A few years ago, things suddenly started happening in
A rash of new independent companies formed – including Theatre in Decay (established in 2000), The Eleventh Hour (2001), Stuck Pigs Squealing (2001), and Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre (2002) – presenting exciting new work and rapidly winning both critical and popular acclaim. New productions were being staged in inventive locations – cramped basements beneath inner city homes, and in the front seats of parked cars – or in brand new venues, such as The Storeroom in
Today, however, The Storeroom stands empty; and many of the companies who were part of
What went wrong? And where are the new theatre-makers of today?
Michael Kantor, the Malthouse Theatre’s Artistic Director, concedes that
“Everyone’s been trying to, as much as they can, make more opportunities for those [independent] artists; but fundamentally it’s hit a bit of…” Kantor trails off, sighing.
“It either needs new people to come in now, into the independent scene; or it needs, I don’t know. It needs a kick, doesn’t it?”
Kantor’s programming approach has seen some of the best independent productions of recent years re-staged in the Malthouse’s Tower Theatre; an approach echoed by The Arts Centre, where the Full Tilt program was established in 2006 in order to support independent theatre artists and expose their work to a wider audience.
Vanessa Pigrum, who manages Full Tilt, points out that the so-called “explosion” in
“That explosion … in many ways was a reaction going back to the demise of Anthill, Woolly Jumpers, all those mid-level, medium-sized companies back in the early 90s,” she explains. “There was this vacuum of mid-range companies for young graduates to get their apprenticeships in, so my experience was that many of the young graduates coming out of the VCA, or young theatre-makers around the mid to late 90s went, ‘Ok, there are no companies to aspire to work with, so we’ll create our own’.”
It was this ‘do it yourself’ ethic which fuelled the much-vaunted creativity of
“When you talk about Theatre @ Risk and Theatre in Decay and Stuck Pigs changing, or going quiet, a lot of that has to do with the personal choices of the individuals involved, the driving forces behind the companies,” she says.
“By this stage, six to ten years down the track, people are in their mid-to-late 30s; they have different priorities and different needs in terms of finances and security. Perhaps for once they want to actually get paid for the work that they do. So then what happens to the company that’s potentially operating in name only, because the initial driving forces behind it have moved on to other pursuits?”
What happens, of course, is that such companies close down or change tack, as do the people running them.
Writer and director Chris Kohn is best known for his work with the independent company Stuck Pigs Squealing, including the acclaimed productions The Black Swan of Trespass and The Eisteddfod. Today he works as the Artistic Director of the well-established and government funded Arena Theatre Company.
“I certainly wouldn’t say that there’s more opportunity now in
But it wasn’t just opportunity that fuelled that creative boom, Kohn believes. There were other factors at play.
“Probably also around the same time there was a bit of a boom in making work in unusual spaces, in houses and shopfronts, as with Uncle Semolina and Friends and their shopfront, and Stuck Pigs with the basement we had; and our first shows in Melbourne were at Bar Open and Pony Bar.”
While such creativity is still evident in
“What I have noticed – and you’re right, I don’t see a lot of new independent companies coming through in that [early noughties] model, but what’s happening is this explosion of work that is in a different, shorter, more transportable form; that sits within a club setting, or an installation setting…
“It’s like there’s a lot of activity on the independent performance scene, rather than independent theatre; independent performance is flourishing, but the form is changing, to more bite-sized, free or short shows that you do six times in one night. It appears to be the generation that’s in their mid-20s that are doing that, so I’m really curious to know, in a way, what happens to that work now?”
Next issue: the future of independent theatre in
This article first appeared in issue #03 of CANVAS magazine.
7 comments:
I reckon that part of the problem is due to mundane reasons -- as rent has gone up, it basically pushes businesses and organizations that are on the border of being able to survive out (which basically includes almost everything but "high" culture which can command a lot of money or the opposite end, where things happen on the street). We started seeing it ages ago (remember the Panorama and all those other weird and wonderful places that used to be close to the city?), but I think it has accelerated in the last few years. You can see this effect in Sydney where rents have been historically high. It's one of the deadest big cities on Earth.
This is a topic that seems to be consuming many in independent and local cinema, as well as artists and others. It seems to be a widespread cultural phenomenon. I wrote a post on my blog entitled "Is cinema the poor man's art" thinking it was just independent/art cinema that was in decline.
Maybe it's affluence. Maybe as people step up in the world they want to be seen to be successful, to be involved in mainstream theatre, arts, etc. I don't know; it's just something I've been thinking about quite a bit, perhaps in parallel with yourself, Richard, and others.
I think at some point, no matter how much you love the work you do, you want to get paid for it. There was an interesting comment in Two Faced Bastard where one of the performer's questioned the audience's intention in coming to a show, and was it worth the performer giving their all for some one who was a bit pissed on cheap wine being dragged along by their partner, company etc. with a furtive glances at their watch. Perhaps this was a slightly romantic view of the performer too - I'm sure there are times when they're not 'giving their all' (just like I should now be working but here I am surfing). But the idea is similar, what do you get out it, and is satisfaction in a job well done enough? Do you move on to something where they may be more compromise but greater security? Some companies seem to have continued though - for example would you class Chamber Made Opera as independent? I remember seeing shows like The Cars that Ate Paris in the 90s set in wrecking yards - and they are still around doing interesting things.
These stagings in offbeat locations, especially outdoor ones are often hard to use because of insurance and liability. Other places, think of Red Stitch's refurbished theatre, factor the need for a comfortable venue (where people can drink cheap wine and check their watches from comfortable seats)as much as they factor the need for new and less mainstream writing.
All I want to say is you've come across quite a way to be all that you state to be. I mean from writing books to writing screen plays, you must be quite the talented guy! Well I just want to hope you well and success along your venture, enjoy your day!
And one more thing, If you have time please tell me what the moral of the movie, "The DaVinci Code" was about? I mean I cant really say that i truly understand all of it, you know??
Dear explosion proof lighting specialists,
I'm afraid I've never written a screenplay - well, not a complete one anyway - and having neither read nor watched The DaVinci Code I'm afraid you're going to have to sort its moral out for yourself...
Cheers
Richard
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