The inaugural Midsummica was a collaboration between Midsumma Pathways and La Mama Theatre to champion and celebrate intersectional identities by providing a space for disabled & neurodiverse LGBTQIA+ alumni of the Midsumma Pathways Program to experiment and present new work in a live performance environment. The evening provided an accessible and supportive space for artists to share ideas in front of a sold-out audience at one of Naarm/Melbourne's most prolific independent theatres.
"It was fantastic to have the opportunity to develop and test something that is brand new, experiment with new ideas and have access to such a great space, supportive staff and deepen my connection to the other performers." – Jessie Ngaio, Midsummica Artist and Midsumma Pathways Alumni.
Five alumni from the Midsumma Pathways program each presented ten minutes of a work-in-progress that spanned across theatre, music, drag, spoken word and multidisciplinary art forms. The event was also MC'd and driven by Pathways alumni, centring queer, disabled voices in every aspect of the evening.
Midsummica July 2023 was livestreamed and Auslan Interpreted < WATCH HERE
A special thank you to La Mama Theatre
Produced by Ebony Rattle (they/them) and Harriet Devlin (she/her)
Lineup
Crystal Nguyen (Boorloo / WA)
Crystal Nguyen kickstarted her performance career at 15 placing 6th in the inaugural season of Vietnam’s Got Talent. Crystal (who lives with Brittle Bones Disease) is an actor, singer, and theatre-maker who has collaborated with organisations such as UNICEF to raise awareness and challenge the stigma surrounding disability and self-expression. Crystal’s stage and screen credits include BESIDE (Perth Festival 2021), The Complete Show of Waterskiing (The Blue Room Theatre 2022), Wonderbox (Perth Festival 2023) and Erotic Stories (Lingo Pictures 2023). Crystal was a participant in the Performing Lines Kolyang Artist Lab and Creative Hub 2021 – 2022 for outstanding WA multidisciplinary artists. When not acting, Crystal enjoys swimming, most of the time in real life, and other times on her Animal Crossing island.
Cynthia Spleen (Naarm / VIC)
Cynthia Spleen// plasticmessiah, is a neuroqueer Mauritian art gremlin and bard based in Naarm. Compulsively scribbling forever, on the page and on people, Spleen has amassed a rich body of work (literal bodies). They explore such themes as joy, death, cartoons, fashion, pop culture, memoir and psychology.
Jessie Ngaio (Naarm / VIC)
Jessie Ngaio’s life story is one of not fitting in. Growing up queer in small town Aotearoa, New Zealand, she left school early due to what she now realises was undiagnosed autism and ADHD. For years, Jessie has worked in the adult entertainment industry as well as pursuing her passion for creative expression through training in visual arts, clown, improvisational movement and Butoh. Along with exhibiting paintings and soft sculptures, she co-wrote and starred in the musical theatre production, Slutmonster and Friends (2013) surrealist comedy web series, “Trying My Best” (2017) and performed in the ensemble productions “Colour-Fool” and “Odd Hours” as part of “ButohOut!” Festival, 2021. Her most recent work and first solo performance, “Oh Yuck, It’s Me” debuted in the 2022 at Melbourne Fringe and have been nominated for “Best Performer” and “Best Production” in independent theatre in the Green Room Awards.
Kip Mac (Naarm / VIC)
Kip Mac (they/them) is a classically-trained pianist, singer, and performer who usually does cabaret shows centering around music history of underground genres. Their shows involve piano performance, storytelling, music history, jokes, and cultural and media criticism.
Sarah Carroll (Gadigal / NSW)
Sarah Carroll is a Pasifika queer neurodiverse writer, performer and producer working on Dharug Land. In 2022, Sarah debuted their sold-out one woman show Cherry (KXT Bakehouse) which went on to win the Sydney Fringe Festival Tour Ready Award and NIDA Best Emerging Actor Award and have an encore season at Everything But The Kitchen Sink Festival (Flight Path Theatre).
Sarah performed in the Originate ensemble at Q Theatre (dir. Shy Magsalin) and participated in the AFTRS Talent Camp and Midsumma Pathways. They have been selected by Antipodes Theatre to develop a new theatrical work Sorry Not Sorry with Marissa Saroca, have debuted their second show Unkissed as part of Shopfront Western Sydney ArtsLab and was part of Brand X’s Ground Zero Residency part of Sydney World Pride with a new work titled Coconut Baby.
Sarah strives to champion for underrepresented voices to be heard and create works that uplift and engage audiences in new and exciting ways – usually with lots of sparkle and sass!
With MC Alex Creece (Wadawurrung / Regional VIC)
Alex Creece is a writer, poet, collage artist, and average kook living on Wadawurrung land. Alex works as the Online Editor for Archer Magazine and the Production Editor for Cordite Poetry Review. She’s also on the editorial committee for Sunder Journal. Alex was awarded a Write-ability Fellowship in 2019 and a Wheeler Centre Hot Desk Fellowship in 2020. A sample of Alex’s work was Highly Commended in the 2019 Next Chapter Scheme, and she was shortlisted for the 2021 Kat Muscat Fellowship. In 2022, Alex was shortlisted for the inaugural Born Writers Award and the Lord Mayor’s Creative Writing Award. Alex’s first book of poetry is forthcoming with Cordite Books.
Midsumma EOI 2024
Midsumma and La Mama (based in Naarm) have teamed up to present the second iteration of Midsummica, a multidisciplinary performance night to present works in development by queer disabled artists on Monday 5 February 2024, as part of the 2024 Midsumma Festival.
