Well thank goodness that’s over! I don’t know about you, but 2011 was a weird one.

It was a melee a hubbub of choices, realisations, conversations, applications, squabbles, offers, acceptances, approaches, debates and near misses. I had cleared the decks – ended my long-term relationship with one of the nicest botanists Canada has produced, left a job I loved, stepped away from my much loved annual projects, and decided that 2011 would be a fallow year for me.

A quiet year.

A year off.

Instead of my usual large scale multi-playwright productions I decided to sit back and see who of all the playwrights and artists I have worked with/commissioned/coffeed who would come to me. I decided to dedicated myself to being available to be approached by any/all artists… and I decided I would try just reviewing… or even try to get a job at a theatre company (end my years of hard-slog independence – after all I felt in the need of shelter after a fairly tumultuous upheaval of job/love/life/identity)… I decided 2011 would be small, quiet and I would not launch anything big. I decided that I would spend a year listening and watching… a year of reading and inhaling.

In 2011 I saw 134 shows and wrote 128 reviews (that’s approx 120,000 words). I directed 11 playlettes in 3 months (equating to nearly 3 hours of stage content). I wrote 10 columns discussing the Australian cultural landscape. I met with many people about starting a Writer’s Theatre in Sydney. I held three play readings in my living room. I was nominated for a Sidney Myer Fellowship by some of my industry heroes. I wrote two lots of rehearsal observation for Michal Imielski. I was quoted nationally and internationally about cultural stuff I ranted about – mainly to do with theatre criticsm, sexism/ portrayal of women in plays, the culture of new play development. I was flown to Brisbane to the Australian Theatre Forum to “blog.” I commented on the National Cultural Policy. I commented on the Reg Murphy Centre. I hosted artists and crew and Adelaide’s lady Blogger Jane Howard in my spare room. I celebrated Currency Press’ 40th Birthday. I ate breakfast with Bruce Beresford and Noni Hazelhurst. I maintained my duties as a Board member of Shopfront Theatre AND was a founding advisory board member a brand new artist-run visual art gallery in Dank St Waterloo called Kaleidoscope Gallery run by the delightful Sami Mitchell-Fin. I helped plant a vegie garden in Granville. I surrendered to a new and terrifying relationship which breaks my Cardinal rule of “never date someone in The Industry!” I taught at NIDA (weird!). I delighted in regularly eating cheese and chatting with Kevin Jackson at opening nights. I joined a gym! I attended the National Play Festival. I was befriended by Anthony Skuse and fell in love with him and his partner and their life. I met regularly with Olivia Satchell and Shondelle Pratt for theatre/career discussion coffee catch ups. I visited Vanessa Hughes and Alan Logan in the Blue Mountains. I finally got my drivers license (after being too scared/busy). I started working with 7-On playwrights. I shot a short film. I wrote 14 letters of support/references for artists and organisations.

I ended the year by the river in Karuah, playing guitar with Michal Imielski and singing impromptu songs to a star splattered sky.

That was my year.

That was 2011.

Anyway. What you want to hear is my summary of 2011 in the world of theatre/culture/performance/art.

As you all know I don’t believe in competition in art. The act is pursuit enough.

Also, I’m not in the Sydney Theatre Critics circle. There is no award. I think that the notion of the Theatre Awards (Helpmans and the Theatre Critics Awards) is a bit weird, especially as not ALL theatre, nor ALL performance is attended or assessed by all of them. The shows that are eligible for nomination by the Theatre Critics must be seen by all reviewers – which really only encompasses 20% of actual theatre happening in Sydney – and predominently that of the main stages. And frankly, I don’t really think the main stages need awards and accolades – isn’t getting a wage and being resourced enough encouragement? The people who DO need the encouragement, the in-writing “thank you for your work” are the independent artists, the fringe artists, the emerging artists.

And look, I’ll admit it, I’m not really a critic. Not a proper one, anyway.

I try to respond to a show on it’s aspirations and context, more than my own. I also make work with the people I write up. I never claim to be an authority – but I always try to give credit where it’s due and ALWAYS find something to like about a production.

Here’s a thank you to all those unsung artists who kept me inspired and afloat, interested and curious in 2011 – one pf the weirdest years ever.

Thank you for the discussions, the conversations, the perspectives, the dreams, images, plays, installations and moments of surprise and delight. And thank you to all those who attended shows with me and all those who approached me to work with them – Alana Valentine, 7-On Playwrights, Vanessa Bates, Phil Spencer, Luke Carson, Katie Pollock, Lousie Fischer. It meant more to me than you’ll know.

Here’s a list of some of my favourite memories in theatre from this year.

New Australian plays worth noting and celebrating
Zebra by Ross Mueller
Sprout by Jessica Bellamy
This Year’s Ashes by Jane Bodie
Silent Disco by Lachlan Philpott
Aleksander and the Robot Maid by Caleb Lewis
Transparency by Suzie Miller
Dirtyland by Elise Hearst
Cut by Duncan Graham

Brave work by Emerging or independent Artists
Freshly Squeezed by Stagejuice Collective
Bare Boards Brave Hearts by Subtlenuance
Bite Sized by IPAN
How to Lose Sight by SHH
Cut Snake by Arthur
Confessions of a Grindr Addict by Gavin Roach
Bully Beef Stew by Sonny Dallas Law, Colin Kinchela and Bjorn Stewart
Bonfire by Sime Knezevic
Ama and Chan by Effie Nkrumah and Alan Lao
The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer by Tim Watts

Outrageous things that happened in the industry
* MEDIA RELEASE: No Richard Burton Award for New Plays to be awarded in 2011 because there weren’t any “outstanding” plays submitted.
* Short and Sweet being given $1.5 million to continue to exploit, er I mean “expand” their business, er, I mean, “playwriting in Australia”
* ArtsNSW short response grant disappearing THEN reappearing unexpectedly
* Realizing all the literary managers in Sydney are either British or have worked in the UK
* Tom Wright claimed in the SMH: ”There’s patently been a glass ceiling that women directors have hit … I can’t see a similar issue in the realm of playwriting.”

Great online discussions
From www.augustasupple.com -
Whose story is this anyway? The rights and the wrongs of theatrical storytelling.
A small note: Do Good and You Will Be Happy | Phillip Johnston & Hilary Bell
Who reads reviews? Who cares? Why bother?
From www.theatrenotes.blogspot.com -
Review: The Story of Mary MacLane by Herself
From www.noplain.wordpress.com -
Adelaide Critics Circle Awards 2011
From my facebook -
Who do you prefer Billy Joel or David Bowie?
Who gets to call themselves an artist?

Who I read regularly this year:
www.cameronwoodhead.com
www.jameswaites.com
www.missclaraklemski.com
www.kjtheatrereviews.blogspot.com
www.crikey.com.au/life/culture/stage
http://noplain.wordpress.com/
www.shauntellebenjamin.com/
(and there are others I should mention I read – but let’s face it – I don’t think people who write under a pseudonym and conceal their identity deserve/or want recognition, do they?)

Talks and Forums
Tom Stoppard in coversation with Jonathan Biggins
Currency House Arts and Public Life Breakfast at Victoria Tea Rooms
Novemberism Panels hosted by John McCallum – especially Writer and Director when is it war and when does it work?
NIDA Sunday Playwright Forum: Old Worlds, New Horizons
John Malkovich in conversation with Jim Sharman

Artists to watch who debuted/made a splash in 2011/Who to watch
Zoe Norton Lodge (Writer, performer, producer, curator)
Gavin Roach aka “Felix” (Actor)
Erica Brennan (Performer)
Grant Moxom (Performer)
Pollyanna Nowicki (Actor, photographer, artist)
Sama Ky-Balson (Director)
Mark Rogers (Director/writer/devisor)
Helen O’Leary (Actor/writer)
Doug Hansell (Actor)
Bjorn Stewart (Performer devisor)
ISM Playwrights Collective (writers/event organisers)
Paige Rattray (Director/devisor/tour de force)
Vanessa Bates (Playwright)
Katie Pollock (Playwright)
Luke Carson (Playwright)

Underbelly Arts has nothing to do with the TV show. It won’t confront you with guns or nudity – frankly, it’s too cold. It’s an arts festival. An arts festival which dares to ask two key questions:

“What would happen if you brought up to 150 artists together under the one roof for ten days to develop new work?

What would happen if you then opened this process to the public, allowing them behind the scenes of art in the making?”

Saturday. A blue-sky winter’s day, it’s cold and I’m grateful for my coat and sunglasses in equal measure. I have reserved the day to be a cultural tourist, adventuring to an island in the middle of Sydney. Accompanying me is a retired magician, who happens to be a fascinating conversationalist and an irrepressible artist in his own right. Though I am not overly familiar with this style of performance (hybrid/dance/devised/visual/installation/alternative etc…) I have been put in charge of our adventure to Cockatoo Island. It’s a caffeinated whirlwind. I’m not certain of all the details – but I figure that with all the buzz around the festival, if I get lost/stuck/confused someone will help me.

I am completely uncertain of what I’m doing. Firstly of the ferries – I had a schedule – it flew out the window as soon as I was swayed into a veggie burger lunch with James Waites post Tim Andrew’s Art talk in The Rocks…

And like all good adventures, uncertainty is part of the fun. It’s the extra zesty something that keeps us living, I believe, It keeps us gripped to the seats of our own lives as we wonder “how on earth did I get here, and how is this going to pan out?” I live so much of my week strictly scheduled and tightly wound – sometimes uncertainty creeps in… but mainly it is scheduled. So today – an alternative art consumption philosophy – “Be aware, be prepared and surrender your plan.”

This blog post will be full of names… I’m warning you… this is not because I am deliberately trying to be annoying (that’s a surreptitious motivation) … you’ll see my point at the end…

The aim was to head to the island, but before long I certainly found myself running and frolicking about to catch the 3.10pm ferry from circular quay with Clare Grant… on the ferry there was Pip Smith, TK Pok, Talya Rubin, Larry Heath, Rosie Fisher, Brad Syke… to name a few- media, artists, producers, punters, academics all squashed together on a boat as we dipped into the crannies of the harbour. Balmain. Woolwich. Cockatoo Island.

We escape into a sprawling fan onto the island in direct hunt of our tickets.

Bumping into Nerida Woods.. I even spy Alice Osborne – I don’t say hello – It’s just nice to see her there…

When we arrive the security and festival volunteers including Rowan McDonald are yelling that the island is at capacity and we have to wait. I can’t wait. I’m on a mission to see 100 years of Lizards! We are let in, we head to registration, Julia Lenton publicist extraordinaire has wrist bands at the ready – we are banded like artistic doves and race off to witness art.

100 YEARS OF LIZARDS
Patrick Lenton has a bizarre brain and I love it. Prolific and passionate and wildly imaginative, Lenton’s gift is for winding stories up into a tight ball of yarn and threading through it bizarre and brilliant unexpected figurines and puns that curl up into tendrils of circumlocution. “Scientists, a ranger and an ancient race of Lizards live and love on an island”… if you think of Jurassic Park. Then you stop thinking about Jurassic Park and you start thinking about Margaret Thatcher and what she would look like dancing to the Bee Gees… and then you force some mildly cheesy flashbacks – you get close to what this piece is like. Still in it’s infant stages, but with inventive costumes hand mastered ( or collected, and curated) by Bridget Lutherborrow, 100 YEARS OF LIZARDS was perhaps the most traditional of the performances, drawing on a rich tradition of vaudeville and revue comedy.

then.. bumping into the director of 100 YEARS OF LIZARDS, Scott Selkirk… we were off to have a look at an installation -

XUAN (Spring)
A vietnamese soup kitchen hemmed by a moat of yellow cherry blossom trees and purple decorative cabbage..as people made soup and handed it out to the patient or the stubborn.. a Vietnamese spring flower festival, on an Australian Island in winter… wha? “Wha” indeed. That’s the whole point… the unexpected displacement…

Then racing to -

INFLATE MY HEART WITH 1000 GUSHES OF WIND
OK. I was uncertain with this one. which I think we missed or perhaps I lead us to the wrong place… a large white inflatable art work twisted in the space – video art projected on the wall – I felt small and wanted to touch it.

walking past

SPATIO-TEMPORAL ANORMALIES, SPATIAL DISTORTION & THE PERSISTENCE OF VISION.
Domestic objects frozen on pedestals, re-contextualised with sound and video smashing around them.

A quick hello to Chris Ryan and Clare Britton…

Then in the street I bumped into Jess Bellamy and Chris Summers (playwrights) we babbled and bantered – they recommended a show by Jimmy Dalton. I scheduled it in… but not before a refreshment stop in 124… Little Creature Pale Ale.. more chatting in line (the horrendous queues are wonderful for chatting)…

DATA_SHADOW
In a long room had a large and brightly coloured video art installation. A coloured flickering quad sectioned display of colour – an installation as an ode to digital photography – claiming to be about memory – I think it’s also about mind-clutter. It seemed fun – and too much.

INFLECTION THE BROKEN RECORD
In the opposite room – something was happening. Bits of story pinned to the wall. Written in texta. There’s a narrative i don’t have time to read. Clearly I should have spent more time preparing for this. There are people standing around a mannequin, there’s gaffa tape, black plastic bags, junk. Men in hoods and dark masks – interchangeable. There’s photography happening but I’m uncertain if it is a part of the piece or greedy voyeurism. It’s dark and intense. there is throbbing sounds – electro-static hum. I’m not sure where I’m supposed to stand – or what to do. So I lean up against a wall and watch. It feels as claustrophobic as fight club. A blonde woman half screaming, half singing forces sound out of pain clenched mouth. It’s intense. there are dolphin torches. And then there is an explosive moment in a vase with red liquid. I walk out wishing I had known more before I’d walked in the room. My mind races – what did I just witness? A ritual, a death? Abuse? I’m uncertain.

Leaving there I nod at James Beach, say a quiet hello to Alice Cooper and make my way to see something up and around the hill…

A hike up the hill with Cat Jones, we banter and chatter and share the things we’ve done and seen at the festival – it’s clear I’ve not scheduled very well – somehow I’ve missed Julie Vulcan’s SPOTLIGHT BUNNY – the car’s battery was flat – and anyway, it was for an exclusive audience of 4. So I missed it.

V
There’s a large and grateful preamble by Jeff Stein listing all the contributing artists to this performance. There’s a huge video projection – video art. A being in a large chicken/rabbit suit made of white bin liners – feels like Donny Darko, that is, if Donny Darko’s dad was a chicken. There’s a book with a V on the cover. Chanting. Pulsing, hypnotic – an aria? Latin? pages are torn from the book of V… puffs of smoke hiss out of a sandstone building. It’s beautiful, mesmerizing and spectaular – and to me a comment on doctrine and history – but then again I’m not certain that’s the intention.

by this time the sky is the type of dark navy blue that often is mistaken for black… we walk down the hill… it’s time for beer and a bite to eat… and more art. I wait in line for food and beer say g’day to James Winter… say hello to Emily Morrison and Max Rapley… it’s light conversation until:

AWFUL LITERATURE IS STILL LITERATURE I GUESS
It’s the fun and cool Applespiel folk as they dance a dance of books – as thick, trashy tomes hang above us like the knotted ropes that hang off walls of a boot camp. They dance. They confess. They question. They explain. They’re patient when the drunk old guy starts singing into a microphone unexpectedly. They read erotic sections from trashy novels. They’re cool. I’m not. That’s ok. It’s something I am certain about.

There’s a wolf whistle and there on an inflatable couch is Caleb Lewis and Melissa Mathiesion. Sitting there, Scott Selkirk takes a photo of us sitting on the black inflatable couch – Michal Imielski, Melissa Mathison, Caleb Lewis and me… there’s an interesting chat about the failures of theatre brewing… but it’s time to see more art…

RUN!

SHIMA
And there it is…
A woman in a long white dress moves as the heavy machinery melts and warps behind her… a square of light… she wrestles with her own hypnosis. I’m breathless twice over. I find a seat, I settle down. On the seat. I settle in myself. It’s soothing. To watch her is to feel love for your own ability to see. Two artists from two very different islands – David Kirkpatrick (Australia) and Anna Kuroda (Japan) – create a visual expression about feeling home… sleep, restlessness, ritual, energetic boundlessness. The minute and lyrical detail of her hands -beautiful. The sound washes and hold us. We are alive in this moment as this figure glows and spins and weave… it feels… it feels.. it feels like pre-sleep thinking. She picks a posie of flowers light with LED lights and we watch. Dance and sound perfectly matched and married.

Afterwards congratulating David and Anna, chatting to Howard Matthew (Shopfront’s new co-Artistic Director), Saskia Vromans…

Marveling at the attendance – all the people I saw and spoke with, listened to, was helped or guided by, entertained by, exposed to… what an incredible community. What a breathtaking event… what a festival! What a celebration of art and expression and ideas and love and bravery and silliness and opportunity!

There is a feeling of uncertainty still washing over me… had my strategy been silly? What was it I just experienced? What did I think? What did I feel? What did I like? What does it mean? What is it for? Why do we do this, we humans? Who stand around standing and talking and pretending and making?

You know, I’m not completely certain about that either.

But there is one thing I am certain of – regardless of the reasons for and against, and the lines of enquiry, we (the arts community – punters and makers alike) are bound to each other through common experience of exaltation, joy, visual delight and also uncertainty.

And that is one of the most beautiful things I have come to realise.

No matter how tenuous and uncertain, life, art, career, love, friendship, stability is – art happens. And you’ll deal with it.

In my office – the front room of my Petersham art deco apartment – stands to attention the fading gilt spines of my collection of Little Golden Books. Though a self-proclaimed intellectual (that sounds pretty bad doesn’t it) who collects art and plays and literary crititicsm and recently doilies, teacups and Australian literature, I am not unlike others of my generation who are deeply nostalgic for their childhood. I collect classic stories of puppies and kittens and tug boats and rogue trains. Within the pages are the foggy-coloured illustrations that despict adventure, challenge and acts of kindness and bravery which have left a deep and indelible pattern on my heart and who I am. These are the stories that helped me make sense of the world … and every now and then I tumble into bed for some golden book advice or reassurance.

It is this reason why I love children’s theatre. There is something deeply philosophical about the stories – with the added bonus of high action, intense adventure and innovative staging that makes me buzz with anticipation. And it is why, for me, Drop Bear Theatre’s production of Caleb Lewis’ Aleksander and the Robot Maid has been such an awaited new-writing event.

It was in February last year when I attended a self-initiated launch of Drop bear Theatre at Fraser Studios and have since followed them on several occasions – curating their first show devised from Mem Fox’s The Magic Hat for the Sydney Fringe, and also reading their application for Queen Street Studio’s residency and then for the Seymour Centre’s inaugural Reginald Season. I have been following their development and work – and enthralled by the energy and drive to produce new, exciting, quality theatre for children/youth.

So it is no surprise they enlisted the help of multi-award winning playwright Caleb Lewis to write them a show. For those who know Caleb’s writing – masculine, intense, poetic and confronting – a trip to see a children’s play might be a little disconcerting. But if you think about Children’s theatre as a lesser or naieve art-form, you are doing yourself a great disservice… and you’re sure to miss out on a profound and touching experience.

Indeed it could appear that in an age of i-Phone apps for children, intensely frowning DragonballZ characters and fast-paced, fast-food, synthetic, scheduled lifestyle – that a play is a quaint and old fashioned thing. Perhaps it is. And that’s a good thing… to slow down, turn off, think, watch, wait…

And these ideas are very present in Lewis’ play.

Set in Robotika in Russia during the industrial Revolution with a SteamPunk aesthetic (for those who don’t know what that is – check it out here), this is a play as much about love, the joys’n’sorrows of work, bravery and slavery as it is about robots, adventures and friendship.

For those curious about Jason Blake’s response to the play – you can find it here – and which may be of value considering her does have 2 young children… but I find his reading of the production overly terse.

My response is very different. A part of every good children’s show is the reaction of the people that count – and that’s not the reviewers but the young spectators. They know story – by gosh do children know a good story – they tell them, they recite them, they invent them, they beg for them. They refuse sleep, they are accused of being liars in their passionate pursuit of story. They feed off story. They love characters, they love villains and pretty women and brave heroes. And this is because they are constantly battling their natural enemy – boredom. And they will tell you when they are bored. They’ll tell you when they are scared… and they will laugh out loud in the most body-shuddering, generous way… so the question is, not what do the press think of this – but what do the kids think?

And the kids I spoke to thought it was really cool.

And what’s not to love? Aleksander, despite being an orphan takes on the evil Aunt Lychkova and Mr Whipp and wins, overthrows an evil empire, emancipates his best friend, Daisy and pursues his dreams.

In addition to this Drop Bear Theatre has arranged a robot making class after the show in the Sound Lounge so that the young people can build their own cardboard robot… or design their own robot postcard – and frankly , who doesn’t love some post-show craft?

Ali Gordon’s direction is sharp, bright, fun. She has handled the space and demands of the show beautifully – assisted by a beautiful designs by Marin Curach and by Tomy K C Leung and Lighting Design by Sophie Kurylowicz and composition by Scott Gillespie. The characters are clear and bold -and yes for something as sophisticated as Caleb Lewis’ SteamPunk Robotika the characters have to be that bold. the cast – Andrew Brackman as Mr Whipp slouches and scowls his discontent about the stage, whilst the sweet acid dripping from the lips of Margot Politis as Aunt Lychkova is mesmerizing and viscous. Tim Kurylowicz’s Aleksander is bright-eyed and boisterous and Sarah Lockwood’s Miss Katarina is delightfully ditzy (and brilliantly delivers a corker of a line in the throws of slumber- “Oh… Mr Chehkov!” to which one young punter mused “Hmm, Chehkov!”)… it’s a well-directed, beautifully performed production and one that is sure to gather momentum and linger in the minds and hearts of young people who eventually turn into our society.

And the message is profound and must be heard – that life is more than work, and that in the end love (friendship) conquers all.

And for me, and my dear friend as we sat in the audience, I felt a shiver tingle across my skin and a tear form in my eye as we watched as one friend saved another and were reminded that not everything is about ambition, work, lifestyle… and sometimes it takes a play like Aleksander and the Robot Maid – a (morality tale) wolf in a (kid show) sheep’s clothing , to remind us of that.

I urge you to go… I loved it.

Four Shows to go:
Friday 8th July 10am & 7pm
Saturday 9th July 10am & 2pm
More information: http://sydney.edu.au/seymour/boxoffice/program_alexander_robot_maid.shtml

Since the dissolving of Belvoir’s B-Sharp Season, there has been a flurry of activity in Independent venues in Sydney as theatre’s try to catch quality artists before they disappear. Amongst the programmes, supported under the reign of Virginia Judge (no more under this new Liberal government) includes New Theatre’s Spare Room initiative and now a wildly diverse curated season is presented by The Seymour Centre’s re-invention of the Downstair’s Theatre: The Reginald.

For those history buffs out there – and yes I am one of them- in 1966 Mr Everest Reginald York Seymour left $1 million “for the purpose of the construction of a building to serve as a Centre for the cultivation, education and performance of musical and dramatic arts befitting the City of Sydney”, in 1975 it actually happened and here we are in 2011, still reaping the benefits of his bequest. Here’s a picture of him –

Yes… it’s interesting isn’t it? Philanthropists don’t look like giant, greedy, jewel-eyed dragons who hoard treasure- that’s because they’re not. They are normal folk. Well, normal folk with superpowers… the superpower of vision and altruism and cash. That they give to worthy, important causes…

And now with the assistance of ARTS NSW, Tim Jones has curated a wonderfully diverse and robust season of emerging-mid career independent artists for The Reginald’s inaugural season and the blurb goes something like this: “I am delighted to announce the  first ever program for THE REGINALD. A season I believe that is really for contemporary arts lovers – people who enjoy new music, their straight plays, their physical theatre and the risk taking that results when all are mixed together – all are on show in this our first Reginald season. The Reginald is a fresh approach to theatre with a fabulous mix of work from emerging companies, some new and experimental works from some of our favourite established companies, and the best writing from overseas.”

Truly in this season – this feels more like a smorgasboard of contemporary performance than a sole focus on specific theatrical form – more like that of The Studio at the Sydney Opera House when it was under the curatorial eye of Virginia Hyam – this is a season for the curious and adventurous punter – the inner westy with a cultural bent. And I for one can’t wait and not just because there are works by folk I know the work of (and I know) quite well such as Caleb Lewis, Stories Like These (Luke Rogers and PJ Gahan) or Jonanthan Wald but because of the Melbourne contingent who I don’t know… It’s a real mix – check out the blurb:

“The phenomenally diverse inaugural season includes Aleksander and the Robot Maid, a steam-punk inspired family show. Marika Aubrey and Rob Mills star in The Last Five Years, Jason Robert Brown’s award-winning chamber musical, while Alexis Fishman dazzles in the cabaret Der Gelbe Stern (The Yellow Star). Melbourne’s Dislocate bring their new work Unit 4 to Sydney, full of whimsy, scintillating circus skills and black comedy. We present two weeks of the best in new music, firstly two of Australia’s super-percussion outfits, Synergy and Speak, come together to present City Jungle: Syd vs Melb, and then we welcome TaikOz in a collaboration with Melbourne DJ and producer, DJ M-Royce, TaikoDeck. Finally we round off the year with the formally inventive new play from hot young American playwright Jenny Schwartz, God’s Ear.”

Patrons can purchase tickets for Reginald performances via the Seymour box office, and can also become a ‘Friend of Reg’ for $20, entitling them to discounted preview tickets and half priced drinks at the bar for the entire season.

I reckon that’s not a bad deal – so if you want to practice your philanthropy – perhaps there’s no need just yet to leap to million dollar bequests – perhaps just become a friend of Reg first… it’s only $20. I know I will be.

For more information, program information and bookings, check out www.thereginald.com or phone the box office on 02 9114 1555.

Playwrights are my rockstars.

Some of them even wear leather jackets (Caleb Lewis), some of them are dashing silver foxes who used to wear leather jackets (Ned Manning), some of them are bright eyed stylish ladies (Tahli Corin) and some are just so unbelievably cool they make you want to move to London and start a new life (Suzie Miller)… I love them. Not just those mentioned above – but the whole colossal lot of them – fiercly, funny, articulate – and as is the lot for many playwrights – extraordinarily hard working and patient.

Is it any wonder that I rubbed my hands together with glee when asked in my final months as Programs Coordinator at Queen Street Studio, to curate a Toolkit series of workshops for playwrights? OH WHO TO ASK/CHOOSE FROM? Last year I invited the magic triumvirate of Tahli Corin, Rick Viede and Kate Mulvany – sassy, young and utterly different. This year I thought a different approach. Always with one ear to the ground I thought I would select a mix of experienced writers who had also had experiences as mentors – and who I know, I’ve commissioned or whom I have had looooong coffees with at some stage. And this TOOLKIT series was my parting act of curation for the extremely wonderful Queen Street Studio – I am proud/excited/thrilled that it is happening – these are some seriously incredible writers -

Hilary I met early after returning to Oz at one of her Griffin courses – two years later I programmed Three Little Words for the first Brand Spanking New (2008), directed her Wolf Lullaby and soon I will be directing her piece as a part of 7-on’s next project….
Billy I saw at a Writers Guild talk back YEARS ago when i was working at the Australian Film Commission. None so unrelentingly fierce and astute. He loves story. He loves Character. He believes in the audience. He pushes all the buttons in the right order, at the right time. AND I read his blog religiously. How could I not?
Verity Laughton – elegant lady of the theatre, commissioned for BSN in 2009, generous, kind and with the type of mental clarity that feels like Stuart crystal in your hands. Prolific writer of The Sweetest Thing, Nargun and the Stars amongst others.

Queen Street Studio’s workshops are for writers to uncover a new way of thinking, to kickstart, to reassure/affirm what they know… it’s a creative top up. For me, it’s a sneaky way to meet playwrights (not so sneaky now, I suppose) and to reserve time for creativity.

I can’t wait.

And I reckon you should come along, have a cup of tea.

Playwriting evening workshops in April and May 2011

Workshop 1: With Hilary Bell
» Wednesday 27 April, 6pm – 9pm

Workshop 2: With with Billy Marshall Stoneking
» Wednesday May 4, 6pm – 9pm

Workshop 3: with Verity Laughton
» Wednesday May 11, 6pm – 9pm

Registration and payment deadline: Tuesday 19th April 2011

All 3 workshops held @ FraserStudios, 10 – 14 Kensington Street, Chippendale. Click here for a map » External Website Link

Kick your playwriting ideas and skills into high gear with this very special playwriting workshop series over April and May 2011. Facilitated by award-winning Australian playwrights, this three-week playwriting workshop series will give you an insight into the methods, structure and discipline to dive into your new play with vigour, passion and imagination. You are welcome to register for one workshop or all three. All workshops will take place at Fraserstudios.

Hilary Bell
Plays include Wolf Lullaby, Fortune, The Falls, The Anatomy Lesson of Doctor Ruysch, Memmie Le Blanc, The Bloody Bride, The Mysteries: Genesis (with Lally Katz) and associate writer on Angela’s Kitchen (with Julian Meyrick and Paul Capsis). Hilary also writes for radio, film and TV, and her music theatre work encompasses libretti for musicals, song cycles and opera. Current projects include a musical, Do Good And You Will Be Happy, with Phillip Johnston, and plays for Black Swan, STC, Barking Gecko, and the National Theatre in London. She is a member of playwrights’ company 7-On, and a recipient of the Philip Parsons Young Playwrights’ Award, Jill Blewitt Playwrights’ Award, Bug’n’Bub Award, Aurealis Award for Fiction, the Eric Kocher Playwrights’ Award, the 2007 Inscription Award and an AWGIE for Music Theatre. She is a graduate of the Juilliard Playwrights’ Studio, NIDA and AFTRS. She was the 2003–04 Tennessee Williams Fellow in Creative Writing at the University of the South in Tennessee. She is a director on the Griffin Board, on State Of Play’s artistic directorate and on the artistic advisory panel for the Production Company, New York.

Billy Marshall Stoneking
Billy Marshall Stoneking has written for film, television, radio and theatre. He is the author of seven books, including the modern-day Australian classic, Singing the Snake. His production credits include the award-winning ABC-TV drama Series, Stringer (creator/co-writer); and the internationally acclaimed stage play, Sixteen Words for Water. He was also series writer on Paramount Television’s Mission: Impossible and has script edited numerous award-winning films and television series, including Andrew Dominik’s Chopper, Darlene Johnson’s Crocodile Dreaming, Scott Ryan’s SBS-TV series, The Magician, and Maya Newell’s acclaimed documentaries, TWO and Richard; The most interestingest person I have ever met, which had its world premiere at the 2007 Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes. During his seven years at AFTRS, he originated and taught the now-legendary Drama of Screenwriting course. For more information about Billy, visit his website at: www.wheresthedrama.com

Verity Laughton
Verity Laughton’s work has been produced in Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Japan, the UK and the USA. It includes main-stage adult dramas, a promenade community event, a musical, adaptations, plays for child and family audiences, as well as for dance, for puppets, for theatre of image and a ‘neutral script.’ Her plays include: The Ballad of Bonnie Wheeler; The Mourning After; Carrying Light; Burning; The Snow Queen; Koala Lou (musical); Gondwana; The Nargun and the Stars (both large scale puppetry) Awards include: AWGIE for Community Theatre, 2004 (The Lightkkeeper); The Griffin Prize, 2001 (Burning); AWGIE for Radio Drama, 2004 (Fox); Adelaide Critics’ Circle Best New Australian Play, 1999 (Carrying Light); Inscription Award, 2009 (The Ice Season). Two recent radio plays, Moon Door and Davy were nominated for the 2009 AWGIE Awards. The Nargun and the Stars was featured in both the 2009 Sydney Festival and the 2009 Perth International Festival. Latest Work: The Sweetest Thing (short-listed for the Griffin Award, the Rodney Seaborn Award and long-listed for the London Warehouse Festival Award) is due for production at Belvoir Downstairs in October, 2010 and The Crate of Souls at the Adelaide College of the Arts in December 2010. She is a member of the 7-ON group of playwrights.
Playwriting Workshop rates:

TOOLKIT is a non-profit program that has is subsidised by Queen Street Studio with fees going directly to paying the guest artist and for the use of the space.

Queen Street Studio Member’s Rate: $55 per session or $130.00 for all 3 workshops
Non-Member Rates: $70 per session or $175.00 for all 3 workshops » SAVE HEAPS. Become a member for only $20!
Student Rate: $65 per session or $160.00 for all 3 workshops
(All fees include GST)

For those trying to guess or track some sort of rhyme or reason to the theatre going habits of Augusta Supple – it could appear as compelling a question as where does the other go when it’s missing, or even how did even the most unpopular types of apples get so expensive?

Well, one thing remains certain – I am inspired by people and ideas – and I listen to what is buzzing around me – I hunt out new work, I hungrily scan facebook for show suggestions (usually through Status updates, not usually through event invites) – voraciously searching for art, entertainment, instruction – whatever I need theatre to be on that particular night of the week.

Daniel Kitson came as a recommendation at PlayWriting Australia’s National Play Festival when in a foyer casually chatting with man about town (and the whole country it seems) Caleb Lewis. Caleb has a piercingly astute mind and a love of theatre, and stand up comedy (and experience in both) but centrally driving at his work is a love of story. So it’s not really a far fetched punt to take a recommendation from Caleb. So I booked tickets, roped in an English gent as a seating companion to see Daniel Kitson at The Seymour Centre.

The blurb goes along the lines of:
“Gregory had fifty-seven letters to write. He’d never written that many letters, not in one go. In fact, he’d never written a single letter and it was taking significantly longer than he’d anticipated. He’d started, full of optimism, curiously enough, at 9am and now here he was 8 hours later half way through letter twenty four. He glanced at his watch and then at the noose hanging over his head.

The story of a death postponed by life.”

It sounds bleak. Like difficult emotional terrain. Like it is designed to make the audience laugh at its own sick and morose voyeurism at someone’s bleak outlook. But truly for me this is a story about the transformative and sustaining power of the written word. When it comes to performance I am absolutely fantastic at suspending disbelief – I am naive wide eyed and ready to believe absolutely anything… so for me I was happy to believe that this is a true story – I’m more than happy to accept the bizarre and the unbelievable. Others not so much so. But that is by the by. I think that whether or not you believe the story to be true or to be a work of fiction – the message is the same.

Kitson has performed this show at The Edinburgh Festival, Melbourne Comedy Festival and in various locations around the world – and what is delightful about the presentation is the energy he imbues the story with – Kitson knows this so well – he knows its twists and turns and yet there is no stopping the excited and vivacious roller coaster of “fact” and narrative.

What I love about the story is partially because I am a letter obsessive – in my house there are strings of cards from opening nights, and birthdays and thank yous and just general correspondences that hang in festive garlands in my hall way. I love the personal and intimate nature of letters – and for those who have enjoyed the sets for Brand Spanking New the last few years (deigned by Paul Matthews), you’ll know how much I love paper – I hoard it – papering my office like a nest. And this show speaks to that hoarding aesthetic – in a detective “what-are-the-traces-left-behind” kind of way – and triggers the imagination, stirring other pieces of the puzzle, other realities.

It is a race for information – 90 minutes to impart an adventure of a man who’s life and death was so spectacularly documented. And on this vivacious race to know what happened -the tangents and the tales are explained, interconnected -momentarily broken up by a stutter or a stumble, or a quick quip with an audience member – it feels like he is telling us the latest installment in an English chronicle and we are in the lounge room waiting to hear what happens next – there is no need for props or set or costume – all would merely clutter the tangled threads- the shimmering lines of connection and interconnectedness… the hopeful tension that perhaps love saves him, perhaps life has meaning in words? All of it, a perfect night for sentimentalists with vivid imaginations.

Where ever you are in the world, catch Kitson. He’s a delight.

It’s not a secret. There is an abundance of short form theatre proliferating on Sydney stages. And it’s not just in the independent and amateur sector – with two of Sydney’s main stage companies turning to short form theatre to fill their season – Sydney Theatre Company’s Money Shots (6, 15 minute plays about money) and Belvoir’s The Kiss four short plays bundled together from Australia and beyond to examine The Kiss.

In 2009 I was included on a panel at Griffin Theatre to launch a collection of short plays published by Currency Press hosted by Lee Lewis containing Tom Holloway, Hilary Bell and Australia’s most prolific 10-minute playwright Alex Broun. Which really became a bit of a wrestle about opportunities for new writers – and an advertisement for Short and Sweet. Last year I was interviewed by Jo Litson of The Australian/Sun Herald after being referred to as a spokesperson on Short form by Tom Holloway and Caleb Lewis. And after 45 minutes of extolling the virtues of short form the resulting article was this: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/small-is-big-at-the-largest-10-minute-play-festival/story-e6frg8n6-1225868218628… (N.B the facts about Brand Spanking New are not quite correct – being held at the New Theatre – no director was paid for their contribution to the festival) but it became a large expose on the politics of Short and Sweet festival – the leviathan which now reaches it’s hydra heads all around the world.

In the passed 4 years I have directed at least 2 short plays a year – both by Australian and international playwrights. The form itself lends it to my busy schedule – 15 hours of rehearsal per play is easy to fit around the multiple demands of my life – especially when one is working in a co-op structure. I have been very lucky to have worked with the playwrights I have – and have developed relationships with many of Australia’s pre-eminent playwrights including the 7-On Playwrights, Tom Holloway, Caleb Lewis, Alana Valentine, Van Badham, Lachlan Philpott, Nick Parsons, Kate Mulvany, Tahli Corin, Rick Viede, Rebecca Clarke, Jonathan Gavin and Suzie Miller to name a few… and they are all very different and utterly fascinating and unique thinkers and writers. I have also found it easy to excavate and promote emerging writers when they are housed within a suite of plays that also include established playwrights. It’s been very mutually beneficial to have all level of writers under the one banner – for me it opens up the celebration – becomes inclusive and the feel of such a festival is collegiate. And that is very important to me. Nothing is worse than artists competing endlessly with each other. And practically speaking – there is safety and strength in numbers – no playwright has to bear the burden (financially or creatively) of the production, this is in reference particularly to Stories from the 428 and they are freed up to be inquisitive, excited, innovative.

Building community amongst playwrights disintegrates negative or competitive behaviour… which allows the freedom to explore narrative, form, structure, character – when everyone is in the same boat – no one wants it to sink.

Short form gives a chance for a creative partnership to develop: If directing a full length play is likened to having a baby – then a short play is a kiss and a cuddle. Why not let the director and playwright date before asking them to marry and procreate? And short form allows this light touch – this soft entry point into formulating a common language or aesthetic.

It can also be a great opportunity to keep the writer’s audience muscle flexed and limber – or to clock up those precious 10,000 Malcolm Gladwell writes about.

As Short and Sweet demonstrates the festival format of 10 or 11 plays in one evening’s performance guarantees a full house – no need for massive publicity budget when you have a cast of 30 and a crew/creative team of 20 all bringing their parents and friends. However, for my taste, I find the curation of S&S a little problematic and the quality of writing and directing hit and miss. I believe that good things come in small packages – and I prefer the intensity and the power of a condensed form of ideas sometimes – not always.

That being said, I completely agree with Noelle Janaczewska’s observations about short form distracting from the main game and you can read more on her thoughts here.

There are also comments that short form has reached saturation point. That it diminishes the role of full length work – I personally still appreciate a full symphony even though I listen to Motown ditties… size doesn’t matter it is definitely what you do with it that counts.

The benefits for an Independent artist such as myself are huge – but I’m a little skeptical about the mainstage companies adoption of the form – it feels like a means to beef up statistics on new work, or development. And I heartilly encourage the production of new work – and yes the STC’s production of Ross Mueller’s Zebra! has sold out nearly completely…. (I’m very impressed and must say congratulations to all involved!)… but surely the role of the mainstage is to demonstrate professional theatre at it’s fullest? I’m not sure – I could be being unnecessarily harsh about this? Happy to hear your thoughts and to have my perspective/ mind changed.

Yesterday, amid the heat of Sydney’s summer, the Sydney wharfs were buzzing with people. Lachlan Philpott (fabulous and celebrated writer and leader of ATYP’s Fresh Ink program) addressed a throng of young actors on the eve of their opening night of Tell it Like it Isn’t… ATYP classes were being picked up by supportive parents. Sydney Dance Cafe was hosting the usual lithe bodies and one on one conversations. The water. The heat. I was setting up Playwriting Australia’s banner with the lovely General Manager Elizabeth in preparation of the launch of the 2011 Play Festival season. My phone was buzzing with texts from friends and colleagues wanting to tee-up coffee dates and industry chats…

While waiting I got chatting to lots of people – Chris Page (Lighting Designer, good looker and good bloke), Teegan Lee (All round super-champ LD and SM), Amy Hardingham (ex head of Outback Theatre, ATYP director and now recent mum), Tahli Corin (writer and actor and general lovely person), Hassal from Poetry in Action, Luke Kerridge (Shopfront Artistic Associate) and the NIDA playwright Grads Jess Bellamy and Chris Summers – and I even shock the hand of Mr Stephen Sewell. And it is affirming and exciting to be a part of such an interesting and vivacious theatre community… Before long, writers of all backgrounds, experience, styles and sensibilities were standing sipping mineral water in a room overlooking the water.

It is probably one of the most solitary acts – writing. And the strange thing about theatre writing is that it is intensely personal, private and solitary and then swings into the extreme of collaborative, social and very public. Other writers are asked to perhaps make a showing at a book launch or perhaps an inaugural speech… but theatre writers must swing between private and public constantly. Some are a little more reluctant to be in the spotlight. Others love a spotlight and a photo in a publication – there are all types, all temperaments- and all playwrights of all personalities negotiate this task differently and there is no “right way” to be. Joanna Murray Smith and Stephen Sewell both gave opening addresses – both powerful , personal and different in tone and delivery… they spoke of diversity and opportunity, of doubt and discovery and were at times both fierce and tender.

The National Play Festival allows time and space for writers to come out of their “dark lonely place” as Rhys Muldoon put it… and to hear their work… give focus to their work. It is a time of showcase and celebration, of work and rigor and refreshment. Where form and ideas and national/personal concerns are aired, questioned and presented. Due to the huge interest in playwriting – even more has been added to the festival: Fine Draft (4 plays to be workshopped), Must Sees (Scripts ready to go), And a range of readings to facilitate a range of new writers/writings.

I for one, can’t wait. Bring on March!

More Info on the festival: http://www.nationalplayfestival.org.au/2011/?cat=3

More info on Playwriting Australia: www.pwa.org.au

Fine Draft
Playwriting is for artisans and this part of the Play Festival allows for chisels and anvils, sutures and scalpels, gimlets and handsaws. These plays are four very fine drafts, plays of real and rare distinction, that each receives 10 days of workshopping prior to presentation at the Festival with the finest actors, directors and dramaturgs. Though presented with minimal staging they are shown in their entirety and, no matter how basic the staging, the sheer force of their argument and emotion, ideas and characters, charm and fury is like theatrical rocket fuel. Drink up the very best of these fine drafts.

Swamplands
By Van Badham
See this on: Friday, Wednesday

Van is the writer of more than 40 internationally produced plays for stage, music theatre and radio and she has just signed a three-book deal with Pan Macmillan.

“Diplomat: I think I’m here to work out why I’m here. Who’s the source? Who’s peddling fake documents and why does anyone believe them?”

The Diplomat, the Spy, the CIA, Rudyard Kipling, Lord Byron, Dick Cheney (a 10 foot lizard) and 32 other characters defend and patrol, confuse and concuss the US, the middle east and the rest of the world in a boiling vortex of subterfuge, paranoia, incompetence and international intrigue. This wild and furious play gets its teeth into the intelligence that lead to the war in Iraq and it asks some tough questions about politics, peace and accountability. It’s stylish, surreal, funny and alarming in equal measure and much cooler and crazier than the film with Naomi Watts in it.
Wednesday 16 March, 4pm, Friday 18 March, 7pm

The Damned
By Reg Cribb

See this on: Saturday, Thursday

Reg’s plays, which include The Return, Last Cab to Darwin, Gulpilil and Ruby’s Last Dollar, have been performed nationally and internationally. He has won the Patrick White award, the Queensland Premier’s Literary Award, the WA Premier’s Literary Award twice and was nominated for an AFI award for his screenplay for Last Train to Freo.

“Narelle: Do you ever think about fuckin ’em up . . . those people?”

Narelle and Louise are teenagers from regional WA. They take drugs, move in together, pledge sisterhood and stop going to school. Louise meets Eliza and brings her home like a lost pup. They band together, destroy stuff and have a whale of a time. Cracks appear in the crack haze, however, and the sisters gang up on the outsider. Their crime is violent and vicious and confounding. Based on a real story, The Damned is chilling, unflinching and very stark drama indeed.
Thursday 17 March, 7pm, Saturday 19 March, 4pm

Rust and Bone
By Caleb Lewis
See this on: Saturday, Thursday
(adopted from stories by Craig Davidson)

Caleb is an award winning playwright who studied playwriting at Flinders University Drama Centre and is best known for his plays Nailed, Death in Bowengabbie and Man, Love and the Monkey Boy.

“Ben: Feel something break below the hip. A wave of pain roars up my spine exploding in my skull. Open my mouth to scream and water rushes in.”

Three men, each a ball of tightly coiled fury, tell their gory stories. One is a fighter, too old and broken to win, but who nevertheless continues to step into the ring and cop another beating, maybe because he deserves it. Another loves dogs, and loves fighting them to the death. The final man is a killer whale trainer whose daily aqua-acrobatic show goes horribly, horribly wrong. This is a brutal world of broken gods and sinuous monsters, regrets, denial, big dreams and hard-boiled drama.
Thursday 17 March, 4pm. Saturday 19 March, 7pm

The Real World
By Melissa Reeves
See this on: Friday, Wednesday

Melissa is a multi-award winning playwright best known for The Spook, Furious Mattress and Who’s Afraid of the Working Class.

“Frank: I believe in no god and I don’t need one. I don’t know why we’re here and I don’t care. Nor do I believe in genius. It’s all luck, nous and hard work. I don’t believe in love or friendship. I have confided in people and they have betrayed me. I believe in neither left nor right. Everyone is corruptible. Why did I give you the money? I had the idea and I had the money. Simple as that.”

Rachel is imprisoned in a tower. Her Dad, Frank, is a toweringly rich businessman and he’s given her everything, including a private menagerie, mostly of monkeys, plus he’s locked her in the tower. He now wants her married off and pays four short blokes, an ex-cop, an ex-jockey, an ex- TV host and an ex-footy player all previously publicly shamed to give it a go. They work together, then they don’t, and somewhere in the middle is Rachel, Money, ambition, stupidity, deep sadness and animal cruelty collide in this bittersweet cautionary tale.

Wednesday 16 March , 7pm, Friday 18 March, 4pm

I’ve been very occasional with my posts haven’t I? Tardy to say the least… you see I have wrapped up in Brand Spanking New – my major project which is at the end of every year and now we are two performances away from finishing Brand Spanking New 2010. Week 2 of the 2 week season is in full swing and has been enjoying healthy houses at the new theatre – full of punters and writers curious to see what’s on, who’s in, what’s hot!

It’s always interesting for me to hear the response from plays I programme – last week a rather rambuncious satire by Phil Spencer conjured audible gasps from audience members who found it offensive (indeed that is the point of that play – to expose our sensitivity to language and our desire for self-sensorship). This week we have another opportunity for people to be outraged by ideas with a bit of social commentary by the one and only Alana Valentine starting the show.

What is extremely important to me is the curation of the season – how one show sets the tone for another – how the experience of one idea tips us into another experience. The play order in a suite like this is just as important as the scene order of a full length play. It takes alot of thinking about – to make sure each play is best placed and well represented. That’s my job. To make everyone’s work be best placed and well represented – so that everyone knows, beyond a shadow of a doubt – that I am taking care of their work. I am taking care of them. There is nothing haphazard about this. There is method this isn’t curated based on furniture and set up – it is curated with ideas front and centre.

What is also fabulous to me is to see who turns up – which actors and which writers and directors turn up – especially writers or actors who applied/auditioned and who may not have “gotten in” this time – the fact they turn up and follow through on their interest and intent impresses me no end.. and I am more likely to cast someone who has attended one of my shows than one who doesn’t – because at least I know they are interested in my work and working with me, and that is important to me: I always want actors to want to work with me, not because they want to work – but because they want to work with me… I always feel like I need to win the actor – and this helps me want to win them!

Anyway enough from me – I; have to head to the theatre – second last show… perhaps I’ll see you there?

Here is my director’s note for week 2 –
It is a great thrill to bring to you this year’s selection of Australia’s best and brightest writers, directors and actors on board Brand Spanking New – and this year’s program is certainly a cross section of contemporary Australian writing at best- poignant, brutal, honest, terrifying and utterly fearless.
This is where theatre practitioners can dive into freshly crafted scripts, vigorous, rigorous rehearsal processes, explore character, form and genre – all on one stage – to inspire conversation and elevate us above the everyday.
In week two of Brand Spanking New, we hear the inner thoughts of Redfern locals, delve into the intricacies of teenage loyalty, forge new territory beyond Prypiat, find the light in a dark dank cave, discover things aren’t what they used to be and yearn to take a walk in the park. This is a bouquet of plays, designed to stir and surprise whilst revealing a difficult personal truth and moments of great universal reckoning put together by a team of collegiate theatre artists who are propelled by grand artistic daring and steely-eyed faith in new Australian work.
Tonight is a celebration of the brave. Our playwrights, the brilliant historians of our times. The passionate and generous directors who drive the work so selflessly. The endlessly intuitive and audacious actors who unnervingly auditioned without knowing what they were auditioning for: I am honoured to have the opportunity to showcase each and everyone of these talented and brave artists, who shape our consciousness and our theatre community.
Brand Spanking New is created by the adventurous, for the adventurous: those who are willing to break out from what they know or expect and allow themselves to be challenged, invigorated, or inspired to go beyond the safe and the ordinary into a brave new world.

Opening Wed 3rd November- Saturday 6th November 2010, 8pm
New Theatre, 542 King Street , Newtown
All tickets $22

Week Two

A Walk In The Park by Donna Abela
Directed by Vanessa Hughes | Performed by Libby Ahearn and Emma Jones

Atomograd by Caleb Lewis
Directed by Nick Curnow | Performed by Melissa Matheson and Kate Skinner

Extra Curricular by Suzie Miller
Directed by Louise Fischer | Performed by Kelly Anderson, Persia Blue, Lib Campbell, Mel Firbank, Belinda Jombwe, Camelia Mowbray, Alannah Robertson and Georgia Woodward

HereNowThenThere by Catherine Zimdahl
Directed by Jane Eakin | Performed by Kenneth Moraleda and Matt Young

Apples and Onions by Alison Rooke
Directed by Heath Wilder | Performed by Madeleine Jones and Rhys Wilson

The Importance Of Being Ernest Dragons by Alli Sebastian Wolf
Directed by Scarlet McGlynn | Performed by David Adlam, Richard Cox, Sarah Hodgetts and Corinne Younan

The Locals by Alana Valentine
Directed by Scott Selkirk | Performed by Kellie Jones and Arabella Macpherson

The Pursued, the Pursuing, the Busy and the Tired by Tim Spencer
Directed by Augusta Supple | Performed by Peter Buck Dettman and Lucy Goleby

A Reunion by Ian Wilding
Directed by Dom Mercer | Performed by Lucy Goleby, Emily Morrison, Sean Ohlendorf and Salman Shad

Creative Team

Season Artistic Director Augusta Supple
Designer Paul Matthews
Lighting Designer Miles Thomas
Choreographer Sam Chester
Composer/Sound Design Rosie Chase
Stage Manager Alexander Hayden
Assistant Stage Manager Alison Murphy-Oates
Production Coordinator Julia Lenton
Partnerships Coordinator Leigh Russell
Assistant Designer Bri Small
Photographer Leah McGirr

Since April, I have been reading, researching, approaching playwrights… It’s what I spend most of my time thinking about… I talk to them, I read plays, I see plays, I hang out at playwriting courses… I see readings, I hold readings… all in the name of BRAND SPANKING NEW.

Brand Spanking New has developed over it’s three years… and the spirit and the structure remains the same- this is not a competitive short play festival. There are no “prizes”- being in, working on a beautiful, surprising, tender, challenging play with a playwright who dreams big, feels more, hopes unwaiveringly- is truly the real prize. The plays are housed on one set, linked with one sound design, and are considered a suite of plays. I approach directors, directors approach me- I spend my spare hours in coffee shops talking to directors, hearing what they want, what they love, what they believe and why they want to work on new work…. I gather the team of designers, crew, coordinators, the project rolls along…

There are two ways to be included in Spankers if you are a playwright- 1. If you are established, I write to you and I offer you a meagre sum of money and say “I love your work… and this is why… I will programme you what ever you write- write what you want” And you either say “I’m busy, not now, Gus” or you say “I’ll try to rustle up something, when’s the due date? OK, leave it with me…” and I sit and wait. I chew my nails. I do some baking. I try to think about other things….
or
2. I send out an email through the New Theatre, this site, my email list, my friends that say -”hey I heard you write… if you want to apply to Spankers please fill in this form, write me a play, and I’ll have a read and see what I reckon.” And then I wait nervously, hoping writers want to submit something… I chew my nails. I sit. I wait. I send little wishes out to the world that says, “I can’t wait to find the next great writer.”

Risk and optimism- the best way to be. Adrenilin.

This year- The established/approached writers said yes… and I was joyfully flooded by writers who approached me. Then the reading (which took 3 weeks)… the emails, the phone calls… the shortlist arrived… and now the list of writers and directors is ready.

The team is ready- most writers & directors know their pairing- and there are a few more to come… I am the match maker. And it gives me grand and great joy to see the great minds, big hearts articulate why they love the pieces they want… I love the conversation- I love the feeling of when I also get my writer- it feels like I have won the lottery… it’s thrilling. I love it.

The next thing is the auditions- starting next weekend: details are below: I’d love to see you there…

NEW THEATRE PRESENTS

Julia Lenton
Brand Spanking New 2010
Production Coordinator
0410 748 039
julia.ann.lenton@gmail.com