Barriers Program

BY

SEB SAINT

DIRECTED BY JASON DAMOT

Barriers is the second play I’ve written so far within my short time in the arts industry

Inspired by many things, this play and its message is incredibly special to me. The play explores human interaction and socialisation as in my opinion, it’s one of the things that defines us and makes us human This play takes this concept into a stereotypical world similar to ours, exploring what I classify as Barriers (stereotyping, assumptions, inter generation and cultural misunderstandings) that occur in every one of our communities. Within the story tonight, everyone should be able to find something to relate to, in hopes that you will perceive the world we live in slightly differently to the way you saw it before you stepped inside Studio1. It’s been an incredible and unforgettable experience to build this world, story and characters. Thank you for coming and supporting the cast, crew and myself. Thank you also to everyone who assisted me writing or El and Jase within the production process. Enjoy tonight’s show

-Seb Saint

PLAYWRIGHT'S NOTE BARRIERS GLOSSARY

- Shaz: in Chrissy’s own words, ‘it means something sucks’

- D.A.D: Dance and Die, 2100’s version of ‘YOLO’

- Judy: someone who’s very annoying

- Setzie: someone obsessed with technology

- Frack: a very versatile word, typically means something is bad

- ASURF: 2100’s very immersive version of the Internet

- Swiffie: means something is so cool (derived from Taylor Swift)

- Geargrinder: a robot dating app

- Gag: gay

- Tar: short for ‘avatar’ like a futuristic Bitmoji

- Craz: a streaming platform like TikTok

- Tube: another streaming platform like YouTube

- Juice: gossip

- PMs: private messages

- Smasian: anti-asian term

- Gidgey: cute/hotZing: platform like Zoom

- Probots: porn robots

- Mod: modest

- Snitz: a term of endearment

- Ipop: a type of EDM music made by robots

- Rob/Robo: short for robot

- Emovie: immersive movies

- Canned: short for cancelled

CREW AND CREATIVES

playwright: Seb Saint director: Jason Damot

dramaturg: El Waddingham

Stage manager: Madelyne leite

production designer: Grace Lashbrook

Lighting designer: Cale dennis

CAST

CAPA: George Sharman

MIA: Rachael woodnet

STEVEN: elijah unterburger

Chrissy: phoebe quinn

Paul: cameron walker

Vin: cullyn beckton

xavier: ewan robertson

luca: joshua price

ABOUT THE SHOW

‘Barriers’ written by Seb Saint and directed by Jason Damot is a responsive dystopian imagining of humanity’s future. The year is 2100. Technology is king, face-to-face communication is as obsolete as a VHS and we’re on to the 40th Marvel cinematic universe. Insanity. Until a researcher decides to chuck eight kids into an underground bunker, without their precious devices, to give them a taste of what real school was like. No phones, no dopamine hits, no soothing blue light. Chaos is bound to ensue.

Created by a team of teenage artists at theatrePUNK co. through our babyPUNK artist development program, ‘Barriers’ is a radical provocation to empathy, and a warning of what youth could look like if we don’t keep tech in check. Featuring a cast of social media royalty, queer cyberkids, right-wing edgelords and one totally clueless non-user, secrets and past mistakes threaten to rear their heads when all barriers are down. What will be unearthed? Will we ever be-real again?

Welcome to the future, kids.

rachael woodnet-mia

Rachael Woodnett (she/her) is an actor, creative and self proclaimed silly goofy guy based in Meanjin. Currently in her final year of a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in drama, Rachael has found a love for theatre that tells important and unheard stories. She has been lucky enough throughout university to work on independent theatre, with Vena Cava Productions and at Anywhere Festival.

Rachael is pumped to be bringing Barriers to life with theatrePUNK co. And hopes the message of the show will ring true for audiences and live on long after we log off.

george sharman-capa

George Sharman (He/Him) is an emerging actor, singer, musician and writer, who has burst onto the Meanjin (Brisbane) theatre scene to rep for the his home country of New Zealand Originally based in Ōtautahi Christchurch, he currently studies a BFA of Acting at QUT His work his been described as chameleonic, charismatic and galvanising, with an empathy for the underdog and a penchant for exploring his range Having worked with theatre companies such as Abadon Productions, Blackboard Theatre Company & Showbiz Christchurch, his previous credits run across the spectrum of theatre, film, commercial, musical theatre and other live performance Always looking to test himself with different technical challenges or unique characterisations, he is constantly striving to hone his craft and explore the limits of what can be communicated through performance

phoebe quinn-chrissy

Phoebe Quinn (she/her) is an emerging Meanjin based actor, writer and theatre-maker, with a passion for bold stories and colourful characters. She is particularly passionate about telling queer and female stories, and strives to make theatre an invigorating, accessible experience for all

Phoebe has had the opportunity to work with several of Brisbane’s best emerging independent theatre companies including Inscape Assembly and All Entertainment, and is so excited to get to work with TheatrePunk on this wonderful production!

elijah unterburger-steven

Elijah Unterburger (he/him) is an an actor and artist, looking to develop skills on stage and screen. He’s been apart of these groups since early into his schooling years and has gone on to work with institutions such as, SAE, a creative arts university in Perth. Along with The Empire in Toowoomba

Cameron Walker (he/him) is an actor & singer, currently studying a BFA (Acting) at QUT. He performed in multiple plays and musicals throughout high school, but decided to persue acting professionally after joining the Queensland Theatre Youth Ensemble in 2022 He is excited to continue performing outside of his course. In July, Cameron will star in two upcoming short films And later, perform in Vena Cava's 'Growing Pains', for their August Freshblood Festival

cullyn beckton-vin

Destructive, scornful, and just short of insane makes Cullyn Beckton (they/them), a writer, actor, producer; who dreams of entering the arts scene with a bang and leaving the world behind them thoroughly confused. They have what has been described as an eclectic aesthetic, which takes inspiration from surrealism Cullyn has been writing and producing an original work titled, The Flower Does Not Exist, for Vena Cava's Freshblood festival that is the culmination of their sick mind They sincerely hope to leave audiences completely dazed. Cullyn also has an addiction to independent theatre, which is why they felt a natural calling towards theatrePUNK co. Fittingly their previous work includes lots of independent theatre such as 2AM (2022) and Card Houses (2023) They are ecstatic to bring the world of Barriers alive, and leave audiences with a hip, queer story to remember!

ewan robertson-xavier

Crying, laughing, and snot rocketing into the future of Brisbane arts, is, Ewan Robertson (He/Him). A Meanjin born and raised theatre maker and actor. A highfalutin artist with a specialty in piss-taking. Following his years of training with Backbone Youth Arts, Ewan is now undertaking a BFA in drama with QUT. Thriving in the not-sosmall intersection between abstraction, classics, and comedy. Ewan is ready to bring on his all queer all referential and all around silly perspective to Brisbane’s emerging theatre. And he’s giving it all, and more, to the endlessly quiet Xavier, and to Seb Saint’s Barriers.

joshua price-luca

Joshua Price is an actor, writer and director based in Meanjin In all three of these roles, he is obsessed with telling stories from new perspectives that were previously unheard from and getting as many people involved as possible in productions both on the stage and the screen He has worked with Queensland Theatre, La Boite Theatre, Dead Puppets Society and a number of independent theatre and film production companies around South East Queensland With this being his first involvement with theatrePUNK, he is excited to continue working with them, particularly as director of the next instalment in their season, ‘PASHUN'’. He hopes that with this production of Barriers and all the work he does, he can reward and empower not just the audiences that view his work but artists he works with.

Seb Saint is an emerging Toowoomba writer and actor striving to become a facilitator within the Bachelor of Creative Arts and Community Wellbeing program at Uni SQ. Seb started his creative journey in Empire Theatre’s Senior Impact Ensemble, writing and performing in their show “Off With Your Head”. Since then, Seb has expanded his creative practice involving Queensland Theatre’s Young Writers Ensemble and directorial training at the National Institution of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) in Sydney. Seb strives to create theatre that spreads messages and inspires change within communities. He hopes that Barriers achieves this while also providing an engaging and entertaining performance for all.

jason damot-director

Jason Damot (any pronouns) is an emerging playwright, director and actor with an innate passion for storytelling and a keen eye for worldbuilding. Having studied game design at uni and fervently involved in theatre since their teens, Jason is constantly looking for ways to elevate the narrative into an experience like no other. They are slowly nurturing their craft as an actor in established plays such as Good Grief (2021) and as co-director in emerging works like Monster (2021) and The Flower Does Not Exist (2023). They are most notable for writing and directing the premier performances of 2 AM (2022). Jason is more than thrilled to be working with theatrePUNK co. along with the cast and crew of this production, and hopes you enjoy watching the world premiere of Barriers as much as they did bringing it to life.

el waddingham-dramaturg

At the intersection of violence and camp, antiquity and presence is El Waddingham, an emerging theatre artist from Meanjin. An electrifying drag performer, poet, director and dancer, They’ve worked with Queensland Theatre, QPAC, La Boite, The Farm, PIP Theatre, Australasian Dance Collective and ATYP, as a performer and creative A proud queer artist, they describe their work as a slap in the face with a palm full of biodegradable glitter El is currently the artistic director of theatrePUNK co They want to empower a generation of artists to overthrow limiting power structures and to create the art that they want to create

grace lashbrook-production designer

Grace Lashbrook is a Meanjin-based creative and lifelong theatre enthusiast who is incredibly excited to be making her professional debut as the designer of Barriers She is deeply passionate about telling exciting and unique stories through designing costumes and sets and she is very grateful for the ability to work with theatrePUNK to tell this particular story Grace is also currently working with Vena Cava Productions as a writer and director, and she hopes to bring a fresh perspective into her work that rewards audiences and creatives alike Grace has taken great joy in seeing the world of Barriers come to life and hopes that you all enjoy it as much as she does

madelyne leite-stage manager

Madelyne Leite is an actor, producer, director, shower singer, and stage manager. She takes equal pride in all 5 roles but what she finds especially exciting is the opportunity to bring new stories to stage and screen As a result, much of her work is centred around brave queer storytelling both in the performance capacity, and in creating those opportunities for others. After starring in Greenlit and directing the upcoming Call Girls, Madelyne hopes this foray into stage management and Barriers as a whole is one audiences will remember

cale dennis-lighting designer

Cale Dennis (he/they) is an emerging Meanjin (Brisbane) based theatre maker with interest and experience as an, actor, director, stage manager and technical designer. They are currently studying a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Drama) at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) He prides himself in engagement with all elements of theatre-making as he believes in the strong understanding and connection between all elements creates the most innovative and engaging live performance, regardless of the role being undertaken. They are excited to be lighting up the stage for theatrePUNK's production of Barriers!