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In: Plays, Playwriting, Theatre, Writing

The average play these days runs about seventy to eighty minutes. I saw a show this week, Crossing the Divide by Shock Therapy Productions, and it clocked in at just 60 minutes. The old two-act with interval malarkey is fading fast (except maybe big musical productions). “A Night at the Theatre” is no longer the grand social outing it once was as far as contemporary theatre goers are concerned. Audiences want to arrive, experience the story, and then bugger off home to contemplate the aftermath. Shorter plays suit producers too. The shorter the play, the fewer the rehearsal weeks. Fewer hours for technical crew. ShorterRead More →

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In: Writing

In the earliest months of JUTE Theatre Company, before there were grants or programs or any certainty at all, back in 1992, the three of us had a running joke. We had many running jokes, but this one was a classic. Suellen walked through the front door of our rambling old Queenslander on Severin Street one afternoon, all grins, lit from within, and said, “Ask me what I do for a living.” What do you do for a living, Suellen? “I am an artist,” she announced. It was reckless and thrilling and slightly absurd. It was her announcement that she had stepped away from theRead More →

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In: Theatre

After more than three decades of involvement, I have recently stepped away from my role with JUTE Theatre Company. JUTE has been a significant part of my professional life. As a founding member, former Board Chair, long-time artistic contributor, conference runner, Playwright Development program manager, and most recently Senior Creative Producer, for seven years full-time, I’ve had the privilege of working alongside extraordinary artists, staff, board members and community partners to build work that reflects the complexity and creativity of our region. Together with my JUTE colleagues, I developed pathways for emerging artists, supported new writing, created models to boost diverse voices in our productions,Read More →

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In: Writing

There starts here. Here starts here. There starts there. All the same. The part where you move is the thing. There starts (t)here is a cute little slogan written on the wall of tourist car hire business I drive past twice a day on the way to and from work. It is not emblazoned, very subtle, blink you’ll miss it. The letter ‘t’ in ‘there’ is deliberately greyed out compared to the other lettering, blink and you’ll miss that as well. Clearly it is a philosophical statement, embracing the journey and the destination as part and parcel of same spiritual/mental/physical endevour of travelling from somewhereRead More →