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.

Yesterday was playwriting Australia’s marathon “Breaking Down the Doors” which offered over 80 playwrights the opportuntity to have a section/scene of their work read by professional actors, facilitated by professional directors at Carriageworks. I was one of the few folk who attended over 8 hours of playreading (yep, I’m hardcore!) making notes on the plays I had seen or read before, writers I knew, writers I didn’t know and writers I want to know. It was large scale, impressive carousel of plays. By contrast Off the Shelf- an opportunity for plays to be developed over a month is an intimate affair: only 5 teams are selected- the readings are for an invited audience only. There are several scripts developed during Off the Shelf that have gone onto have a production- Combat Fatigue, Sexy Tales of Paleontology, Zetland and The Hideous Demise of Detective Slate have all been included in the Sydney Fringe, And Of the Causes of Wonderful Things is on at Next Wave Festival in Brisbane.

Queen Street Studio is a wonderful place to work… built on the vision of Sam Chester and James Winter, Queen Street Studio is an artist run rehearsal space, meeting and event venue that fosters and encourages the development of artists.

In the performing arts industry, sometimes it feel as though you are fighting a beaurocracy, being selected by administrators, not peers or artists… sometimes it is lonely and isolating. Queen Street Studio is the place where performers, performance makers and writers can come to be nurtured, develop work or process, and rehearse. I am honoured to be a part of the team at Queen Street Studio, and able to provide emerging writers an opportunity to develop new scripts.

Since the beginning of 2009, Off the shelf have housed 13 writer/director teams… 4 of which are playing right now in the Sydney Fringe Festival… 1 which is in the next wave festival… 1 has been included in STC’s residency program and has a reading at The Old Fitz next weekend and countless other projects born through the network of OFF THE SHELF have got projects on, or are pitching shows to independent spaces in Sydney. It’s a hub for writers and directors who are keen to develop their work, test it out, receive feedback and who want to put their work on. It’s a safe place for emerging writers- a place where ideas can be tried and tested. Where competition is removed and care is taken in providing feedback and a response to the work.

There are 5 slots for the final OFF THE SHELF for 2010… if you are keen to apply, just have a read of the guidelines, fill in a form by October 1st.

MORE INFO ABOUT QUEEN STREET STUDIO AND OFF THE SHELF….
http://www.queenstreetstudio.com/offtheshelf.html
After the success of Off the Shelf in 2009, Queen Street Studio presents the fourth Off the Shelf – a residency for writers and directors interested in developing a script.

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. Writers and directors are asked to submit the expression of interest form on the next page and also a script. It is recommended that writers do not direct their own work, nor perform in the showcase of the script: a cast will need to be confirmed upon selection.

Guidelines for Off the Shelf

We are looking for teams (writers and directors) who:

Have an unproduced script that needs some development;
Are interested in working together in a nurturing and collaborative environment to produce a 15-minute presentation of a scene from the script which will be performed in a studio showing at FraserStudios – Studio 10, managed by Queen Street Studio;
Are interested in building their network, skills and script in a non-competitive, supportive environment;
Can write to specifications whilst being mindful of the presentation challenges outlined below;
Will submit a proposal with a writer and a director attached being mindful that writers are not to perform nor direct their own work;
Would like to test an idea or concept in front of an invited audience who will provide them with feedback;
Are available to attend all meetings, rehearsals and the showcase which is held on Wednesday 17 & Friday 19 November, 2010.

QUEEN STREET STUDIO WILL PROVIDE:
15 hours of rehearsal space (starting 18th October – primarily on weekends);
Dramaturgical support;
An opportunity to show your work in front of industry professionals and an invited audience;
An open forum and written feedback from guests;
A photographer for promotional photos and archival materials;
Networking opportunities;
A playwriting toolkit workshop with an established playwright over four weeks: October 6, 13, 20 and 27.

APPLICANTS WILL:
Provide a first draft with your application;
Be Available for an interview if requested the week starting 5th April;
Be available to attend meetings and scheduled rehearsals;
Be willing to re-draft and refine your script over a four-week period;
Stage a showing of the work: whether it be a reading, a moved reading, or a performance, within the technical and practical limitations of the project.

HOW TO APPLY:
If you would like to lodge an expression of interest to participate in this project please download and fill in the form (407KB PDF) and press submit on page 2 of the PDF by no later than 5pm on the 1st October 2010.

Contact Off the Shelf co-ordinator Augusta Supple augusta@queenstreetstudio.com.

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

Week 1 Cast

Week 1 of Stories from the 428 was a really amazing experience… and I was amazed primarilly at the dedication and ability of so many people to step up and make things happen- to push through all the incidental disappointments, and momentary lapses of memory and awkwardness and to keep going- after all… the show must go on.

For anyone who understands an opening night deadline- this was a doozy!

Like many (every) theatre I have worked at – (18 different venues in 9 years) this venue certainly has its quirks… Not only is the venue hire geared to the load in of a rock show (you get 6 hours of bump in time- anything more than that you are charged to have the venue tech there at an hourly rate) but a ghost that has a sense of humour about tech equipment, interesting public toilets, gate curfew lock up and a host of other surprises.

Miles and Ali during Dress Rehearsal Photo: Leah McGirr

After a rigg and a focus by the ever efficient Miles Thomas- it was discovered that the lighting board didn’t record states… Monday night last week was a paper plot with 4 directors huddled around paper on the floor, skimming back all expectations to the basic bare essentials. Miles and PJ jumped in the car, and two hours later due to the kindness of Belvoir and the STC had returned with a desk to programme and plot with. Hurray!

Miles set to work and replaced the board, only to discover the incombatibility of this technology with the dimmers. No lighting desk. No lighting plot and 24 hours until dress rehearsal. The show must go on.

Tym and PJ Photo: Leah McGirr

We plotted through- directors abandonned tech expectations and embraced the K.I.S.S principal. Miles and I would come in to tech the show the next day once the new lighting desk was made available.

18 hours later still no lighting desk Miles visited his mates at the Seymour Centre who helped him out with a DMX converter and over the course of 2 hours 3 venue techs were sent (the first two were self-professed sound guys and were there to drop off equipment) with incompatible desks… again nothing worked. At 2.30pm when finally we had a lighting board that could programme states. Miles and I plotted all 15 pieces (with transitions) from 3pm-5.30pm… just in time for the actors to arrive.

Then the delicate art of chair arrangement- blocking backstage and onstage traffic- newspapers… creating an opening sequence and running the show… which all went fine except the gates closing at 10.30pm meant we had to abandon the dress rehearsal 2 shows out from the end so we could make it out of the complex in time. The show must go on.

Felix and Amy

The day of opening night we finished the dress rehearsal at 5.30pm, ran through the opening sequence. The actors embraced their stage managerial responsibility… they took care of themselves- they hit their marks… they performed… they were focused, dedicated and energetic. They helped each other with set changes, rehearsed on the grass, shared limited dressing room space. The show was going on- whether we liked it or not…

Anna Lise

Two hours later, everyone turned up. Artistic Directors, reviewers, media, literary managers, sponsors, playwrights, artistic associates, filmmakers- EVERYONE.

Now, I am not going to list all the technical mishaps, or the regrets or misadventures. Because frankly- they don’t matter one bit. What I am going to do is sing the praises of The Stories from the 428 team. Because the show must go on, each and everyone of the team stepped up. PJ and Miles (the wonder duo) moved heaven and earth to find desks- to ask favours and the industry came to support- other theatres offered help, equipment, advice. Alison M-O the stagemanager handled a lighting desk she had only had touched for a total of 4 hours prior… kept cheery, helped actors, sewed costumes, operated the show- and took care of the cast- the directors and the designers. Zoe Carides regailed me stories of her Sidetrack Theatre experiences when she was first starting out as an actor (pre- GP) – and I confessed my longtime love of her work. Ian Zammit sourced newspapers and dispensed hugs and soothing words of support and encouragement… the actors sorted themselves and each other and thanked everyone for their help…

Ian, Michelle, Louise and Suz

Fifteen minutes after the curtain call on opening night when my furrowed brow appeared amid the sea of heads … the industry came to my rescue again- an enormous hug from James Winter who smothered me with encouragement… robust hugs from Sam Chester, soothing words from Fringe Festival Director Kris Stewart, congratulations from Polly Rowe, Brenna Hobson, John AD Fraser… a handshake and well done from Play Writing Australia’s Artistic Director Chris Mead… and there was James Waites buzzing with enthusiasm and his signature “well done, doll!”

My three wise men Photo: Leah McGirr

With theatre- the art is keeping the the misadventures minimized… the live event mercurial and strange, ellusive and transient, wild and unpredictable. The show must go on. As life must go on… as it all continues whether we like it or not… it doesn’t matter how perfect it is- sometimes what matters most is not the show itself. What matters most is the people who make the art- and what humbles me, what makes me proud and what keeps me looking ahead, what keeps me excited is the bravery, the passion and artists who support artists.

What mattered more to me than the show itself was the overwhelming support of all involved- onstage and backstage… the production crew and the cast worked together. There was never a word of blame, never a tantrum, never a harsh word- there was only support. The industry turned up, offered advice, equipment, hugs, feedback… and last Wednesday night I couldn’t be more proud of those beautiful writers, directors, actors and our amazing colleagues that make up the Sydney theatre community.

Bridgette Sneddon & Felix Gentle Photo: Leah McGirr

I think it’s safe to say that my relationship to fashion is like that between a brooding teenage boy and an over-eager teenage girl… me being the brooding teenage boy with my sleepy eyelids and “fashion” being the ever present teenage girl throwing herself at me despite my disengagement. I don’t think about clothes- I don’t and haven’t ever bought magazines… I am often found wearing black- because colour demands a high level of maintenance…
I have never even considered the career path for a fashion designer- I have never thought about those who have a passion for fabric and how they come to create garments or a career- I have never been to a runway show- until last night.

When I first walked into Studio 10 at Frasers Studio- there was all you would expect of the “backstage” aspects of a fashion show- light framed mirrors- with people in versions of toolbelts but for make-up, hair being teased and sprayed- dresses and models busy with last minute preparations- and a growing audience slowly accumulating… I watched, like a backstage documentarian as the start time approached… and read the program:

“Tonight is a celebration of four young artists who were chosen byy our Mentors to participate in this program. Since then these young people have worked day and night to get their original collections realisd and ready for tonight’s cat walk. The project asked these emerging Designers to believe in themselves and to put their creativity out into the public arena.. a very scary thing indeed…”

After a slight delay- the audience were welcomed to head into Studio 12- traditionally a space used for gallery exhibitions- this time a large black-felt runway had been constructed complete with silver scaffolding and lights running on either side of the cat walk… impressive, galmourous and completely unexpected this was fashion’s missing link- a truly engaging and professional emerging artists presentation.

Descriptions of the collections inspired by kalaidoscopes, origami, the modern-god and superheros- themed the hour long presentation which was complimented by the very powerful and professional electro-pop girl group “The Skanques” who sang out loud and proud in two original sassy teen anthems.

Only hindered by momentary glitches of technical mischief- this was a very slick and powerful showcase- allowing each artist to present their ideas as a curated showcase. For work which has taken 4 months of preparation- to be presented by models and designers who are not yet professional- this was a stunning acheivement. (Not only because I don’t have a relationship with fashion). I learnt alot last night- about the value of mentorship and about the focus it takes for all artforms to be presented to a room full of people (who may or may not be converted to the concept of clothing as art)- that all models are beautiful regardless of what they are wearing or what they look like because they give us permission to look at them for their silent beauty and their confidence (and that permission is a beautiful and generous act). And finally, I learnt that I really like clever and sassy electo-pop girl bands!

For more info about AYT head to:
f=”http://www.ashfield.nsw.gov.au/page/ashfield_youth_theatre.html”>
For more information contact:
JAMES WINTER (Artistic Director)
E: jamesw@ashfield.nsw.gov.au