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In Protest

Handspan Theatre Protests skeleton head above red flag flanked on each side by a white baby hanging upside down and a black-winged figure

Anti-Nuclear Ships Rally, Station Pier, Port Melbourne, 1987
Company snapshot

Handspan Theatre members were, for the most part, political lefties, its founders ideologically nurtured in the ferment of Australia’s Whitlam years and involvement with the Vietnam war. They first paraded on the streets in Moratoriums with banners and chanting, and through Handspan many collectivised to protest in demonstrations and rallies with images that punctuated events with brief and animated symbolism.

Puppets and images from the Handspan collection appeared in the street in new guises in briefly rehearsed choreographed performances that sometimes stood still, sometimes moved with the crowd.

Protest participation happened often over Handspan's lifetime. Some events that have been recorded in snapshots to be included here are:

Anti F19 Demo (1978)
Year of Peace: Peace Vigil, Peace March, Peace Boogie (1986)
Take the Toys from the Boys (1986)
Anti-Nuclear Ships Rally (1987)
Gay and Lesbian Rights Rally (1993)
Peace Festival (2003)
Anti-Iraq War Protest (2004)
East Timor Oil Rally (2005)
 





On tour Hobart: Gay Rights March banner with Viva La Vida - Frida Kahlo company, 1994. (L-R) Mary Sutherland, Jane Bayly, Avril McQueen, Carmelina Di Guglielmo, Mikkel Mynster and Marnie McDonald.

On the Street: