Whilst stories of fear, destruction and loss dominate news cycles, our local mythos - the kind shared between old friends over cold beers on a hot day - focuses instead on accounts of bravery, compassion and grit. Every regional town in Queensland has stories like these, where folks pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and get on with it, often with a laugh and wry declaration that ‘she’ll be right’.

These stories underpin Perseverance Street Theatre Company’s Grit: the stories. the town. the music. Brought to Bundaberg audiences by Bridges Health & Community Care and JUTE Theatre Company, Grit is a celebration of regional spirit, showing that even in the face of insurmountable odds, you just can’t keep a Queenslander down.

Grit emerged in March 2022, just after the devastating Gympie flood subsided. Perserverance Street Theatre Company and the community realised the importance of resilience and grit and were curious about what helps people get back up again, when they have been knocked down.

Grit was created from real stories of 30 people of all backgrounds and ages.

Through storytelling, music and song, six characters reveal their dreams and hopes for a better future. Created from the collection of real stories of resilience from people living in regional Queensland.

These are their stories.

These are their songs.

CAST:

Fletcher Colfs - Storyteller

Ben Adams - Chorus

Sarah Harvey - Chorus

Abby Bowyer - Chorus

CREATIVE TEAM:

Dr Sharon Hogan - Director

Sofia Abbey, Dr Sharon Hogan, Fletcher Colfs - Playwrights

Alex Harvey - Composer/ Sound Design

Jonas White - Technical Operator

TOURED BY:

JUTE Theatre Company

PRESENTED IN BUNDABERG BY:

Bridges Health & Community Care

In addition to the show, Bridges has worked with Perseverance Street Theatre Company and St Lukes' Anglican School to offer workshops in verbatim theatre to senior students. Some of the stories developed at the workshop will be performed as an opener to GRIT - our local stories. This workshop program has been supported by RADF Bundaberg.

The Regional Arts Development Fund is a partnership between the Queensland Government and Bundaberg Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.