How do you stage a friendship lived in segregation?

A live-cinema deep dive into the care industry, the politics of incarceration and art-making as escape.

Working via video calls with our friend Mirielle Gabriel, who is homebound with cerebral palsy in Western Sydney, KEEP YOUR HEAD UP began as an attempt to stage a jailbreak movie live on stage to free Mirielle from the role to which society has confined her. The final version of the show is a thoughtful and playful two-hander. It tells the story of an ever-evolving process that has grappled with its own access needs and how to authentically capture a unique friendship.

Audiences join Mirielle and Steve on the video call they share each week, reliving their filmmaking glory days at Cerebral Palsy Alliance. In doing so, they revisit an old video they made in 2017 inspired by Mirielle’s favourite movie – The Neverending Story.

They may not end up making their jailbreak film, but together they just might escape the swamps of sadness.

Development of KEEP YOUR HEAD UP is supported by Creative Australia, Create NSW, Intimate Spectacle, HotHouse Theatre, Festival of Dangerous Ideas, RISING:, Sydney Festival and the Major Festival Initiative.

To premiere in 2027.

Images by Lucy Parakhina.