HotHouse Theatre and Malthouse Theatre present Chase in Wodonga

A Melbourne-based performance artist, Sheppard said the character of Chase was based on her own experiences of growing up in the south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Frankston.

Sheppard said the seeds for Chase were sown in about 2012.

"Chase really began as a party trick!" she said.

"I'd drive around with my ex-girlfriend and I'd put on this voice and spin these yarns and then she started to interview me.

"We built the character through those car trips."

Teaming up with dramaturge Kamarra Bell-Wykes, Sheppard said Chase evolved into her own stage show of the same name.

She said Chase was a vehicle to explore our colonial past, stereotypes and national identity.

"It was really important to collaborate with Kamarra because we took Chase out of my own prism and made her more malleable for the stage," Sheppard said.

Still, Sheppard said her own experiences informed the character.

"Growing up in a racist town and going to a racist school, I've played on a lot on those things and used my own identity as fodder," Sheppard said.

Presented by Hothouse Theatre and Malthouse Theatre, Chase will open at the Butter Factory Theatre in Wodonga on Tuesday night.

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With deep ties to HotHouse Theatre since 2015, Melbourne-based Bell-Wykes said the development of Chase began pre-global pandemic and evolved throughout a tough couple of years for the arts.

"Carly had been working on the character of Chase for over a decade," she said.

"Carly and I worked on it as devisors when there wasn't much happening in the world, then the world would change again, and we'd change Chase.

"In the end, we wrote it in about a week-and-a-half."

A playwright, director, devisor, facilitator, performer and creative producer, Bell-Wykes' First Nation's practice is highly-sought after across the performing arts, community, health, education and justice sectors.

An Indigenous dancer and choreographer descending from the Wallangamma and Takalaka Tribes of North Queensland, Sheppard brings an intricate and seductive physicality to the stage.

Chase runs on Wednesday at 6.30pm; Thursday at 7.30pm; Friday at 7.30pm; and Saturday at 3pm (audio-described) and 7.30pm.

For bookings visit hothousetheatre.com.au.

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