I want to change the mindset of young girls and boys growing up in Australia, to show them they can be the best in the world - Sam Kerr (Captain, The Matildas)

TROPHY celebrates women, sport and competition.

Following the success of co-creation JULIA, Natalie Allen and Sally Richardson collaborate to create a dynamic, multi artform, site based performance.

In conversation and through sharing local stories the team generate a bespoke audience experience that offers fresh perspectives on women’s’ lives on and off the sporting field in their community.

In partnership with recreation centres, sports clubs, local councils and venues, the team have developed the work through residencies undertaken in regional and remote communities across Australia.

I really think a champion is defined not by their wins but by how they can recover when they fall - Serena Williams (Tennis, World Champion)

The 2024 Paris Olympics featured the highest number of competing mothers to date, a powerful symbol of strength, resilience, and the complex intersection of elite performance and motherhood. The team investigate the role of sport in women and girls’ lives, as a source and a force for inspiration, independence, strength, and empowerment. How do we engage with competition, the dream and pursuit of being a ‘champion’, deal with recognition and achievement? The politics, the sexism, the pressures, the highs and lows.

There is much to champion and celebrate as more women from all walks of life seek leadership roles in professional sport and public life, pursuing careers on and off the field. We are also at a critical moment where issues of sexism, gender-based violence, online abuse and harassment is front and centre in these spaces.

TROPHY represents a continuation and amplification of the impact Sally and Natalie and their collaborators have made in regional Australian communities. By consistently generating creative outcomes that reflect diverse life experiences, they aim to bring new stories, forms, and genres to local audiences. Their track record of community outreach demonstrates a strong and genuine commitment to engaging with and nurturing local talent, thereby fostering a richer cultural environment.

With 78% of regional Australians participating in weekly sporting activities,TROPHY will be staged in sports and recreational centres across the country. We are negotiating future touring opportunities with regional local councils, venues and presenters who are partnering with us on development and presentation outcomes.

TROPHY brings contemporary Australian life into focus, offering shared cultural experiences that foster visibility, strength, and connection, particularly for local women whose stories often go unheard.

TROPHY as an experience is ambitious, tender, playful, raw and compelling.

Community Outreach and Engagement - a new residency model

TROPHY offers an exciting deep level of engagement as we reach out to local sports centres and clubs, women teams, business, community and leadership groups. In the weeks leading up to the show we compile and edit local interviews (into an audio score), source archival imagery (for projection) so each performance reflects upon and incorporates the local conversation as we invite women of all ages to share stories on their sporting experience, their passion for their club and team, and the role and influence they have within their communities.

It has never been more important to advocate to change the status quo and actively support women's leadership and female empowerment in sport, arts and culture, on and off the field.

TROPHY is a really great template for capturing, presenting and preserving local voices and stories. With this as the baseline, it will work in any community it goes to as sport is at the heart of our "Aussie DNA! (Harvey audience member)

...It was very emotional for me as I didn't realise that I had a story worth telling but the interview was awesome and it made me  relive some of the best moments of my life and to hear my interview through the headphones was an unreal feeling that I cannot explain. I wish my kids were there to hear it.(Karratha participant/audience member)

...It was amazing from someone who doesn't really get into these types of shows, or to be honest, it is nothing I would have ever gone to see. I now have a greater respect for your team and Natalie, it definitely has me excited to see the finished production and I will make sure that I put the word out to everyone I know!

...It was my first time experiencing something like that and it took me out of my world and into another world, if that makes sense. I felt like I was living the moments of each speaker. (Karratha audience member)

Please reach out to our team to find out more about how your community can become involved at steamworks@iinet.net.au

TROPHY is

Captivating..raw..fierce...powerful..it was very beautiful... theatrical, sexy, spectacular...evocative..Natalie has as physicality that demands respect..‍

In TROPHY, embodied by the extraordinary Natalie Allen, women's sport functions as a framework through which to explore the emotional extremities of a range of human scenarios - triumph, defeat, crowd behaviour, ferocity, competitiveness, endurance. Sally and Natalie’s creative partnership allows them to skillfully deconstruct familiar imagery and sequences from this world we know so well, and turns them into intense, often painfully relatable and sometime s very funny archetypes. It’s mythic at times, observing the momentary transcendence of sport to strive beyond mere human limitations, emotionally moving - the pain of defeat - but also entertaining and full of surprises as the movement encompasses the stage and seating, and Natalie interacts fearlessly with the audience. This is an area of exploration that Sally plans to take further in sports venues, which is fun.

I believe that TROPHY, when finished, will be immediately accessible to audiences of all kinds, bringing two worlds - dance and sport - together in an unexpected and exciting way. We all loved what we saw in Hobart and I look forward to watching its progress to realisation and seeing how audiences respond to it!

Dr Lindy Hume AM, Former Artistic Director Perth, Sydney, Four Winds, Ten Days on the Island Festivals

The pieces are already carrying the hallmarks of being incredibly well constructed and emotive...Sally and Natalie are clearly committed to developing and presenting a very high-quality work, this is abundantly evident watching Natalie perform onstage, but it also manifests in their generous, transparent and thoughtful approach to the work as they talk about and wrestle with it... I am excited to see where this work goes..‍

Steve Mayhew, Program Manager, Theatre Royal, Hobart

My background is one of being a high achiever, growing up in a sporting family. Ultimately, I chose the path of an artist, but what fuels my curiosity is what motivates us to strive for excellence. While trophies once symbolized success for me, I discovered a deeper fulfillment in connecting with others and effecting change through art not sport. It's the power of ideas, narratives, connections, and the expressive physicality of dance to tell stories that resonates for me.

My aspiration is to draw inspiration from the towns and individuals, the trophy cabinets, ribbons, and honour boards we encounter along the way. I know this experience of place and people will evolve and transform the piece into a collaborative endeavour where members of a community become an integral part of the work. Be that as duet partners, storytellers, or as co-contributors to the design. Let's weave our stories together and create something captivating. Our desire to achieve, do our best, individually or as a team and represent who we are and what we are is universal. I want the performance to be accessible, whether it is staged on the main street, on a cricket pitch, footy field, basketball court, as the performance space, it’s all possible! Natalie Allen, co-creator/performer

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