As offices empty and sunscreen sales soar – the festive summer season has arrived with a seemingly endless carousel of parties and social engagements. Now the theatre’s have closed – there are a few of the industry who have a list of 2011 projects lined up… and the rest of us face family Christmas lunch/dinner gently quizzed by family “so how is your drama stuff going?” and “have you thought about an apprenticeship?” and other such brutal questions asked by well-meaning members of your gene pool.
Normal folk – the ones with contented lives filled with relaxing weekends, 9-5 work hours, paid holidays, a structured career path and regular pay cheques – look forward to the end of the year as a time of snooze and booze and lavish materialistic rewards for their year of hard work. For theatre folk it’s a little different. more…
In a warehouse in Chippendale, I sweep a giant concrete floor. I lug chairs. I listen as a rehearsal takes place. I thank Julia for buying the cheese. James checks where to put the lights. Sam sends me a text message saying good luck. Pete purs himself a glass of wine. I change out of my black, sweaty clothes into a floral dress. I welcome into Studio 10 friends, colleagues and industry representatives. I place the chalk board outside the roller door – I’ve written on it ” OFF THE SHELF” with a big arrow pointing to an open door. more…
Don’t get me wrong- I’m not just about short plays. I believe in (as Timothy Daly once said to me) in being “a miniaturist”- but I also believ in the juicyness of a full length play. I love watching the intertwined stories within a full length play… and Australia does fabulous stories, for example… Bang, When the Rain Stops Falling, Cloudstreet, Blackrock, The Man From Mukinupin, Bran Nue Dae etc, etc.
In Australia, and in particular in Sydney, the opportunities to have a full length play developed or workshopped can be relegated to the lucky, the few at larger high profile conferences – or on the other end of the spectrum – people’s lounge rooms. Rarely do emerging writers have the benefit of focussing in on their play, with a director of their choice. And THAT’s what Off the Shelf is about. more…
It’s been a pretty interesting year… and playwrights and productions have certainly kept me busy. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. I feel really lucky. honoured to be working with and for Australia’s best emerging playwrights. I am also lucky to have a home at Queen Street Studio, where development and experimentation is valued. It’s been a back to back year, and every now and then, I stop and look around. To see what’s happening.
Sometimes, I poke my head up from my email, or I sit in my backyard, rooibos in hand, looking at the garden. In one of the beds are the tulip bulbs Vanessa Bates gave me on the opening night of Stories from the 428 back in March… with the heartfelt message: “you are growing us.” This spring (fringe time) Bates’ tulips had burst open into yellow and red striped flowers and their emergence had kept me going during some tricky times… I guess, reminding me it’s all about growing.
So knee-deep in Spankers (Brand Spanking New)… and I see on a cursory glance on Facebook some congratulations flying around – and I am baffled, and happy and excited: three of the Off The Shelfers have been nominated for Awards as a part of the Sydney Fringe… And I couldn’t be more thrilled for them…
Sexy Tales of Paleontology by Patrick Lenton, directed by Anne Maree Magi
The Hideous Demise of Detective Slate by Alli Sebastian Wolf, directed by Jane Grimley
Zetland by Jasper Marlow, directed by Andrew Johnston
… and if that wasn’t exciting enough- new Australian works by emerging writers have been acknowledged in the Sydney Airport Excellence in Theatre Award, in the programming of The Boiler Room… I am thrilled! Mainly because the message it sends is clear- Australian works are good, in fact, they are exciting! more…
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. more…
Sunday was a big day. Not just any Sunday- but a pretty special Sunday- the day for industry and peers to come and offer their support, thoughts, feedback to the four new works which have been in development through Queen Street Studio’s Script development hothouse “Off the Shelf”. 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…
I love new work.
I love spotting talent.
Like a botanist naming the trees he walks by. Like a child pointing at a train and saying “train”. I spot talent and point at it and say “talent.” Then by naming it… by pointing it out, I am compelled to share it. I love sharing talent. It’s thrilling.
I love finding talent. I unashamedly and publicly call it “treasure hunting”… (I have also been called the new work “truffle pig”- nosing out the good stuff from the earth… I love it.) I love when a new script lands in my inbox- with a note from a writer (usually littered with disclaimers and a few “don’t worry if you are too busy” lines…) it is a thrill- I just don’t know what I am going to find- the next Vanessa Bates? The Next Joanna Murray-Smith? The next Andrew Bovell? The next Caleb Lewis? It’s exciting and an honour to receive a script. I love being warmed by a story in play form, and the heat of my laptop and a cup of tea (I have been indulging in alot of Rooibos of late- too much some could say)… the three warm makers in which I delight. more…
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It’s true that I spend a good deal of my time looking for, creating projects for, promoting new writing talent. In the last 3 years I have created 3 independent projects (Metamor/phases, Brand Spanking New, Stories from the 428) and a script development hothouse (Off the Shelf) culiminating 64 opportunities for writers/directors/actors to develop/practice/ showcase their art. In the middle of all of this- working a full time job, maintaining my relationship and writing for myself and for a company in Canada when I can. I’ve tried to create opportunities that I would want – places of experimentation, colleagiate regard as opposed to competition, places where work can be written, developed and produced within a year (yes- how novel!). How delighted I was when Phil Spencer contacted me about putting a little something forward for Cut and Paste! more…
The first showcase for OFF THE SHELF, a playwriting hothouse run by Queen Street Studio is less than three weeks away.
Plans are in motion, catering is being ordered, invites are being sent out.. and soon 5 new works by local artists will be on show for all to see….
“Gravity Waves” by Will Snow, Directed by Jonathan Wald
“Yellow Brick Road” by Bridget Price, Directed by Mark Pritchard
“Retale” by Patrick Lenton, Directed by Anne-Maree Magi
“a road maybe, at night maybe” by Kit Brookman, Directed by Amy Satchell
“Boxing Day” by Phil Spencer, Directed by Scarlet McGlynn
If you’d like more details on the showcase, artists or OFF THE SHELF program please don’t hesitate to contact me offtheshelf@queenstreetstudio.com