I was incredibly lucky to have recently been invited to attend the second Contemporary Asian Australian Performance (CAAP) Artist Lab, this time under the brilliant stewardship of Tessa Leong and Sandi Woo. The inaugural Artist Lab at the end of 2020 fostered the collaboration between myself and my director Nate Gilkes on ‘The Red Dust’ and the Institute of Australian and Chinese Arts and Culture (IAC) at Western Sydney University, who contributed both subtitles and Chinese musical instrumentation to the show. Returning to the second Artist Lab, which was held at Sydney Theatre Company, was just as an invigorating experience as the first, as I got to know a new batch of Asian Australian performance artists as well as share and learn new skills.

Jules Pek-Lowther and Nate Gilkes performing selections from ‘The Red Dust'. Photo by Xiang Zhang.

We were also extremely lucky to be invited by the IAC to perform selections from ‘The Red Dust’ at the opening of legendary Chinese Australian photographer and performance artist William Yang’s latest exhibition, ‘Claiming Heritage.’ Having recently performed his most recent one-man show ‘Gay Sydney: A Memoir’ at the Seymour Centre to great acclaim, we were very lucky to watch William perform a short excerpt from the show alongside photos which also feature in his exhibition. We were then incredibly honoured to perform songs from ‘The Red Dust’ at the opening, which also features themes of growing up as a Chinese Australian, and also, ironically, climbing mountains! Many thanks to Jing Han and Dr. Nicholas Ng from IAC and Tessa Leong from CAAP for their involvement.

’Claiming Heritage’ runs until May 5th at Parramatta South Campus, Western Sydney University, so be sure to check it out!

Tessa Leong (Artistic Directo of CAAP), Jules Pek-Lowther (performer), myself, William Yang, Dr. Nicholas Ng (Chinese musical instrument performer and composer), and Nate Gilkes (composer and director)

This week I had the pleasure of presenting The Red Dust at the NSW State Government’s Department of Communities and Justice Inaugural Multicultural Community Engagement Conference at the Parkroyal in Parramatta. In and among topics as broad as youth engagement, health, refugee settlement, language, education, and media, I presented our development and rehearsal process with director and composer of The Red Dust (and Marian St Theatre for Young People artistic director) Nate Gilkes, and our choreographer Jia-wei Zhu.

It was super lovely to get the band together again, even if only for a short moment! It was also fantastic to present with our friends from Chinese Australian Seniors Service (CASS), who have been so enthusiastic about how the production activated their Chinese elder community. We’re currently in the process of working out next steps for The Red Dust, so be sure to watch this space!

After many pandemic delays and false starts, The Red Dust is back on (tickets here)! Reimagined as an intimate physical theatre performance alongside the original vision of music, poetry and text, the show will be performed at Ku-Ring-Gai Town Hall with elders from Chinese Australian Services Society (CASS).

Our team has changed up a little but it’s still being directed and composed by the tireless Nate Gilkes, with traditional Chinese music composition and performance by Dr Nicholas Ng, movement and choreography by Jia-wei Zhu, lighting design by Benjamin Brockman, assistant direction by Alexandra Sharps, and subtitles in Mandarin and English by the team at the Institute of Australian and Chinese Arts and Culture at Western Sydney University, headed by Professor Jing Han.

The show follows Chinese Australian teen Talia in a near future where Sydney is continuously covered by a red dust storm. Much like the Chinese term hóng chén 红尘, which refers to the world of desires and distractions, Talia is often so distracted by ‘the red dust’ of her online life that she neglects to realise her climate scientist mother has gone missing on a trip to find the last blue gum trees. Through poetry, music, dance and physical theatre, Talia is challenged with ‘seeing through the red dust’ as she embarks on a journey to the Blue Mountains to find her mother.

We just started rehearsals and I’m so excited to be working with the kids at Marian St, as well as Robyn Clark, who will play the lead role of Talia.

Where: Ku-ring-gai Town Hall, 1186 Pacific Hwy, Pymble NSW 2073, Australia

When: Wednesday 13th July 10.30am and 1.30pm, Thursday 14th July 10.30am and 1.30pm, Friday 15th July 1.30pm and 7.30pm, and Saturday 16th July 7.30pm

Who: All ages!

Cost: $20

Tickets: Here!

I’m performing at this lovely concert organised by Paul Castles on 7.30pm on May 30th at the Annandale Creative Arts Centre. If you’re in Sydney at the end of May, it would be lovely to see you there!

Here’s our little spiel:

Formed in response to the lost bond of intimacy between neighbours during lockdown, HERE explores the theme of locality and transition through a collaboration between words, music, and visuals.

Original poetry and integrative art unify the quiet story of HERE and its reflections on place, identity, and and the act of re-gathering in the wake of change. Interwoven musical compositions including 4 world premieres are brought to life by the unique colours of harp, recorder, saxophone, and piano.

You can read a conversation between classical music website ClassikON and Paul featuring one of my poems from the concert here.

Also, here’s an interview with Paul by classical music magazine CutCommon discussing our collaboration.

I’ll be performing poetry from a song cycle Paul and I featured at the CAAP Longhouse, as well as some new poems. Hope to see you there!

Another very belated update on doings of late!

As mentioned in my previous post, I was lucky enough to attend the Palm Beach Poetry Festival online as a Kundiman scholar with Matthew Olzmann and the Tin House Winter Workshop with Leila Chatti. Both experiences were incredible despite the restrictions of the online format — I’m very lucky to still be in touch with classmates and teachers from both cohorts and their amazing talents.

I was also incredibly lucky to be accepted into Warren Wilson College’s low-residency MFA poetry program for their summer intake. Warren Wilson is one of the oldest and most distinguished low-residency programs in the US, and I’m very excited to begin my studies there. I’ve already started preparing for what I’m hoping will be a rigorous two years.

And while I’m in the US I’ll also be attending Tin House Summer Workshop — for the first time in person! I’m really looking forward to studying with Paisley Rekdal, and meeting some wonderful friends for the first time in real life.

Before I head off though, I’ll be performing some poetry at a concert of new music organised by my dear friend Paul Castles! Conceived during lockdown, the concert will feature words, music, and art in response to transition, locality, and the lost intimacies between strangers. The poetry I’ll be performing will include extracts from a song cycle Paul and I have been working on for a few years, Nat/Jessie/Jimmy, as well as some new poems. I’ll also be narrating the lyrics of some of Paul’s work with other collaborators. A casual one-hour event, it should be a lovely night of new music. If you’re in Sydney at the end of May, you can get your tickets here.

Also back on again thanks to things re-opening is The Red Dust, which was postponed a couple of times due to lockdown. This time we’re presenting a smaller, more intimate development version of the show, with direction by Nate Gilkes, music by Nate Gilkes and Dr Nicholas Ng, choreography by Jia-wei Zhu, subtitles by Jing Han at the Institute for Australian and Chinese Arts and Culture (IAC), elders from Chinese Australian Services Society (CASS), and a company of brilliant young people from Marian St Theatre for Young People. The show follows a young Chinese-Australian teen as she searches for her mother in a post-apocalyptic, red dust-covered Blue Mountains, and features poetry, music, dance, and physical theatre. Rehearsals are starting soon and I’m very excited! If you’re in Sydney mid-July, do come along and get your tickets here!

More soon!

I’m so very excited to share the details about my first big show, The Red Dust at Marian St Theatre for Young People! I’ve been working on this show with Artistic Director Nate Gilkes for over a year now, and I’m very excited that it’s going to have its world premiere at The Concourse in Chatswood in September. The show will feature poetry, music, dance and animations, performers from the Chinese Australian Senior Service (CASS) and subtitling from the Australia-China Institute for Arts and Culture at Western Sydney University. It would be great if you came along! Details below, and you can book here:

Where: Chatswood Concourse, 409 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, NSW, 2067

When: 10:30 and 1pm on 22nd September, and 2pm and 6pm on 23rd September

Who: Recommended for ages 8+

Cost: $35 each, or $30 per person in a group of 4 (all attendees over 24 months must have a ticket)

I’m also the Writer in Residence this year at Marian St, and I’m looking forward to mentoring three Young Artists in Residence over the remainder of the year. They’re all very talented folks and I’m very excited to be working with them.

Our fabulous social distancing CAAP artist and partner companies!

Last week I attended the in-person residency of the inaugural Contemporary Asian Australian Performance (CAAP) Artist Lab, a professional development program for Asian Australian performing artists in collaboration with Sydney Theatre Company (STC), Belvoir St Theatre, Griffin Theatre Company and the Australia-China Institute for Arts and Culture. Over five days myself and fourteen others (plus Michelle Lim Davidson via Zoom!) shared skills and experiences, asked questions, and participated in workshops run by the partner companies, culminating in a small showing of hypothetical works-in-progress. I personally really enjoyed the opportunity to be in community with other Asian Australian artists (stage managers, writers, actors, directors, lighting managers) as well as all the good folk at STC, Belvoir, Griffin and ACIAC, and I’m very much looking forward to what future friendships and collaborations will bring!

Also! A couple weeks prior to that, Paul Castles and I presented a ten minute excerpt of our work-in-progress UNTITLED NAT/JESSIE/JIMMY PROJECT at the first CAAP Longhouse of the year. The piece was one of five really exciting and diverse works by Asian Australian women (musicals, multidisciplinary dance theatre and straight plays no less), and was very warmly received. There may be some exciting collaborations coming out of that too, so stay tuned!

A song Nate Gilkes and I wrote called ‘Father of the Blue’ was featured on Channel 7’s Sunrise earlier in the week. Big congrats to 13 year old Josie who learned the song on a Saturday and performed it bright and early at 6.30am on a Monday!

*Update* Vimeo didn’t like my uploaded videos of the segment, so you can click through the screenshot of Josie and Nate and watch a short excerpt of the segment on Instagram!