The best events to see at Rising festival

Melbourne Uni’s swish new, blue-hued Union Theatre seats 398 people. It’s a number made quietly devastating by Western Sydney playwright S Shakthidharan’s sprawling family epic Counting and Cracking. 

Spanning almost 50 years, four generations and multiple countries – connecting Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka, to Sydney – much of what occurs is informed, one way or another, by the terrifying devastation of Sri Lanka’s Civil War. The fighting was ignited by the Black July riots of 1983, a pogrom that cruelly claimed countless souls. Bob Hawke’s Labor government offered 100 visas to the predominantly Tamil minority fleeing the country-wide wave of violence, or one for every fourth audience member. A pin-drop moment. But there’s much more on offer here than grasping despair. 

It’s been five long years since Belvoir St Theatre first presented Counting and Cracking at the Sydney Town Hall during the 2019 Sydney Festival. Having travelled around the world since, snapping up a bunch of awards along the way, it’ll land in New York in September. But first, Melbourne audiences can see this glorious work of love and understanding as part of Rising. 

Chunky Move, the shakers of Melbourne's contemporary dance scene, transform the Immigration Museum's already impressive Long Room into a free-flowing space, massaged by a giant inflatable artwork. Delhi-born, Melbourne-based dancer and choreographer Samakshi Sidhu joins theatrically influenced performer Enzo Nazario in a dance through this mesmerically shifting space that's bound to draw you into its time-bending rhythms. Read more here.

If risking cataclysmic rib injury through shriek-laughing so hard the snot flies out of your nostrils is your bag, don't miss your second chance to catch Pony Cam's bonkers five-star mayhem of a Fringe show. Four performers mounted on gym treadmills installed at the Malthouse and way, way too many tasks to complete in just under an hour, from the mundane to the manic, ensures whatever happens next, it's going to get messy. Read more here.

If you agree the marketing for way too many club nights represents a limiting idea of which bodies are beautiful, then the inclusively intersectional joy of this disability-focused party is all about smashing that crap. Founded by performance artist Riana Head-Toussaint, aka DJ Aquenta, she welcomes kindred spirits in UK-based Aisha Mirza and LA-based Bae Bae to the decks of this Rising edition hosted at Substation. It'll open and close chill if you favour low key. Read more here.

As Australia reckons with a crisis of male violence against women, this nightmarish vision from Brazilian artist Carolina Bianchi tackles the horror head-on. Staged at the Malthouse, it's a fierce tribute to murdered peace activist Pippa Bacca, forcing us to stare into the abyss. Taking a substance made to emulate the date rape drug dubbed 'Goodnight Cinderella' during the show, Bianchi's prone body will fall to the mercy of her dance troupe in a show that's as vital as it is startling. Read more here.