Fringe/indie/community/local/amateur theatre seems to be a hot topic right now. A good thing.

Not to blow wind up your a*se…(!)…but, I’ve gotta say that your work with Stories from the 428 was a really excellent process for tapping a community/artist connection. Similarly, Brand Spanking New is a great model for getting new and experienced writers to get work out in a raw but focused context.

It takes a really organic vision and ethos to bring ‘independent’ people together and my feeling is that the Sydney Fringe community (both artists and audience) needs quite a bit of work in this way. And time. Who are we? What do we stand for? There’s something inherently risky/bolshie/raw inside the ‘fringe’; a capacity to connect artists to a local audience in a very real, direct, heart-soaked way that often can’t be achieved through more commercial processes and work.

If you have a spare 50 minutes in your hugely busy schedule, this is a really interesting listen: (Wesley Enoch, Marion Potts, Jon Halpin and Alison Croggon talkin CHANGE in Theatre (and touching on community/indie work)… https://www.abc.net.au/rn/australiatalks/stories/2010/3017892.htm