Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
Perth, consider this your warning: Joondalup Festival is about to serve one of the most unexpected nights out of the year, and it’s happening in a place you’d normally go for hot chips, neon lights and a competitive spiral ball.
Introducing: Guttered, an immersive dance-theatre experience set inside iPlay Bowling in Whitfords Shopping Centre that’s designed to pull you right into the action, with a performance that’s close enough to feel every strike, spare, miss, and moment of tension in the air.
Presented by Restless Dance Theatre, Guttered takes a simple social game and turns it into something wildly entertaining, surprisingly intimate, and quietly paradigm-shifting. Think bursts of camaraderie, flashes of judgement, and the way a room responds when someone takes up space with confidence.
At the centre of it all is a big question delivered with humour and heart: Why do we so often confuse protection with care… especially when it comes to disability?
Guttered playfully confronts the idea that shielding someone from failure, however well-intentioned, can stifle growth and potential. It asks you, point-blank: When was the last time you bowled? And, if someone installed gutter guards and ramps just for you, would that feel supportive… or quietly humiliating?
The show’s director, Michelle Ryan, reveals the performance is designed to lean into the feeling that competition can bring out in a person. Both our sharp edges, and our soft sides.
“Why don’t we allow people with disability to have the dignity of risk? Disability Service lanes restrict failure. Failure is a key motivation to develop and learn,” said Ryan.
“A bowling alley is such a theatrical setting – the noise of the pins falling; the smell of the oil from the hot chips; the classic bowling shirts and shoes; and the raucous interaction of the bowlers – it’s almost a sensory overload. In this work we share the dancer’s intimate stories of winning and losing in this intimate but public context,” said Ryan.
Guttered Performer Darcy Carpenter adds: “I don’t need the gutter guards up because I bowl down the lane, waiting to get a strike. I always bowl with my thumb up. Some people can be strong but if the pins don’t go down then you just try again.”
A moving performance that will likely have you in tears, Guttered is a not to be missed show on this year’s festival calendar. The performance runs across multiple sessions from March 17-19, with tickets at $18 for adults and $10 for children under 12. If you’re feeling moved already and want to get involved in a more hands-on way, Restless Dance Theatre is also hosting a free, inclusive community workshop on March 16. Open to everyone and thoughtfully catered for neurodiverse and disabled people, the session introduces participants to contemporary dance and physical devising in a welcoming space to move, explore and connect.
Joondalup Festival runs from 7–22 March and is packed with free and ticketed live experiences and performances designed to unlock a world of wonder.
Joondalup Festival returns to Perth’s north from 7–22 March 2026, unlocking a world of wonder across the City of Joondalup. Discover the full program and book your tickets to Guttered and more today via: www.joondalupfestival.com.au
