This is How We Survive invites the audience into an immersive exploration of human resilience, integrating short cinematic pieces, immersive sound design and poetic storytelling. Will Small weaves his powerful performance poetry and thoughtful storytelling around three portraits of human survival:
Helen, who grew up without a mother, and became a midwife, supporting mothers and babies in the earliest moments of survival and strength represented by the space of birth.
Rob, a Gomeroi man who survived a fatal car accident at 15 years old, and knows what it means to ‘be survival’ as part of the oldest surviving culture on earth.
Roje, who lived in a refugee camp between the ages of 4 and 12 before arriving in Newcastle and eventually becoming a registered nurse.
As a whole, This is How We Survive explores human resilience across time, cultures and geographies, providing a powerful reminder of the strength and persistence