LUPAD To Fly

LUPAD To Fly

Melbourne Fringe Festival 2026

LUPAD means fly. In Cebuano, the language Roman Berry grew up speaking in Cebu City before migration brought him to the small coastal town of Ceduna, South Australia, and eventually to Melbourne.

This is his story. A queer Filipino-Australian man tracing his own journey across Cebu City, Ceduna, Adelaide, Melbourne and Richmond during the HIV era of the late 1980s and early 1990s. A time when queerness lived in whispers and survival meant silence.

Built through the Tinikling Devising Methodology, an original practice drawn from the Filipino folk dance of bamboo poles, rhythm and near-miss, the work rises from the body first, then memory, then meaning.

A world premiere. And for Roman Berry, a return to the stage after years away to finally tell the story he spent decades avoiding.

Raw. Poetic. Personal. And long overdue.

LUPAD - To Fly plays at the Victorian Pride Centre Theatrette, St Kilda, as part of Melbourne Fringe 2026. October 2, 3 and 4 at 6pm. Tickets via Melbourne Fringe.