Siblings is a brand new theatre show devised by Director Barnie Duncan, Associate Director Pelenakeke Brown and members of the D/deaf and tāngata whaikaha/disabled community and their siblings.

In this first stage of development we will be inviting storytellers/performers/devisers to work with our creative team to contribute their experiences of living in a family with different needs, and to then build skills as a group to shape these stories into a production that is also accessible to our audiences, regardless of their disability.

About the show

If you are someone who happens to have grown up with a brother or sister; or, maybe you didn’t grow up with them but they still feature in your life; then you will understand the peculiar and nuanced relationship-storm that exists within the universe of ‘siblings’.

When a member of a sibling unit is a person with a disability, this universe becomes even more nuanced. What are the orbits, gravitational laws, shooting stars and physics of this universe? How far can we expand what a sibling actually means? Does this relationship occur in say, plants? (yes, it does!)

As a starting point we want to use the domestic as the magnifying glass: going shopping with your older brother; making the obligatory ‘catch up’ phone call; or folding a fitted sheet with your sister. It is within situations like these where we can mine for gold.

Please email siblings@flock.nz for more information

Barnie Duncan - Director

Barnie (he/him) has been creating theatre for the last twenty three years, as a solo performer, collaborator and director. He has long been interested in trying to present fresh and innovative ways of telling stories on stage, and is extremely excited by the possibilities Siblings presents to further this exploration. He himself inhabits a not-very conventional Sibling Universe, and is curious to uncover what threads are common to us all within this most intimate and complex relationship structure.

Pelenakeke Brown - Associate Director

Pelenakeke Brown (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist, and writer. Her practice explores the intersections between Disability theory and Sāmoan cultural concepts. Her practice investigates sites of knowledge that hold both and she uses technology, writing, poetry, and performance to explore these ideas. Her work has been featured in Art in America, The New York Times, The Big Idea, and Pantograph Punch.

“I’m interested in the universe of siblingdom because it’s a fascinating world full of different relationships, and as someone who is the oldest with many siblings (seven, to be exact) it’s a really rich place to explore. As a disabled artist, I think there hasn’t been a piece of theatre that has explored these ideas yet, of family and disability, that I’ve seen, so I am super excited to delve into this world”

— Pelenakeke

Siblings is proudly produced by Flock

Flock works with some of our most under-resourced and under-valued communities to create collaborative performance projects that are guided by the group members’ unique backgrounds, skills and experiences.