Last Saturday night, under a clear dark blue sky, fifty people stood on the street in Chippendale, waiting for the latest showing at Queen Street Studio to start. Busy talking amongst themselves, it took a while for the audience to notice the elephant walking towards them- holding a sign which said:
“4am”
and another that said
“Follow Me”
We made our way en masse under the roller door of Studio 10- into a new world. Or a familiar world re-invented by the artists within.
more…
It’s an exciting time for Sydney’s independent artists.
An exciting time for those who are brave enough to throw themselves into the big, deep unknown.
It’s an exciting time for those teams who have been in rehearsal the last 4 weeks, refining and developing their scripts for the first taste of the Sydney Fringe… in the Off the Shelf showing this weekend… more…
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Emergenza is the World’s biggest live band festival, providing unsigned bands the opportunity to play infront of hundreds of punters and a panel of industry executives. It is a trial by fire competition- with heats designed to push forward the bands voted by the audience as the best of the competition. Starting off at The Lair in The Metro- each band has 20 minutes of playing time to make their mark infront of a fairly well lit audience – whatever sounded good in your bedroom or loungeroom is now amplified and in front of strangers… more…
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I am very delighted to share with you some photos taken by Leah McGirr of the get together of the OFF THE SHELF artists in residency at Queen Street Studio. Leah has documented 6 productions I have headed in the last 18 months and I love her photography- it is a rare and precious thing in the transient world of the theatre to have a record of what was- and Leah does it with such style and grace. more…
Less than three weeks remain for Queen Street Studio’s playwrights residency- OFF THE SHELF. And there are four teams working hard in every spare minute of their lives to get a script ready for the showcase.
The teams are given 15 hours of rehearsal time and a couple of months in which they are encouraged to develop a script that they have “shelved” with a director of their choice. Over 30 submissions were received and four will be shown in late November to an audience of industry who provide feedback on the scripts.
The projects for the last Off The Shelf for 2009 are:
“Of the Causes of Wonderful Things” written by Talya Rubin, directed by Nick James
“Wretched Excess” written by Stephen Graham, directed by David Adlam
“Zetland” written by Jasper Marlow, directed by Mark Pritchard
“Combat Fatigue” written by Alison Rooke, directed by Ian Zammit
For more information about the program please visit:
http://www.queenstreetstudio.com/offtheshelf.html
Returning to New Theatre for its second exciting season, Brand Spanking New celebrates Australian playwriting by showcasing the work of both emerging and established writers.
Monologues, short plays and excerpts from longer plays, Brand Spanking New is a curated season of the best of contemporary writing – poignant, tender, brave, bold and unapologetically funny.
Week 1
30th September- 3rd October
Homemade written by Vanessa Bates
Directed by Anne-Maree Magi
Performed by Jane Phegan
Queen of the Night by Tamara Asmar
Directed by Jennifer Monk
Performed by Abi Rayment and Tanya Weiler
Fit for a King by Phil Spencer
Directed by Jane Eakin
Performed by Jeremy Just, Chris Leaney, Matt Ford
The Return by Jonathan Gavin
Directed by Augusta Supple
Performed by Matthew Charleston, Natalie Saleeba and Stephen Wilkinson
Measure by Jonathan Ari Lander
Directed by Tanya Dickson
Performed by Suz Mawer and Felino Dolloso
Last Ride by Ross Mueller
Directed by Travis Green
Performed by Peter Talmacs, Dave Kirkham
Matt Lauer by Rick Viede
Directed by Louise Fischer
Performed by Julian Lovick
Week 2
7th October- 10th October
King of the Mountain by Jessica Bellamy
Directed by Scott Selkirk
Performed by Stephen Peacocke and Olivia Solomons
if I could be anything I would be something different by Kit Brookman
Directed by Mark Pritchard
Performed by Eamon Bryant and Daniel Fischer
Lone Bird by Verity Laughton
Directed by Nick Curnow
Performed by Fiona Press, Tim Allen and Bruno Xavier
White Wedding by Sonal Moore
Directed by Sarah Vickery
Performed by Suz Mawer
The Bermuda Love Triangle by Patrick Lenton
Directed by Augusta Supple
Performed by Lucy Goleby, Teik-Kim Pok and Toby Villis
Siberia by Timothy Daly
Directed by Scarlet McGlynn
Performed by Amy Kersey and Brynn Loosemore
Polly Pocket is Not a Princess by Maxine Mellor
Directed by Danielle O’Keefe
Performed by Richard Hilliar and Mairead Bearn
Self Service by Mary Rachel Brown
Directed by Ian Zammit
Performed by Christine Greenough
Thanks to the kind folk at the Marlborough Bar in Newtown, despite the heavy rains and blustery conditions- we had an awesome night chatting and getting to know each other- about 40 Brand Spanking New-ers turned up (about half of the whole festival) and here are some highlights taken by photographer Leah McGirr-
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After the success of the inaugural Off The Shelf in May, Queen Street Studio presents the second Off the Shelf residency for writers and directors. Off the Shelf is an opportunity for writers and directors to hothouse a script that is in the early stages of development. Off the Shelf is supported by the City of Sydney and aims to focus the skills of theatre practitioners on a previously unproduced script of their choice, whilst strengthening relationships between emerging writers and directors. This is a unique opportunity to explore a script which may have been “shelved”, or may be in a seed stage and needs a little bit of time, space and feedback to get to the next phase. more…
We are looking for brave, bright, bold actors to help bring to life works by some of Australia’s bravest, brightest and boldest playwrights!
Bring your headshot, a CV and prepare a brief monologue to perform for the directors. There are approx 50 roles to fill: all ages, looks, levels of experience and backgrounds are encouraged to audition. We have roles for those between 18 years and 70! So why wait? Make an audition time!
Be a part of this amazing celebration- with some of the best emerging and established artists!
Brand Spanking New: A Celebration of New Australian Writing
New Theatre
Season Dates: 30th September – 10th October
Returning to New Theatre for its second exciting season, Brand Spanking New aims to encourage Australian writing for theatre by providing a collaborative environment where both emerging and established writers can develop new projects.
With monologues, short plays and excerpts from a wide variety of styles and genres, Brand Spanking New has around 50 roles for male and female actors of all ages written by some of Australia’s most impressive emerging playwrights Maxine Mellor, Tamara Asmar, Kit Brookman, Phil Spencer, Jessica Bellamy, Sonal Moore, Patrick Lenton and Ari Lander and established award-winning writers including Mary Rachel Brown, Timothy Daly, Rick Viede, Verity Laughton, Vanessa Bates, Ross Mueller and Jonathan Gavin.
Brand Spanking New plays: tender, hauntingly poignant and brutally funny this is the festival which celebrates theatre in all it’s glory!
Including the bravest and boldest emerging directors of the Sydney fringe scene including: Ian Zammit, Jane Eakin, Sarah Vickery, Tanya Dickson, Augusta Supple, Jennifer Monk, Anne-Maree Magi, Scarlet McGlynn, Danielle O’Keefe, Louise Fischer, Nick Curnow, Travis Green, Mark Pritchard, Scott Selkirk
Auditions will be held 12-2pm on Sunday 16th August and 12-5pm on Sunday 23rd August at Fraser Street Studio in Chippendale. Please contact Julia Lenton at julia_newtheatre@y7mail.com to arrange a time!
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A quick note to say that Off The Shelf will return to FraserStudio in the second half of this year.
Designed to hothouse 5 full length theatre script projects over a month, Off The Shelf encourages the community of writers to focus on their play. The result of their work is a showcase in November for industry representatives to provide feedback on the scripts and provide a networking opportunity for writers and directors.
For more information check out the Queen Street Studio Website:
http://www.queenstreetstudio.com/offtheshelf.html
or contact me augustasupple[at]hotmail[dot]com