How to Play in Slow Time

In this special bonus episode the authors of How to Play in Slow Time offer insight into their own creative practices and how these approaches have evolved in the wake of researching their book. They also reflect on the interviews in this podcast series, pointing to some of the unexpected convergences and resonances that have further opened out their understanding of creativity as a practice.

In this episode performance artist Emma Maye Gibson also known as Betty Grumble speaks about the centrality of movement to her creative practice. She shows how communing with the natural world is at the heart of her artistic processes, inseparable from her life.

In this episode performer, game designer and counsellor, Rachel Roberts, shares the importance of play to her theatre-making practice. She also explains how her counselling training helps her to create the critical distance audiences need to play joyfully, unrestrained, but also critically, in her games and performances.

In this episode we speak to performance maker, writer and teacher, Nitin Vengurlekar. Nitin recounts how the comedic forms and gestures he first discovered in his childhood are now expressed in his film and stage personas, which embody a sense of the terror and beauty of creative not knowing—the sense that you are always on the edge of discovering something new.

In this episode interdisciplinary artist Riana Head-Toussaint discusses her choreographic practice. Riana explains how her lived experiences of using a wheelchair for mobility has informed her approach to movement and collaboration. She also talks about paying attention to her surroundings and ‘making with’ her environment.

In this episode performer and musician Pablo Latona tells us about growing up in a household that encouraged free imaginative play, and how this allowed them to connect with others as a shy child. They explain that this accidental training in play informs their work today as a designer of participatory installations and as a Clown Doctor in hospitals.

In this episode we hear from theatre maker, performer, puppeteer and occupational therapist Alice Osborne. Alice shares how a mesmerising shadow puppetry display early in her training led her on a career path to explore the relationship between different expressive forms: visual art, dance and puppetry—and ultimately, to use those creative practices to support people in mental health distress.

In this episode astronomer, astrophysicist and Traditional Knowledge holder, Karlie Noon takes us on a journey to the stars. She tells us about the creativity that emerges when trying to draw and describe the movements of the sky. She also speaks about the surprising connections that she has found between Indigenous Sky Knowledge from the first astronomers and Western approaches to reading the nig...

In this episode we hear from dancer and choreographer Charmaine Seet. Charmaine speaks about her journey from Malaysian cultural dance as a child, into the postmodern dance tradition. This has led her to develop improvisational dance lessons for children and young people that allow them to discover body languages that can be right—no matter what the shape.

In this episode theatre maker and game developer Nathan Harrison tells us about making performances and interactive games from scratch. Nathan speaks about the modelling processes in his collaborative collectives Applespiel and Boho Interactive. These groups both use audience participation to mobilise new ideas.

In this episode visual artist Kirthana Selvaraj provides insight into her painting practice. She reflects on the unique ways in which she experiences colour and how that informs her approach to portrait painting.

In this episode dancer, choreographer, and director Victoria Hunt delves into the creativity of movement and mental imaging. They tell us about connecting to spiritual beings through their work, which emerges in a codependent and intertwined way with the body’s movements, and which are tied to Māori energies of mauri (life force) and whakapapa (genealogy).

Welcome to How to Play in Slow Time: Interviews on Creativity. Each episode interviews an Australian-based artist and unpacks their process of making—from the first seed of an idea, to its final form and audience reception. We showcase how these makers not only approach creative problem solving differently, but think differently, across their creative fields. You might imagine this podcast is a to...