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. Read more

Last Saturday night, under a clear dark blue sky, fifty people stood on the street in Chippendale, waiting for the latest showing at Queen Street Studio to start. Busy talking amongst themselves, it took a while for the audience to notice the elephant walking towards them- holding a sign which said:

“4am”

and another that said

“Follow Me”

We made our way en masse under the roller door of Studio 10- into a new world. Or a familiar world re-invented by the artists within.
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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… Read more

I am very delighted to share with you some photos taken by Leah McGirr of the get together of the OFF THE SHELF artists in residency at Queen Street Studio. Leah has documented 6 productions I have headed in the last 18 months and I love her photography- it is a rare and precious thing in the transient world of the theatre to have a record of what was- and Leah does it with such style and grace. Read more

Less than three weeks remain for Queen Street Studio’s playwrights residency- OFF THE SHELF. And there are four teams working hard in every spare minute of their lives to get a script ready for the showcase.

The teams are given 15 hours of rehearsal time and a couple of months in which they are encouraged to develop a script that they have “shelved” with a director of their choice. Over 30 submissions were received and four will be shown in late November to an audience of industry who provide feedback on the scripts.

The projects for the last Off The Shelf for 2009 are:

“Of the Causes of Wonderful Things” written by Talya Rubin, directed by Nick James

“Wretched Excess” written by Stephen Graham, directed by David Adlam

“Zetland” written by Jasper Marlow, directed by Mark Pritchard

“Combat Fatigue” written by Alison Rooke, directed by Ian Zammit

For more information about the program please visit:
http://www.queenstreetstudio.com/offtheshelf.html

After the success of the inaugural Off The Shelf in May, Queen Street Studio presents the second Off the Shelf residency for writers and directors. 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. Read more

A quick note to say that Off The Shelf will return to FraserStudio in the second half of this year.

Designed to hothouse 5 full length theatre script projects over a month, Off The Shelf encourages the community of writers to focus on their play. The result of their work is a showcase in November for industry representatives to provide feedback on the scripts and provide a networking opportunity for writers and directors.

For more information check out the Queen Street Studio Website:
http://www.queenstreetstudio.com/offtheshelf.html

or contact me augustasupple[at]hotmail[dot]com

It was a wonderful night in a warehouse in Chippendale: the only request I made of the heavens was that rain didn’t happen between the hours of 6pm-8:30pm… for no other reason except for the tin roof that has no insulation and would completely drown out the words of the writers… of course if did rain and in the spirit of the show must go on: the shows did go on… as 50 people moved their chairs from the showing space in studio 14 to studio 10. Read 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

Just a quick notice to advertise that the new brave venture I am heading for Queen Street Studio at the Fraser Street Studios. Out of a wad of applciations, I have chosen 5 new projects to be hothoused and developed in a 4 week period. I have selected the teams based on the potenital of the script (either form or story), the quality of the team/partnership and the long range plans of the projects.
They are as follows: Read more