After their recent triumph on the international circuit – winning the 2022 Ibsen award, theatre’s equivalent of the Nobel prize, and the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement in theatre at this year’s Venice Biennale – Geelong’s Back to Back could be forgiven for an aura of self-congratulation. You could expect something celebratory from them. Instead, they serve up Multiple Bad Things, a work of profound complexity and ambivalence, even a swirling morbidity.
Of course, anyone familiar with this company’s history will know they don’t go in for simplistic reassurance; they’ve never been glib or superficial. They’ve also never shied away from provocation, exploring topics from which other companies might run a mile. As an ensemble of actors who identify as having an intellectual disability or as neurodivergent, Back to Back continues to prod and confront audience expectations and prejudices. Multiple Bad Things wades further into treacherous waters, with thrilling results.
