatre Company’s Artistic Director and CEO Suellen Maunder said she is excited to support and participate in TheatreiNQ’s regional tour of Chewing Gum Dreams.
“For JUTE, 2023 has been a watershed year. Through our Build Back Better Project, funded through the Regional Arts Fund, we have made real inroads into the growth of regional theatre, from upskilling practitioners to the ultimate prize of supporting a regional tour,” she said.
“We know that Queensland is a hotbed of talent and creativity, and the only way to realise this potential is through collaboration, of which this tour is a fabulous example and coming of age.”
The regional tour of a regionally produced work is also the result of a unique collaboration between JUTE Theatre Company, TheatreiNQ, Midpoint Theatre Company in Yeppoon and Perseverance Theatre Company in Gympie.
In her role directing the production, Terri Brabon said regional audiences are in for a thought-provoking treat.
“I love how the play uses humour to so eloquently show young people’s struggles when the adults fail them,” she said.
“Things like sex education, Tracey and her friends are completely lost trying to navigate that stuff.
“Tracey isn’t a “good” girl and she isn’t a “bad” girl, she is a young girl doing the best she can with the cards she’s been dealt in life.”
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