“Write what you know.”

The first rule of thumb for anyone interested in writing anything. This applies to birthday cards right through to grand epic fictions or a boutique thesis on an obscure historical peccadillo.

It is rapidly followed by the next question:
“What do you know?”

And then swiftly after that,
“How do you know that?”

And then:
“Who are you to write that anyway?”

It is no secret that artists are like bower birds. Collecting snatches of overheard conversation, headlines from newspapers, facts from journals artists chew through the meat and the gristle of daily life, sifting and grinding found concepts, images, speeches – processing it into art. Sometimes the process is curatorial: Selecting and arranging the real, raw data and daily life materials into order or housing them in a shape or place to draw attention to it. Sometimes they work in collaboration with a specific community to reflect a truth or an opinion for the betterment of society – the participants and the audience. Sometimes they fracture reality stylistically, thematically until the work is an abstraction of an idea. Sometimes they imagine an alternate reality, inspired by but not replicating events. Playwrights collect, notate, process and present realities. Sometimes they do all of these things. The making of art is not an easy nor a cut and dried process – everyone does it differently and for different reasons and for different purposes.

It begs the question: are artists parasites of the lives of non-artists?

Recently, as a part of the Independent season at the Griffin Theatre Company, Jane Bodie’s play Music, asks that very question.

“Two actors researching a theatre project befriend a seemingly quiet and ordinary man named Adam. In reality, Adam’s unexceptional existence is carefully calibrated – a precarious sideways tightrope-walk over his mental illness. Now, Adam’s new friends are at risk of throwing his life dangerously off balance. And there’s every chance they’ll go down with him. Music offers a sharp critique of the way mental illness is perceived today and examines the dangerous consequences of raiding people’s personal lives in the name of art. A surprising and surprisingly funny story of people connecting and colliding, as two actors blunder their way into Adam’s life, causing untold damage to him as a result.”

It’s an issue in contemporary theatre writing. An issue we need to discuss.

Artists, despite best of intentions may hurt those they love – friends, family, their community – in the desire to draw on what they know.

As other forms of “reality” entertainment (Reality TV – weight-loss shows, cooking competitions, house renovation shows) push mainstream audience narrative literacy into hardline “realism” – theatre is forced to prove its authenticity, its “realness” amongst the audience. With a glut of homemade, self-made, online content showing “real” events, acts or distractions, content is freely available and accessible. This combination of audience literacy in/desire to engage with reality content and a prevalence of artist access to primary source materials – results in the opportunity for stories outside of an artist’s direct experience to be told.

What does the writer do? Write what they know.
What do they know? They know their perspective based on their research.
How do you know that? They spend time interrogating the ideas, the story, they carry out research and consultations.
Who are they to write this? They are a writer who dares to add to the ongoing conversation about art and humanity which has been in progress across languages, nations, genders, politics, genres since the beginning of time. And to be one small person contributing to that – in the face of peers who will evaluate your contribution – you have to have an iron constitution and know your stuff pretty well.

So it is hardly surprising when a few weeks after opening, there is controversy surrounding The Griffin Theatre’s current production “Ugly Mugs” by Peta Brady (a co-production with the Malthouse Theatre) about the ethics of the storytelling.
According to a member of the Scarlet Alliance, Australia’s peak sex worker organisation, Ugly Mugs is “Pity porn.”

Read reportage from the Sydney Morning Herald here: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/theatre/sex-worker-union-member-attacks-peta-brady-play-ugly-mugs-20140813-103mty.html#ixzz3AHNyUYFm

A string of alternating responses – praising and damning the production on the Griffin Theatre Company Facebook feed http://www.griffintheatre.com.au/whats-on/ugly-mugs/

It has created a community upheaval amongst sex workers who have articulated their perspective ending with the powerful phrase:

“Sex workers speak for ourselves, our personal stories belong to us and it is our right if, and when to tell them.”

http://sexliesducttape.me/2014/08/12/ugly-mugs-confidential-accounts-of-rape-and-violence-should-never-be-entertainment/

The Griffin Theatre Company responded with a formal response nobly engaging with the issues raised, and open to revealing the consultative process and seeking to continue engagement with the Scarlet Alliance. The objective and the intent of the play was articulated “to provoke conversations in our audience about the steps we need to take as a society to unmake traditions or patterns of violent behaviour.”
http://www.griffintheatre.com.au/blog/response-to-ugly-mugs-blog/

I am not specifically interested in engaging with the particulars of due diligence or artistic license in this particular instance. I think the dialogue we have with audience is as important as the conversation we have amongst ourselves.
The broad issue I am interested in here is:
Who has the right to tell a story?
How do we have a conversation about ownership?
How do we work through conflicts of representation?

Raised at the Australian Theatre Forum in 2013, this issue was raised in the idea of representation and appropriation of Aboriginal story – who has the right to tell a story? Can races be cross cast?

Raised again at Playwriting Australia’s National Play Festival 2014 during an industry session focused on Aboriginal Dramaturgy – what is the process of permission/rights to sharing story, sharing language?

When working in a context which is based in and of a community there are sensitivities to what and how information is shared, where permission comes from, how it is granted to whom and when.

For artists, whose source material is their experience of the world – the structures around notions of community engagement and ethnography are blurred, or casual or not existent.

It can leave artists open to attack. It can leave communities open to attack.

Which is not the objective of cultural and artistic pursuits. Not at all.

Artistic and cultural pursuits seek to bring understand, compassion, awareness, inspire activism and social change. It is this intention which elevates art above the idea of base schadenfreude or entertainment.

And we’ve got to talk about this. This is too important not to engage with.

Telling stories can come at a price: the trust and respect of our loved ones and or our community.

As artists and producers we have a moral obligation to our community – both those who are sources of inspiration and those who are our audiences (hopefully these are one and the same) to make sure that the context in which we develop and make a work involves consultation and discussion with community – and that takes time.

It takes generosity, patience. From everyone.

It will take a willingness to speak. A willingness to listen.

I believe our arts community has the capacity to deliver.

I’m not a journalist. I’m not an academic. I’m not a lawyer.

I’m an artist.

I’m an artist who has sat in a very weird place in the Australian theatre landscape somewhere between producer and critic, emerging and established, between fan and assessor, audient and philanthropist, administrator and promoter. It’s not due to a lack of rigor – or ability to commit to one thing. My attention is not diluted nor compromised because of my sprawling embrace of all things art and culture. In fact, it’s intensified. There is little else I could imagine that could exercise my heart, my mind so intensely and so perfectly.

There has been, since 2012 a drop in my ability or willingness to flex my public muscle as what some see as a “critic.” Namely a series of very distinct, personal attacks, a death threat and general occasional social isolation which sometimes has been warranted. However, my passionate engagement has not stopped though it has steadied. I feel less inclined to dig into the finer silt of an argument regarding art… because in my experience it too often dissolves into an ugly personal attack of “who do you think you are anyway?” That line of attack, I felt inclined to respond to with equal vim and vigor stating my claims and justifying my right to an opinion, a voice, a position.

But now I no longer feel inclined to get muddy in this silt.

I’d avidly read and unpick Alison Croggon’s Theatre notes comments with eager attention:
http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com.au/

I’d watch the well handled disputes on Jane Howard’s blog:
http://noplain.wordpress.com/

I’d watch as the Sydney theatre critics became a safe and watery horizon of obvious mainstream platitudes and see the rise in popularity of what I personally refer to the “marketing blogs” containing sweet sentences of praise for any production providing a free ticket – without any hint of an argument or perspective with grunt or muscle. It’s easy to be in the soft safe nest of fawning reportage – much harder to try and move the conversation into broader perspective. Much harder to exclaim the nakedness of the emperor. Much more painful when your truth has you burnt at the stake.

The thing is we all get it wrong.

Artists. Critics. Producers. Audiences. Funding bodies.

Everyone.

Everyone gets something wrong sometimes.

Sometimes we speak too soon. Sometimes we don’t speak soon enough. Sometimes we use the wrong words. Express an idea the wrong way. Sometimes we misjudge, misunderstand, miscommunicate. Sometimes we use the wrong forum or medium. No one gets it right all the time.

What matters most is not how often we get it wrong or get it right – after all art is largely about pushing boundaries – it’s about how we recover, how we resolve differences, how we admit when we’ve gotten it wrong. How we stand up when we know we are right.

Last week Australianplays.org posted an essay by Jana Perković http://australianplays.org/the-australian-bad-play

“Apocalypse stories in which the plot centres around romantic triangles and suburban drug-taking. Four-handers in which none of the characters talk to each other. ‘Issue’ plays in which current political events are lightly fictionalised, their very existence meant to be the heart of the drama. Or: recent creative-writing graduate departs for a year of backpacking and reality; the drama hovers gently between ‘loss of Australian innocence’ and reportage, not quite hitting either note. Working-class people die of abortion, drug use, broken-homeness and living in outer suburbs. Arts worker returns home and spends the entire play in subtext-laden silence at the family table. Four people sit in the evocative Australian landscape and talk about art. Four people in the big city talk about politics. Three or four teenagers talk like teenagers do: no plot.

I’d like to introduce you to Australian bad plays. All of them, however disparate they may seem, have failed in the same way – the Australian way. Plays of this kind appear on dozens of Australian stages every week between Wednesday evening and Sunday afternoon. And at the end of each one, the audience comes out of the theatre saying to each other, politely, but without conviction: “Well, that was interesting, wasn’t it?” And the choice of timid non-commitment instead of passionate rage expressed here, outside of our half-dozen hypothetical theatres, is only another instance of the rhetorical substitution of niceness for truth that had happened inside. The failure of the Australian play is the same as the failure of the Australian dinner conversation, television discussions, and public debates. Not all Australian plays, dinner conversations, and public debates fail in their purpose; but when they do, they fail similarly.”

The most interesting aspect of this essay is the idea of “Australian failure.”

Perkovic is asking a broader question of culture – suggesting a nation propensity for conflict avoidance, or an acceptance of the repressed and a denial of confrontation. Is this true? Could it be true? Is there a cautiousness in Australian playwriting – or is the cautiousness in Australian play production which leads to a series of new works to demonstrate a stylistic or thematic disconnect with conflict, action, confrontation?

Unfortunately the conversation has been derailed by several factors – the ethics of siting an unpublished, unproduced work Perkovic obtained in her role as literary manager is one, another the robust and relentless tone and scale of the essay: it feels personal, not academic.

Since the 29th of May when the essay was launched, it has been edited, sections omitted, has stirred 30 or so comments on the australianplays.org site and countless other threads on personal groups and Facebook pages.

This afternoon Tom Healey issued an apology and response: http://australianplays.org/an-apology-and-a-response

I’m left wondering – will this apology and response be enough? Has there been so much damage done? What is the damage? Reputational? Industrial? Can we ever have a difficult conversation about art if:

1. We always play the man and not the ball?
2. We never allow anyone – artists or critics – to make a mistake?
3. We can’t in a civil and respectful way engage with mistakes and try to lead by example?

What I am coming to the realisation is this: perhaps we as a culture are not ready to have a critical conversation?
Perhaps we are too fragile, too angry about the state of our respective fields (critics often underpaid, under resourced, disrespected and artists often underpaid, under resourced, disrespected) to actually address the issue of art, of culture for the benefit of current and future thinkers and makers.

Perhaps there should be no discussion.

What then?

Would we all be happier?

There has always been something in me that has preferred the road less traveled. Perhaps it was the wild and meandering bush walks with my grandfather when I was a young girl, or perhaps the fear of suburban numbness or apathetic complacency resulting in a death bed drenched in tears of regret. And despite a socialist/atheist upbringing I’ve always held the Protestant work ethic in high regard: hard work will be rewarded, and is indeed a reward in itself. I’ve thought if something was worth having, you had to earn it eg, good bread comes from kneading, good friendships come from the quality and quantity of time spent together, the pride one has in one’s work is directly related to the amount of effort invested.

I don’t know why.

I guess it’s just how/who I am.

It’s not really surprising that I also don’t believe, nor repeat, much of the cultural-cringe worthy sentiments from my industry peers. I’ve never really followed popular beliefs about anything, really. I don’t follow fashion, I couldn’t tell you who the top rated musicians are nor what movies are out and who is in them… I’m not panicked by trends.

I’m busy thinking about other things. Not “more important” things. There’s no judgement here. I just think about other things…

Recently some of my peers/colleagues have been making noises about moving overseas to pursue their careers. Requests for letters of support/reference, and I am more than happy to oblige – after all I am proud of the community I am a part of.

What I’m not a fan of is the sledging of “Australia” as some sort of cultural desert. I don’t feel any need to compare and contrast in favour of anywhere else but here, nor do I feel the urge to enter into a discussion of why there or here is better. It’s different. Different is interesting – but that doesn’t make it better or worse.

I think a really brazen example of this is the recent outburst by Melissa George:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/melissa-george-has-meltdown-on-the-morning-show-after-hosts-mentioned-home-and-away/story-fndo317g-1226514684954

Its a fairly hostile reaction, really, isn’t it?

But this isn’t about Melissa George. It could be, but its not.

This is about culture.

It is true that Australia has a population one tenth of the size of the US. We have a younger (white) history than the UK. We are different. Our cultural identity is different. No doubt. That doesn’t mean its less than, or inferior.

To claim that we live in a cultural desert is to deny 60,000 years of continuing art and culture from the indigenous people of this place. To claim we are “cultureless” and without an industry is to deny and dismiss the hard work of hundreds and thousands of Australia’s artists -writers/directors/actors/producers, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, founding directors, board members, arts workers that have come before us -such a statement denies history and demonstrates ignorance and arrogance. To claim that Australia is without culture, denies that culture is a living thing which is forever growing and evolving… that is is in process – not solid and finite.

Here are some things I think:

If I shit on my industry (ie my artistic community), I’m shitting on myself. I am a contributor to the industry, what I do, how I behave, what I choose shapes it. I am ultimately responsible for how it works or doesn’t work. I am not a passive recipient, but an active participant.

All places have their pros and cons – there is no perfect place. People are hurt, hearts broken, disappointments felt, artists go hungry, genius unacknowledged and unrecognised all over the world. Some places have bright orange cheese as a part of their culture – some even sell cheese in a can – not wrong, necessarily – just different.

If I am not a part of the solution, I’m part of the problem. There is one thing to be the person who spots and articulates the flaw in something, but if that is as far as it goes: If I give up and surrender, or worse – repeat the words over and over again -I would be re-enforcing what is, and not dreaming up what could be.

I’ll put my money where my mouth is: I’ll pay local, living playwrights before I buy rights for an overseas play.

I’ll put my voice where my heart is: speaking in my accent, my thoughts, what I believe – “local” is not a euphemism for “provincial.”

Sometimes it’s tough. But I think it would be tough anywhere. But I always prefer the idea of banding together, not tearing each other apart, to make things better.

I must admit sometimes I fantasize that there is a place where I don’t have to work this hard, this long, this much – and then I think – if it came easily to me, I wouldn’t value it, and I wouldn’t want it anyway.

I’m staying here. I’m going to continue to make work here.

Not because I’m scared to work in other countries, nor because I lack ambition, but because I have huge, aching ambition: one day the thought that Australian artists thought their country was a cultural desert will be a laughable notion.

I’m staying here.

It’s grant writing time – today there are grants due in an there is a strange tension in the air – emails are answered in curt monosyllablic sentences, phones answered with unexpected vocal volume, facebook is fairly uninspiring and twitter is slow and rudimentary. We are all huddled listening to our thoughts, pecking away at keyboards racing to be coherent and elligible by the deadline.

I have given myself a 20 minute window to write this. I’m not re-reading, spell checking this. This is a raw post. It’s a reminder to myself and anyone else feeling that sneaky, self-concious nasty self-sabbotaging doubt a long application form can trigger:

* Writing grants is about the possibility of a dream/idea/image being made reality. It is about potential collaborations, potential experiments, its about solidifying in text form your wish or vision.

* Having a project to pitch already says that you are an artist. The grant application or pitch is about sharing that vision, so others may get excited and support you.

* Just because you can see around you many great leaders and many great artists does not mean that they will automatically be given the money you are applying for. If your project is worth your time thinking about a project, it is worth your time writing about it and it is worth the time you invest in doing it – and if you give all you can that puts you in the running.

* You are an artist. That means you are good with money – you can make $100 stretch into something that is worth thousands. Paint, canvas are just the basic stuff – the artist makes it art. What you have is unique and special – and only you can do it and make it the way you make it.

* You are an artist, you dare to dream or imagine things as they could be or were or will be.

* You are an artist, you want to contribute something beautiful and meaningful to your field and practice.

* You are an artist, you are excellent at seeing the big picture, confronting big questions, involving yourself in epic ideas.

* You are an artist, not a sports person there is not an ultimate or best there is a “best fit.” It’s like a gambler thinking that they are in control of everything – nonsense. Do your best. Do something. There are no guarantees, there are guidelines – follow them the best way you know how. If you do stuff up – you’ll know better for next time.

* Not getting a grant because you’re in a field of amazing artists, does not need to be a depressing thing – who knows you may love their work and partner with them next round.

* You are not alone. Everyone is feeling this pressure – and that’s because they care too.

* If you don’t get this grant you might get another – or the project might happen anyway – or might happen differently.

* Your job is to give. Your job is to provide stimulation, love to an audience. Your job is to be a visionary. your job is to create spaces and places for people to think and feel and question and confront. Your job is to give people a reason to turn off their worries or contfront themselves . Your job is to give beauty to the world to soothe it – or to uncover the horror so we are not afraid anymore. your job is to make things so that we as a society and a civilisation know how to live. Your job is to choose what nad who you invest your time, curiosity and talent in.

Above all else, your job is to be brave.

Your job is to look inside yourself then give what you can. You are an artist. You are a leader of thoughts and emotions.

Do your job.

Eat a sandwich, have a cup of tea. Walk out and feel the sun on your neck. Then get back to it. Get it done.

And remember what you are doing is worth it.

This short note is completely inspired by Sam Strong’s recent Griffin newsletter:

*****

Dear Theatre Lover,

Sam

*****

There are of course the obvious things to say about love in the theatre. In one rehearsal many years ago directing Paul Weingott and Jessica Chapnik, Paul has said with the wisdom that elders in our community possess: “All theatre is about love, the pursuit of, or the lack of.” And in that moment – so much of my perspective changed. I stopped believing that theatre was based on conflict… I had forgotten to go one step further. All conflict comes from the desire for or the absence of love.

But that is content. And as an observer I’ve learnt a lot about love: the mess and pain of it – the universality of it.

But the practice of theatre has taught me something else.

The special and momentary connection between people: intense and completely focussed and engaged in a Piscies gaze: director/actor, director/SM, SM/actor, actor/audience.

Commitment and dedication: to turn up, despite the weather or internal fluctuation. The discipline of staying to hear what’s being said or shown- even when it is difficult or ugly or confusing. the importance of being open and honest to make sure you are on the same page, travelling in the same direction for the same goal.

And of course, letting go – that Sam speaks of in the final moments of lights dimming and bump out completed, props and costumes packed up to be stored and maybe revisited some other day. But in that also the letting go of initial concepts, first ideas, expectations. The surrender to what is and will be – the surrender to other people’s notions or experience. And also to forgive – short comings or missed expectations.

It’s easy to be in love. Warm glowing brightness – lovely words, beauty everywhere. When the you are in love with the theatre – and it makes you feel good, and validated and supported and when you feel like you are and will conquer anything – it’s easy.

And other times it’s not. It can be lonely and harsh and brutal and confronting. Foyers can feel like suffocating deserts as much and as often as they can feel like a fairy flossy cloud in a Katy Perry film clip. It’s easy to feel used up, ignored. Easy to feel envious of what others have in their love.

But I think the thing with love – deep love – the type that is not reliant on the moon or beautiful things – is that it endures – sometimes a little tarnished, or knotted or ragged, it endures.

Sometimes I flirt with other jobs. I fantasize about being a lawyer – or a florist. I weigh up the pros and cons of my relationship with the theatre. I envy what others have in their relationships with their jobs that aren’t in the theatre. Sometimes I might even holiday in another artistic genre. I might take a “break.” Dabble in adventure in other worlds.

But I seem to always come back.

And what it has taught me is that regardless of the momentary struggle and mess, the times when I feel my heart in knots, my thoat full of lumps, when I feel too tired or too old- when I think I’ve fallen out of love with it. When it seems pointless and directionless and unending, I pause. I will continue to go, continue to make and engage with it until I fall back in love again.

And of course, I do.

And I know I will.

Because it is true love – not a fling or a distraction. Not an infatuation, nor obsession, or a brief lustful dalliance. But quiet, strong, stubborn love. Because I know for certain, I am indeed, as Sam refers to us, a theatre lover.

Follow The Muse

It had been a tough weekend. The usual existential crises, and rambunctious joy that only a hearty dose of Eurovision can bring. And so it was necessary to take a break – a tea break – a tea break of reassuring proportions.

I frequently exercise the right for a “lady-date” with my friends – one where the focus is on us, doing stuff we want – often in pretty dresses – often involving fancy cake or flavoured tea. On Sunday my lady date involved devonshire tea at Esther’s Table with artist Emma Magenta. I popped on my favourite blue frock, gathered a girlfriend in each arm and trundled us off in my ancient car across the great divide (Parramatta Road) to Annandale.

The story of Emma Magenta is a wonderful one – and I’ll re-tell in a second hand fashion.

Working in Berkelouw books, after completing a creative arts degree, Magenta decided to re-claim her joy for drawing. Instead of weighing herself with all the expectation and theory of art school, she posed herself the artistic question of what it means to be joyful in making art – and retraced her steps to her childhood. To technically un-know all she’d been taught she decided to start drawing with her left hand – pictures of whimsy and delight and joy. Over a period of time, pictures created on the backs of brown paper bags (bookstore staples) she pinned them behind the counter – and slowly accumulated a following. Some had delighted in the “talent of children” in reference to her illustrations – mistaking her challenge. And then, one day a publisher offered her a book deal and she was published.

And then, she was offered to a web series:

and now onto another film project (of mysterious/secret contents)

It’s a rags to riches, creative fairytale narrative…

For me it was about a year ago, during a particular and difficult time, when my dear friend Sally handed me The Gradual Demise of Phillipa Finch, wrapped in shiny purple paper. It was a wonderful oasis for me during an emotional drought (that had preceeded an emotional flood). I had recently been told that I was too sensitive – a label I have always prided myself on – despite the fact it often gets me into trouble/turmoil.

Emma Magenta had somehow presented an internal, emotional world as a beautiful fact, not a flaw – and I turned the pages of this pink book with delight and wonder, and instantly became a fan.

In a world that feels so often, so brutal – that claims if you show your emotional side, it’s a sign of weakness, I was relieved, utterly. Completely.

Emma Magenta herself is a warm and quirky woman – an artist, a mother – with a plain way of speaking and sparkling eyes – with a robust presence (the type you’d expect from a female cage-fighter) and with an incidentally singing voice which is sweet and velvety (a moment of Fleetwood Mac appeared in her reading)… for $20 we received a cup of tea, a brief and personal introduction, some reading, some tea and scones and a portrait by Emma of each of us.

Here’s a taste from her recent TED Talk

I buy art with my heart. My house has a series of works by Max Gosling, Tim Andrew, David Sichler and even an oil by Catherine Zimdahl… and now two Emma Magenta’s. I had decided to buy Sally a picture… and she bought me this titled “Never love anyone who isn’t stronger than your own darkness”:

And for me it is also a reminder that art is there to help us to connect, to feel, to think, to be playful, and dare to be ourselves.

I love Currency House – and I have the bookcase to prove it. I possess many, many of the Platform Papers and books including the most recent and exciting history by Dr Nick Herd Networking (on the development of Australian TV). Regardless of how busy I am (and at the moment I am too busy for my own good: working with playwrights, writing grants, directing new work, blogging and opening a new space The Arts Platform on Devonshire Street) I will always make time for the Arts and Public Life Breakfasts hosted by Currency House. They are a brilliant and vital part of Australian cultural life and I recommend and urge all artists and corporate high-flyers I know to attend.

Yesterday’s address delivered by Sally Burton.
Philanthropy: Your Legacy


“The Greeks left us many things to admire, among them architecture, theatre and philanthropy. Philanthropy is still alive today but who are the givers and how much is given? Lottery West commissioned the University of WA to research the patterns of giving in West Australia and in response to their findings Giving West was founded in 2011. Sally Burton, theatre producer, and custodian of the Richard Burton estate, is a member of the board of Giving West, and will talk about where we are today and her own connection to philanthropy and the arts.”

Some may know – some may not know – but every year I donate a portion of my income to arts organisations: some I am also affiliated with in some capacity. I have written about it previously here:
https://classic.augustasupple.com/2011/06/the-arts-in-australia-give-a-shit-give-some-cash/
This year as the End of Financial Year approaches, I have three main organisations I will be supporting – to show my affection, my faith and my unconditional support:
GRIFFIN THEATRE COMPANY http://www.griffintheatre.com.au/support-us/
SHH CENTRE 4 HYBRID ARTS http://shh.org.au/
SHOPFRONT CONTEMPORARY ARTS AND PERFORMANCE http://shopfront.org.au/about-shopfront/donate/

I am an artist. I don’t have a fancy car. I don’t have a stable wage. I don’t own a house. My car is ancient. I don’t have a beach house. Nor do I holiday in Majorca – in fact – I rarely holiday… but one way I feel connected and as though I am giving back to my industry is by supporting those who I believe in, and appreciate. It’s what I do. I have been donating to organisations since I moved out of home at the age of 17 (before that time I volunteered for lots of charities in my home town: Red Cross, Salvation Army – I headed door-knocking appeals for Lions and Rotary and held fundraisers for local community groups in need in my teenage position of the President of Interact). I am not from money, not at all, they haven’t been able to work for about 20 years. I say this not for pity. But it is a fact that gives you a context about my situation.

NOW, TO THE BREAKFAST…

Going into this breakfast, I felt awkward. Perhaps I was the only one in the room who had voiced my severe disappointment at the decision NOT to award The Richard Burton Award for 2011:
https://classic.augustasupple.com/2011/10/what-the-media-release-no-richard-burton-award-for-new-plays-to-be-awarded-in-2011/

Introduced as vivacious and energetic by her friends and colleagues at the Breakfast, I eagerly awaited hearing Sally Burton speak.

And what I saw before me was not at all what I expected. I had expected a call to arms from a passionate and robust woman – a visionary. Instead, a watery and difficult to hear address which contained information which could have been easily compiled from a Wikipedia search on Philanthropy… and difficult to hear despite a well-rounded British accent. The address itself was… well… largely irrelevant to us Eastern States folk – as she spoke mainly of the money in Western Australia (due to mining) and how the multi-millionaires in the west are not great philanthropists. She also was speaking to high wealth individuals – and I believe that philanthropy is NOT only the recreational sport or strategic profile building of millionaires, but also the altruistic act of the humble, everyday person.

I got the distinct impression that instead of an inspirational altruistic and passionate vision, that this was lost and reduced to tax management or financial dick-measuring.

Furthermore the main impression I had of her message in her address was that its important that high wealth individuals who give do so publicly so that their rich friends can follow suit.

I was waiting for a sense of why support art. Why support art when there are people living with chronic illness, or living in poverty? When most of Australia’s indigenous people are not living as long as white Australians?

I was waiting for the speech that gave a sense of why support arists- and for those who might want to read (an old but still relevant) survey on the lifestyle and financial situations of artists please check OZCO’s paper out:
http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/resources/reports_and_publications/subjects/artists/dontgiveupyourdayjob

Instead we were told of how being a philanthropist is a humane thing to do. It is a social duty of those with wealth.

She spoke about the Greek origins of the word philanthropy, capping it off with “and the Greeks really knew how to write a play.”

I winced like I’d been stabbed. Cultural cringe… imperial leakage?

One brave person who eloquently asked the “elephant in the room” question something like:
“What was the strengths or weaknesses of the scripts last year which meant that you didn’t award the Richard Burton Award for playwriting?”

Her response was along the lines of:
“We had the great fortune of in the first year awarding the prize to an exceptional play by Caleb Lewis for Clinchfield. He set the bar very high. Last year we read 110 plays, and none of them, with my hand on my heart were worth $30,000.”

OUTRAGED!

Here’s a few point to consider:

1. The inaugural guidelines of the Richard Burton award (2010) stated:
“The competition is open to full length, unproduced plays which have been written in the 12 months leading up to the closing date of the Award. Plays that have been commissioned by a company are not eligible for the Award”
http://aussietheatre.com.au/news/entries-open-for-playwriting-prize/
This year the guidelines have changed.

2. The winning play, Clinchfield by Caleb Lewis was produced in 2009 by Flinders University (where he was teaching at the time) and is quoted as having “played to sold-out audiences” (though it must be note that this was not a professional production, but a student production – this show had the benefit of being put before an audience- whereas many plays submitted to awards, have not.)
http://blogs.flinders.edu.au/flinders-news/2009/08/04/play-leaves-questions-hanging/

3. MANY, MANY playwrights and plays I am aware of submitted their work to that award, which followed the guidelines in 2011. Many of those plays have gone on for production nationally and internationally. AND have won other national theatre awards. I’m not going to name them, I don’t need to.

FURTHERMORE: It’s no secret that I love Caleb Lewis – and this is not having a go at him – he deserves (as many playwrights in this county do) recognition, money and support. I was absolutely thrilled for him. Absolutely. But a recent WA review of Clinchfield has stated:
“Whether Clinchfield can make the grade remains to be seen… Clinchfield may not yet be ready for a wider public, but at least it has a path to success those other shows lacked.”
http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/entertainment/a/-/entertainment/13217508/theatre-review-clinchfield-by-caleb-lewis/

My point is that reading and judging plays is a very personal thing. There is no perfect new script and not awarding a play on its potential is absolutely narrow-minded, and egregiou.

Playwrights – especially those not commissioned and without guaranteed production – have a hard task of writing, especially as theatre is absolutely a collaborative artform.

What Sally Burton failed to recognise is her power in giving a “message” to playwrights – a message of “not good enough, no money until you can do it on your own anyway.” It is, in my view COMPLETELY COUNTER the spirit of philanthropy. This award is a strings attached donation – which I think is one sure way to smother risk in art, art in writing and ultimately culture. To have a wealthy British woman, who’s inherited wealth has gone on perpetuating the “ROYAL” court, ballet, theatre in the UK – tell our writers that they’re not good enough is a cultural cringe moment of the HIGHEST degree.

So now the award is changed. No longer $30,000 for a play to head towards production. It’s now $15,000 for 2 writer to DEVELOP a play.

OUTRAGED! (Again!)

How many more “DEVELOPMENTS” do our writers need? And what is this saying about all the companies that are there to assist play development? OZCO, State Arts agencies, Playwriting Peak bodies not enough, does Sally Burton want to join that too?
If anything, THAT development option SHOULD have been given last year if they couldn’t find a ready play. If the aim of refusing to award the money last year was to inspire the artists to excel, she has countered this by lowering the stakes into creating this as a “development” fund. To do that THIS year lowers the impetus and the stakes for the writers – after all $15,000 is only 5 more than the Griffin Theatre Company (and they aim to provide production) AND The Philip Parsons who offer the same.

It’s her money. She can do what she wants with it: but I don’t think Sally Burton realises the symbology of her decisions to the playwriting community, and ultimately to the (potential and established) philanthropic community.

What feels most difficult about this, is that when someone has extreme mega-wealth and when there is a sector in much need: the conversation always seems one sided. It feels like Sally Burton is all powerful and not to be criticized. It could easily appear to bite the hand that feeds – I don’t ever expect that Sally would ever feed a mangey dog like me, I’ve been living off scraps for so long, I doubt I could stomach a caviar dinner and so, I have nothing to lose.

But I’m going to end on this:

I read around 200 scripts a year. By the end of this year I will have worked with (developed, directed, produced) 25 playwrights. All this is without anyone’s financial support (government included.) I KNOW first hand how hard playwrights work. I appreciate the hard work, the vision, the passion, the sacrifice and time it takes to write and submit. I understand the personal agony of rejection. And all I can say to our playwrights is – keep going.

Please, playwrights. Swamp Sally Burton’s competition with quality, passionate innovative plays that confuse and confound her. Show her just how amazing you are.
Entries close Fri 6 July 2012
http://www.bsstc.com.au/for-artists/the-richard-burton-award-for-playwriting/

Ah… literature. What is it good for?

Steven Pinker, in a recent talk claims that the world has become more peaceful and that we are living in a relatively less violent era than before. Though I don’t exactly agree with him on every point (aspects of sample size and specifics of what is considered a “violent” act) – I do find it fascinating that the two most significant pacifying influences are the formation of government and the enlightenment (with its increased literacy and civilising artistic pursuits).

What more justification could one want for the annual The Premier’s Literary Awards?

Pinker is a fine speaker – and should you desire a well dot-pointed lecture – I recommend watching this whilst consuming your morning toast and tea.

The bits that echoed and eased my resolve is the civilising affect art (and in particular being in the presence of others speaking) can have on a society to build compassion and empathy. This is truly one of the many attributes of theatre. And I believe writers are at the very centre of that – they speak to us across time, generations and geography.

So of course we need writers – and writers need money.

The need money for shelter and food and to relax (strangely, writers seem to use money to buy writing time – they’re not often at the track backing a feverish pup with their cash).

And so the outstanding and unbelievable ignorance of the impact of withdrawing such an award – as in the case of the Queensland Literary award by axing it to save money in 2012.

Read this and be outraged: http://www.couriermail.com.au/entertainment/books/premier-campbell-newmans-scrapping-of-queensland-premiers-literary-awards/story-e6freqkx-1226318300611

And you may now see how Campbell Newman has outted himself in the artistic community as being a false economist.

A country fails to invest in its artists at its own peril.

Luckily, despite a controversial hiccup in 2010, (read here: https://classic.augustasupple.com/2010/05/were-ready-for-a-bun-fight-not-the-nsw-premiers-literary-awards/ ) the NSW Government isn’t so short-sighted. 2012 there is a raft of literary awards up for grabs.

I personally don’t agree with awards – but I do believe in symbols of encouragement and money for artists – so, I guess… uh.. in someways I do agree with awards.

My hope is that all the brilliant playwrights I know and have worked with (and I love) absolutely swamp and confound the judges with choice – I hope the writing community is seen as a huge and impressive force in our cultural landscape.

Because writers are brilliant and essential… and we need them to keep us civilised.

******************************************************

The Premier’s Literary Awards

The NSW Premier’s Literary Awards have a proud history, both in celebrating achievement by Australian writers and in helping to establish values and standards in Australian literature.

The NSW Government is committed to increasing public engagement with the arts. Administered by the State Library of NSW in association with Arts NSW, the Premier’s Literary Awards provide an opportunity to highlight the importance of literacy and to encourage everyone to enjoy and learn from the work of our writers. These annual awards honour distinguished achievement by Australian writers, contribute to Australia’s artistic reputation, and draw international attention to some of our best writers and to the cultural environment that nurtues them.

Past winners have included such notable writers as Peter Carey, David Malouf AO, Elizabeth Jolley, Thomas Keneally AO and Helen Garner.

Total prize money for the Premier’s Literary Awards in 2012, including sponsored awards, is up to $285,000. Writers and illustrators whose works are nominated must be living Australian citizens or persons holding permanent resident status.
Call for Nominations

Nominations are now being sought for the following 2012 Literary awards:

The Christina Stead Prize
The UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing
The Douglas Stewart Prize
The Kenneth Slessor Prize
The Patricia Wrightson Prize
The Ethel Turner Prize
The Play Award
The Scriptwriting Award
The Community Relations Commission for a multicultural NSW Award

Nominations closing date: 5 pm June 1 2012

To apply head to:
http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/about/awards/premiers_awards/premiers_literary_awards.html

Some people look at a few hundred dollars as the cost of a flight to New Zealand, or a modest bill at a fancy restaurant, or perhaps the cost of a cheap suit or an outrageous hair treatment from an innerwest hairdresser. I don’t. A few hundred dollars for me is the start of something new.

I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I’ve not really been the lonely holiday/pricey food/cheap suit/hair treatment type of person.

The options for me as an artist are few and far between – if I wait for the results of funding rounds – or to be granted a residency somewhere – I will never ever do anything.

I’m not good at that.

So a few hundred dollars and a wild notion that what I would do is buy some space off my old employers to run my own sessions, my own residency… and I called it WRITE HERE, WRITE NOW.

The idea is to respond actively to playwrights – to answer some questions I have about writing. Questions like: How do I start directing new work before it has already had the life and vigor work-shopped out of it? How to I nurture and connect with playwrights on a practical level? What can I offer that no one else can? What if playwrights were priviledged and supported before they even wrote their great play? What if playwrights had some one to come to with a wild and dangerous idea – and what if they were greeted with a “yes, tell me more” rather than silence or rejection or a “answer these questions to fit our criteria” stuff? What if playwrights were asked to write on the spot? What if playwrights were given spontaneously stimuli and challenges to write to spec? What if writers were selected not by a project – but by their interest in a potential project? How to you make playwriting immediate? How do you write collegiate? What happens when you confine the writer in a time and space? Writer’s block or writers unblock?

So I sent out this call:

“Write Here, Right Now will be encourage a select group of playwrights to write on site, within a finite period of time – this is a hot, ready multi-playwright project for those who love writing to spec, writing in the company of others and who love a deadline. (Or have a “Just do it!” attitude) If you have any questions or need more information, don’t hesitate to send me an email augusta@augustasupple.com … I’d love to hear from you.

To submit your expression of interest: Please provide the following by 6pm on the 7th March to augusta@augustasupple.com:
• Your contact details (Name, mobile number & email address)
• A sample of your writing (2 pages)
• A brief bio (1/2 page)
• A brief response outlining what interests you about this project (1/2 page)

And I hired a space.

I received over 150 submissions from Sydney writers. I selected 10 (double what I expected) and I held a bonus group for 15 invited writers who weren’t selected for the monday night sessions, for a one night only sample of how I work and what I like to work on.

A response came from one of the “bonus” writers who blogged about the experience here http://ildikosusany.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/day-sixty-two-of-366/ (I really recommend her blog)

“The highlight of my day… was a most splendid and insightful writing session lead by Augusta Supple as a side-project to her Write Here, Write Now writing program. I am ever so indebted to her for inviting me to be a part of such a perfect evening of writing and sharing. Augusta set us off on an imaginative, creative – and I must say easy – journey of writing and devising. I say easy, because, as Augusta mentioned, sometimes as writers we get “stuck” or we make writing seem harder than it is (well, sometimes it is)! However, with just a few simple exercises or a piece of stimulus – a song here, a smell there, a fistful of words/names/adjectives/locations/fears/wishes scribbled furiously on a series of place cards, we can have a whole play and a whole world of creativity within the palms of our hands! Even passing around a contrived text message conversation and adding to the dialogue can get the ideas flowing! Stream of consciousness writing is such a powerful, whimsical and productive way of getting something, anything, down on paper – and it can be such a perfect way to get the left brain working and to get you moving towards something big, new, exciting and… unexpected! I will definitely be using some of these wonderful exercises in the workshops I am running with refugees in Brisbane for the creation of a new theatre piece created and performed by the participants themselves!
It was so lovely and special to meet with other writers and their work was incredible and beautiful and poetic and mesmerising – I have my work cut-out for me and a lot of learning ahead of me on this journey! It was so magnificent and intimate – to hear the work of others and to share in something poetic and thoughtful and magical. I loved it! What a night! Augusta is a gem and I wish her all the best with her Write Here, Write Now project! I was very pleased and very humbled that she follows my blog and it’s good to hear that people enjoy sharing in this journey – and in some cases, being a part of it! I learnt a great deal and I wrote a great deal! Additionally, I am re-re-enthused about getting back on the horse and getting this play to a play-reading standard! Whatever that may be.”

We met, drank tea, wrote wrote wrote. Shared work. After two months of writing and meeting and pitching and emailing… the initial face-to-face sessions are over. And in two Thursdays time, we will be testing out the works via the voices of generous actors in a reading situation. I’m still not sure what sections will be offered, how much or what will be read… but it’s been really wonderful to share this time.

And I’m looking forward to the reading of the new material, Thursday week.

Here’s a little bit about the writers: Pretty interesting people, I think you’ll agree?

Melita Rowston
A graduate of VCA (BFA-Painting ‘97), NIDA (Grad Dip-Directing ‘00) and UTS (MACreative Writing ’10), Melita has directed, dramaturged and written for many independent theatre, dance and cabaret productions.
Melita’s plays include ‘Crushed,’(New Theatre’s Spare Room Season ’12), ‘The diver’ (short), ‘SPEW,’ (Darlinghurst Theatre ’04), ‘Sugarbomb,’ (TRS@ The Old Fitz ’04), ‘Solitude in Blue,’ (Griffin stablemates ’02), ‘Swing Girl,’ (Griffin stablemates ’01) and ‘Night Reflections,’ (NIDA ’00). Melita was a resident playwright at Griffin Theatre Company in 2005/06. From 2007- 2010, Melita trained as a screenwriter and novelist at UTS. She is continuing to develop the screenplay (‘Solitude in Blue’) and fictional memoir (‘The art of failure’), commenced during her Masters. Also in development are text and illustrations for a children’s book, a one-woman show: ‘The Wonder from Downunder: The search for Gippsland’s Giant Worm,’ and a new full-length play: ‘Goodnight Moon.’

Jasper Marlow
Jasper Marlow’s resume encompasses credits as a producer, playwright and screenwriter, across film,
theatre and commercials. His first full-length play Zetland debuted at the 2010 Sydney Fringe Festival where it was nominated for Best New Work at the Fringe Awards. He has been a member of ATYP’s Fresh INK ensemble 2009/2010 and received mentorship from Lachlan Philpot, Matthew Whittet and Jane Fitzgerald. An avid theatre writer, his short-plays have been performed in Tasmania and New South Wales. These include: ‘Deep Space 9mm’ (Onefest-Hobart, 2009) ‘Stories from the 428’ (Sidetrack Theatre,2010) ‘Zetland’(Sidetrack Theatre, 2010) and Tell it like it isn’t (ATYP, 2011). Trained at the Australian Film Television and Radio School, his debut short-film ‘Reception’ has been an Official Selection in both local and overseas Film Festivals. Most recently it won Best Thriller/Horror at the Hollywood International Student Film Festival where Jasper was invited to attend the ceremony and received the award from legendary Actor Edward Asner (Up, El- Dorado). He is currently working on a new play and short-film which, fingers crossed, will be completed before the 2012 Armageddon.

Carolyn Burns
Carolyn’s first two plays, Careers for Attractive Ladies (2010) and Mongrel (2011) were both official selections of the Sydney Fringe Festival. As a 2011 member of the Australian Theatre for Young People’s playwright development program, Fresh Ink, her monologue ‘Stick’ was selected for inclusion in The One Sure Thing and published by Currency Press as part of The Voices Project 2011-2. She is a member of Alana Hicks’ online comedy collective The Kvetch Set, and her screenplay, Detroit, is a finalist in the 2012 Australian Film Festival’s upcoming FutureFilm screenplay competition. Carolyn graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a Master’s in Literature and Modernity in 2009. She also holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from the University of Sydney, where she is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of English, conducting research into adaptation and twentieth century lyric drama. While at the University of Sydney, Carolyn has been extensively involved in student publications, writing regularly for Honi Soit and The Bull, and served as an editor of Hermes, the University of Sydney Union’s annual literary anthology. She is currently developing a situation comedy about a high school debating team (pilot episode in post-production) and a longer play about primordial monsters who avenge murders in suburban Australia.

Georgia Symons
Georgia is a writer, director and producer for theatre, film, print and radio. She has studied writing in its various forms at NIDA (Young Writers and Directors Studio), Metroscreen (ArtStart Young Screenwriters’ Program), UTS, and as a member of ATYP’s Fresh Ink Young Writers’ Ensemble. Her first two short works for theatre, Mollycoddled and Dear Diary Today I… were performed at the 2011 Short + Sweet Theatre Festival, Sydney. She was subsequently awarded the Best New Talent Award in the festival, and Mollycoddled received another production in Auckland. She has had her work published twice in the UTS Writers’ Anthology, and once with Currency Press as part of The Voices Project. Her monologue Twisted featured in The One Sure Thing, produced by ATYP. In 2011, Georgia’s film projects included All Bound (producer), Death By Diamonds (producer, costume designer), Sister Death (production design, 1st AD), Tell (writer, director, editor, sound designer), and Honourable Discharge (production design). Her short film, Tell, was nominated for Best Experimental Film at the Golden Eye Film Festival, and pre-production on her next project as writer/director, Shoebox, begun in January. Her theatre directing credits include Beach (Timothy Daly, Fort Productions), Ruby Moon (Matt Cameron, Hatter Productions/Seymour Centre), Margin Walker (Luke Scholes, Short + Sweet Sydney), Dear Diary Today I… (Short + Sweet Sydney), and Dangerous Lenses (Brooke Robinson, Queen Street Studios residency). She has interned in various capacities at ABC Radio National, Belvoir Street Theatre and Griffin Theatre. Georgia also performs in poetry slams around Sydney. Georgia is currently working in production and development at ABC Radio National’s Radio Arts unit. She holds a Certificate III in Entertainment, Live Production and Events (Technical Production) and is studying a Bachelor of Arts in Communications (Media Arts and Production) and in International Studies at the University of Technology, Sydney.

James Pike
James Pike is an Australian playwright, cultural activist and labourer. He was born in Hornsby, Sydney in 1988.
His first work ‘Pendeo’ was performed by alumni of the American Academy of Dramatic Art (AADA) at both the Charles Jehlinger Theatre in Los Angeles and at the Edinburgh Festival in 2006. His lived and wrote in Aix, France in 2007 before undertaking a Bachelor of Communication (Theatre/Media) at Bathurst, NSW in 2008. His works ‘Fly in the Ointment’, ‘Archie’ and ‘Before and After Knockoff’ (all written in 2009) all received immediate performance while the latter was selected for the 2010 Sydney Fringe for performance at the New Theatre. Funding bodies ArtsOutWest and Local Stages supported a regional tour of the work. His short plays ‘The Crib Room’ (2006), ‘Bernard and Leon’ (2007) and full-length ‘Cotton’ (2011), ‘Ballad of a Locksmith’ (2010), ‘Penelope’ (2009) ‘The Unit’ (2007) are yet to be performed. His writing subjects unintentionally herald the lives of entrenched Australians and his style can be described as playful, symbolist and colloquial while retaining classical story design. His plays arehigh-staked and visceral with intention to move and provoke thought.
James works as dramaturg, facilitator and secretary for Desert Pea Media, an indigenous cultural development organisation operating in remote communities around the country. His travel and work in rural and indigenous environments has affected the subjects of his recent stories. He plans to base himself in Sydney while continuing expeditions to minute communities intermittently over the next few years. His current project is on the shearing industry and has taken him from Casterton, VIC to Collarenebri, NSW where he temporarily works as a rouseabout.

Guy Birks
My name is Guy Birks and I am a graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). I graduated from the NIDA Playwrights Studio in 2007 was then mentored for 2 years by Francesca Smith, then Director of the Playwrights Studio. Since then I have completed several plays – including We Do Invisible Mending, Visiting Hours are Over, and The Door that Does Not Open – and have had work performed at NIDA, the Powerhouse in Brisbane (with Arts Council funding) and in venues in Sydney. Currently, I am working on the text for a one woman musical play called Why Lions (and humans) Live Longer in Captivity, and my musical collaborator on this play is a post graduate student at the Conservatorium of Music. I am also about to workshop my one act play We Do Invisible Mending with actors Fiona Butler, Richard Hilliar and John Michael Burdon. I have been a member of the Australian Writer’s Guild for a number of years.

Alli Sebastian Wolf
At twenty six years old I have been quite lucky in my creative life; working as a visual artist, playwright and theatre maker I have been widely published, exhibited and performed. I have been supported by numerous grants and residancies and won prizes including the Patrick White Young Playwright Award, The Sydney Fringe Festival Best New Theatre Award and am currently on a Sydney Premiers Fellowship. My dioramas have been seen in national magazines and in solo shows in Sydney and Melbourne, winning prizes and receiving grants since 2009. I write for and creatively direct a performance collective Deep Sea Astronauts who are staples at arts and music festivals in Australia. My latest play The Importance of Being Ernest Dragons and Other Classic Tales As Told By An Octopus at the old Fitzroy Theatre, Sydney, opened to great response.

Melissa Lee Speyer
Melissa graduated from NIDA’s full-time Graduate Diploma in Playwriting in 2011. Her plays have been performed in Australia as part of NIDA’s Festival of Curious and Original Things, Griffin’s Festival of New Writing (24 Hour Play Project), Crash Test Drama in Newtown, Playtime in Kings Cross, Short & Sweet Short Play Festival and Playwriting Australia’s Kicking Down The Doors initiative.

Luke Carson
I am an emerging playwright in Sydney. I am currently writing a third draft of a full length play Second Time Around (It’s a play about sexuality, fidelity and a search for personal truth in a world built of image) dramaturged by Augusta Supple and she just directed Stephen Wilkinson in Boys’ Night as a part of Griffringe. I am also writing the first draft of a comedic play called That’s great … Now act gooder! Focusing on a one month rehearsal period leading up to opening night of a Narrabeen Amateur Dramatic Society production of Working Title. A devised play written by an anonymous writer and directed by the infamous Arthur Flagontout. N.A.D.S. is an independent amateur theatre company fighting to stay in the game. They are going through a name change from N.A.D.S. to N.A.D.S. replacing the amateur with actor. This boost in street cred along with the help of well-loved community actors and an E-Street star will hopefully put NADS on top. Welcome To Sydney: Now Get Out Of Our Way is a collaborative project in its development stage with Stephen Wilkinson & Elizabeth Heaney, from our company Cut The Bull Productions. This is a play exploring what it is like to live in Sydney from an outsider’s perspective. Featuring a collection of monologues and scenes on the eclectic people you meet in the City of Villages. Cut The Bull are also working on a rap video called East Suburbia Gangsta about living life on the other side of the Coca-Cola sign. Tellin like it be told from the ’hood of Vaucluse the Hugo Posse Bosse leave no check unturned yo!

Grace De Morgan
Grace is a Sydney-based writer/performer who finished her Masters in Writing for Stage & Broadcast Media at the Central School of Drama, London in December 2010. Her performed works include: My Brother’s Keeper and Three is Not the Magic Number (short plays staged as a part of Theatre 503’s Rapid Write Response initiative).
After her first play Integrity’s Wench was long-listed for the Edward Albee Script Competition Award in 2010, the Australian Writers’ Guild invited her onto their Pathways program. In July 2009, she spent two weeks on a writing internship at Channel Ten’s Good News Week and has had five ‘Postcard’ articles published in the
Sun Herald Travel lift-out since November 2008 – February 2012. Grace is currently working as a captioner at Red Bee Media, volunteering as a Short & Sweet script assessor, doing an online copywriting internship at Todae.com.au and redrafting her second play, Said a Father to His Son. Her short play Riding the Red is
was performed as part of the Short and Sweet Festival at the Sidetrack Theatre, Marrickville.

*****

And whilst I continue to work with the writers individually and in a group setting… they continue to work on their own projects…

Here’s some of what’s coming up by these writers:

CRUSHED by Melita Rowston:

AM I GOOD FRIEND directed by Georgia Symons:

HEART DOT COM with work by Jasper Marlow and Luke Carson
Five newly commissioned monologues/small-handers directed by Olivia Satchell written by Luke Carson, Ellana Costa, Alison Rooke, Jasper Marlow, Katie Pollock
exploring the absurdity/beauty of searching for love without being able to touch/see the other person.

EAST SUBURBIA GANGSTA written and performed by Luke Carson:
Showing at Cut & Paste
DATE: Sunday May 13th 2012
TIME: 8.00pm
WHERE: The Old Fitzroy Theatre
COST: $12.00 (door sales only)

MICRO FOREST PERFORMANCE created by Alli Sebastian Wolf
HOME BREW FESTIVAL
Venue: The Old Fitzroy Theatre
Dates: May 17th – 19th 2012
Times: 7pm doors.
Tickets: $35/$30
Bookings: www.rocksurfers.org or 1300 241 167

Oh how I love new ventures! I adore starting something new and fresh… do you? Well! Here’s your chance.

For the last couple of months I have been meeting with Sama Ky Balson and Kirk Page to scheme and dream around a new performing arts space which is opening in Surry Hills called “The Arts Platform.” The idea is for a pracical working space for the development and experimentation of new work. I, of course have a deep and passionate love of new writing – so no prizes for guessing what I’ll be up to there….

But the space is in need of some helping hands. Perhaps you are an artist that is cash-poor but skills-rich? Would you like to be a part of something? Do you need rehearsal space? A space to write or to test out a new idea?

This could be just what you’re after!

Please see below the email from the very lovely Sama Ky Balson:

Hello friends, theatre folk and family,

Best wishes,
Sama Ky Balson.
Artistic Director -IPAN International Performing Arts Network

EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST to THE ARTS PLATFORM
YOUR DETAILS
NAME:
PHONE:
EMAIL:
WEBSITE:

Your Skills, What you will bring to the space:

Your Interests in the Space How would you like to use it ( under 100 words)

How many hours would you like to contribute in exchange for space?

What time of day, month, year would you like to have the space available for use?

Feel free to attach any support material, photos of your work, past productions, websites.

CONDITIONS:
The conditions of use of The Arts Platform for the Space for Skills are:
1. The Space for Skills offer is available around the periods of programmed events and payed bookings, at The Arts Platform, there must be great flexibility on the end of the person exchanging the Space for Skills ie: If it’s free and not being used during work hours, you may use the space for the development of your work. We do, being a new venue with overheads need to prioritize the use of the space for paying clients and the venues regular programs. The cost of space hire is $25 per hour and $20 per hour for members. If you need absolute confirmed dates and times, we recommend booking the space at a hire rate for times that you want fixed, if you are flexible with times and dates the Skills for Space is for you. You may combine booked times ie: a night for an event in addition to your flexible Skills for Space period.
2. Use of the space is be available between 9 am and 9 pm, no late night events, unless prior consent is obtained from venue management.
3. All users of the space must be mindful and considerate of neighbors and residents, no extremely loud activities, no loitering outside the venue and smokers will need to smoke away from the venue and dispose of cigarette buts in bins.
4. All staff and neighbors are to be treated with respect and courtesy, we have a no tolerance policy to any abuse of staff or to our fellow building occupants. Any such incidents would immediately terminate the use of the venue under the Skills for Space offer.
5. There will be no cash reimbursement for time donated under the Skill for Space offer, if the space is not used by the recipient.
6. The Expiration of the Skills for Space expires December 31st, 2012.
7. The Arts Platform has the right to refuse continued use of the space if the above conditions are not met.
I have read, understand and agree with the conditions of the Space for Skills exchange at The Arts Platform YES / NO