TheatreWorks SELECTED WORKS and IN THE WORKS Program

More about this appeal:

Since 2004 Theatre Works has pursued a curatorial strategy designed to assist established and emerging young independent companies and artists to maintain sustainable careers; to recognise excellence and develop potential in the sector.

On the advice of its expert Artistic Subcommittee in consultation with program partner Kathryn Ross of Ballyhoo Publicity, Theatre Works' support programs target support in two areas of identified need: venue hire costs and pre-show publicity. In each year, proposals are invited by direct approach to companies in the sector and through public advertisements on the Theatre Works website, in local newspapers and on Arts Hub. Proposals are assessed on merit in two stages: after shortlisting, extensive discussions with potential partner companies are held to determine performance readiness, the best use of available timeslots and resources, and program balance.

In 2004, out of twenty-two proposals, two companies were supported via the Company Initiative and seven works by independent artists via the Artists Initiative, branded as a Fringe Festival season under the title St Kilda Bangs. Seasons of work by local artists and a community-based youth project, Tribes of St Kilda, were mounted with support from the City of Port Phillip and the Community Cultural Development Board of the Australia Council. Theatre Works' Companies in Residence, Rawcus and Born in a Taxi, were supported to jointly produce a new original work, Not Dead Yet, which won the Melbourne Fringe Festival's Best Production award in 2005. From 2006, logistical and resource considerations led to a decision to concentrate on the Company Initiative. The number of companies supported each year was increased to four. In 2007, with support from the Sidney Myer Foundation, a second IN THE WORKS tier was introduced, to cater for practitioners whose work was at an earlier stage of development. Theatre Works gratefully receives Triennial funding from Arts Victoria.

In total, the Initiative has supported 16 companies and over 150 performers, directors, designers, choreographers, musicians and technical support personnel between 2004 and 2008. These include some of Australia's most exciting and well-respected independent theatre makers, as well as companies and groups formed by artists with a creditable track record and/or promise of future development.

The program has already influenced independent sector development on a national level. The 2004 season featured respected Victorian regional company The Old Van, in their acclaimed production of Macbeth. Subsequent programs have included artists and companies from Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland. In 2007, Little Death Productions' Mercury Fur went on to Sydney, in the Griffin Stablemates season. The 2008 SELECTED WORKS season includes a new Australian work previously included in the IN THE WORKS tier, One Cloud by Shannon Murdoch, presented by Lady Muck productions.

Theatre makers in Victoria's lively independent scene show passion, skill and initiative. They regularly mount their own work of demonstrable excellence and have gained both critical acceptance and a level of audience support but find it difficult to 'go to the next level' to sustain company structures and careers as they enter what should be their most productive and creative years. As a program presenter, Theatre Works deliberately targets these 'post-emerging' artists, talented professionals with a track record and an identifiable aesthetic vision who nevertheless face real hurdles in their drive to sustain and develop their practice. Most of Theatre Works' hirers and supported artists have been accorded critical recognition and receive occasional funding, but very few begin work on a new project with any certainty of external support. We support them to make creative use of our venue's space and resources, and to find new audiences and public acceptance.

How will the funds be used?

Theatre Works proposes to extend and enhance its support for the independent theatre sector in 2009 and beyond by building on the success of its support programs to date.

Theatre Works offers:

• upfront assistance to selected companies for a three week season, with three weeks in the venue
• publicity
• brochure and marketing
• technical assistance
• the services of box office staff and FOH management
• box office and ticketing support, at no cost to the partner company

Support in these areas will allow Theatre Works to adjust the cost base used to calculate the box office split cap for each year, resulting in a greater return to partner companies. It will also enable Theatre Works to redirect its own resources toward more effective marketing ad audience development, identified in the company's rolling five year planning cycle as a priority for 2008-12.

This application asks potential donors to acknowledge Theatre Works' achievements as evidence of its position as a key presenter and creative hub for the independent Arts sector and to support its SELECTED WORKS and IN THE WORKS Program. Theatre Works has, with the exception of a generous Sidney Myer Fund grant in 2007, used its own reserves to launch this series of Initiatives designed to address strategic gaps in provision for the Australian theatre industry. The sector's expressed needs, identified in consultation with our partners and clients, are far from being adequately addressed. It is with our future donors' full support that Theatre Works now moves to increase its capacity and resources in this regard.

Theatre Works is confident that we can demonstrate the evidence: of demand; of our delivery capacity as a professionally run organisation and of sustained creative growth and excellence in presenting experimental and emerging art forms.

Key Areas of Expenditure

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ST KILDA SOUTH VIC 3182
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