Devastated to hear that four competant and out of work actors are going to be “doing a course” with a 40-something year old TV actor and paying him $1000 for the priviledge I was outraged and depressed. This actor has not made it big, is difficult to research and is scarcely in work, yet, he is a good talker and full of anecdotes. Needless to say, I think he is a hack and a parasite looking for vulnerable actors to pay him ($70 and hour for a “private lesson”) in which he chats about the industry from his “successful standpoint”. Here’s my advice for actors who are in between jobs, looking for inspiration and just needing to get back on the stage/ or in front of a camera. Read more

If you click on the link on the “What’s On Downstairs” page of Belvoir St Theatre’s website: you’ll be linked through to a grainy, black and white “teaser” of the upcoming show by Vassily Sigarev, “Ladybird.” Read more

First published December 2007 www.artshub.com.au

When Dorothy returned from the bizarre coloured world of the munchkins to her black and white world on the farm, she burst into tears. She was grateful to be home, and in her own room, in her own bed, with Aunty Em calming her down. She learnt when looking for adventure, she need look no further than her own back yard.

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First published November 2007 www.artshub.com.au

Trying to unravel why some people in the theatre industry believe that bad behaviour is a synonym for “Artistic temperatment” and therefore acceptable. It completely undercuts professional behaviour and therefore the arts as a profession.

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First published www.artshub.com.au October 2007.

This covers a few things: my 27th birthday: and what that means for applying for grants, Garret’s policy for the arts (pre election), and the idea of government subsidized productions (ie not depending on audiences for sustainability).

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First published September 2007 www.artshub.com.au

Its coming up to the pitch season for independent theatres across Sydney, and I am feeling that rise of panic in my chest as I start to assess my options for pitching something. I have been seeing shows all over the place, having a look at what’s on and what’s getting chosen… who are the independent players in this game… and it is surprising what’s on and where it comes from.. how its been supported. It becomes blaringly obvious that there is an ugly frightened figure, quivering in the corners of our theatres: cultural cringe. “Still!?!” I hear you shriek. Read more

www.artshub.com.au
Return to Oz #8
Written by Augusta Supple

There are many reasons why its difficult being a writer and/or a director but the biggest thing I have realised in the last month is that all those reasons don’t matter. They don’t matter for the express fact that it doesn’t stop that feeling in me that there are stories worth telling, and people worth making them with and an audience worth telling them to. The reasons why or how its difficult don’t matter because I continue to do it anyway. I continue to write, I continue to direct and I continue to support an industry that is forever moaning and groaning due to financial or (so called) cultural malnutrition. Read more

First published www.artshub.com.au June 2007

I’ve been on both sides of the fence. There is no “sitting on the fence”… you are either on one side or another. You are either working on a show, or you are not. Thinking about working on a show, wondering if there is a show you could work on etc, is in the category of “not.” But if you are in the process of approaching people, raising money and writing proposals: you are working. For me, it’s not just the luxurious 6 weeks (part time) with actors I enjoy and count as “working on a show”… It’s the deciding on the scripts, the selection of the team… the whole invisible process that starts months before. Read more

First published July 2007 www.artshub.com.au

For an art form full of sparklingly charismatic, articulate and fascinating people, theatre also has the capability to make one feel self conscious. The curse of comparison rears its ugly head again as you start to line up your career highlights with a peer, wonder why they got that opportunity, why hadn’t someone told you about that audition, and you start to wish yourself to be better connected/ better trained/ well known/ more liked/ taller/ older/ younger/ funnier/ more organised/ more commercially attractive more something… and you start questioning “why WHY won’t anyone give me a chance?” Read more

(First published in 2007 www.aussietheatre.com)

I have a radical idea for all you out there in complimentary ticket land… I would like to ask why you are deserving of a complimentary ticket? Comp tickets are one of the easiest things for people to get upset about. They are sort of like invitations to wedding receptions.. everyone who knows you feels entitled to a comp, even though you may only know them through tenuous circumstances.

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