Belvoir Annual Report 2017
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ANNUAL REPORT 2017 A CONTENTS 2017: At A Glance 02 Chair’s Report 04 Artistic Director’s Report 06 Executive Director’s Report 08 2017 Season 11 International & National Touring 26 Belvoir 2017 in Review 31 Corporate Governance Statement 46 Awards 50 Board & Staff 51 Donors 52 In the Rehearsal Room 54 Supporters, Trusts & Foundations, and Partners 56 Nikki Shiels in The Rover. Photo: Brett Boardman. B THEATRE ATTENDEES 9 AWARDS TO UNWAGED 4 = HELPMANN AWARDS STUDENTS 5 = SYDNEY THEATRE AWARDS 2 , 743 PERFORMANCE PARTICATED 2,730 IN A WORKSHOP 2017 WITH 47 HOSTED IN REGIONAL SCHOOLS AT A GLANCE WORK WRITERS 11 UNDER COMMISSION 28 SHOPS 99,197 FOR 528 STUDENTS 154 IN WESTERN SYDNEY ARTISTS 5,632SOLD EMPLOYED SUBSCRIPTIONS PERFORMANCES $4,245,729 NATIONAL ATTENDEES OF CORE BOX OFFICE T0 2017 PRODUCTIONS GOVERNMENT 139% FUNDING REVENUE NEW SOCIAL MEDIA NEW SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWERS AT BELVOIR ST THEATRE 4,639 480 SPENT ON ACTORS, CREATIVES & TECHNICAL WAGES 5,756 7.5 6.5 PERFORMANCE EVENING OR A A & THEIR TEACHERS STUDENTS T T E N D E D SCHOOLS 1,009 4 FEMALE DIRECTED MALE DIRECTED PRODUCTIONS PRODUCTIONS STUDENTS NUMBER OF ATTENDED A BLACK SCHOOL PERFORMANCE NEW 226,785 FREE OF CHARGE UNIQUE WEBSITE SPANDEX AUSTRALIAN BODYSUITS THANKS TO OUR VISITORS WORN ON STAGE ACCESS PROGRAM PLAYS 2 3 CHAIR’S REPORT Sam Meers It is an extraordinary that the recruitment of a new Executive privilege to be the chair Director brings, we are undertaking a of this much-loved strategic review of operations to identify theatre company. On efficiencies through new approaches, with the many occasions in a sharper focus on business planning and which I sit in our iconic long-term sustainability. Whilst the 2017 theatre, surrounded by loss is unsatisfactory, I am comforted by the our loyal subscribers fact that the underlying creative program and newer audience is strong, and by the concerted efforts at members, I consistently Board and management level to recalibrate find myself marvelling at the contribution the business, both from a governance and Belvoir makes to the artform, the community financial perspective, to better support the and the national discourse. company’s creative capacity and ambitions. 2017 was characterised by significant change, I would like to take this opportunity to challenge and achievement. We farewelled acknowledge each of the talented and the fearless Brenna Hobson after ten years dedicated staff at Belvoir for their support as Executive Director, and our indomitable and extraordinary commitment to the Chair, Andrew Cameron AM, after nine company, particularly in this time of transition. years. Both built on the company’s strong I would also like to pay special tribute to our foundations. We welcomed (back) Sue remarkable Artistic Director, Eamon Flack, Donnelly as Executive Director, following who inspires us all, and continues to make and a robust recruitment process and a strong champion work that both extends us, and has field of candidates. Sue has an exceptional extraordinary reach and impact. reputation as one of the most experienced We remain enormously grateful for the and successful theatre Executive Directors support we receive from government at in the country. Her passion and vision for the State and Federal level, through the Australia company made Sue an ideal choice at this Council and Create NSW. Belvoir also has important time. an exceptionally committed tribe of donors, The costs associated with presenting bold, partners, supporters and subscribers, without high quality theatre continue to challenge whom we could not do the work we do: my the sector. Notwithstanding these challenges, deep thanks go to each and every one of you our artistic successes in 2017 were many. for your faith in us. We delivered a strong and diverse season, I thank the Belvoir Board for their energy, acknowledged by solid audience numbers commitment and support. In 2017 we and a slew of Helpmann Awards, and five farewelled the brilliant Anne Britton, whose Sydney Theatre Awards. dedication and passion for Belvoir has The success of the 2017 season, and those sustained the company for many years. of the many other Belvoir programs that Two new directors joined us in 2017, Patty are articulated throughout this Annual Akopiantz and Michael Lynch AO CBE. Report, are not reflected in our disappointing I also thank and acknowledge the Board of financial result for the corresponding period. Company A Limited, led by Angela Pearman, Our well-intentioned set building enterprise, for their unwavering support. which delivered affordable sets for other With strong leadership in place, a bold artistic theatre-makers throughout Sydney for a vision, and loyal and adventurous audiences, number of years, proved unsustainable and Belvoir’s future is an exciting one. I look is largely responsible for the loss recorded in forward to seeing you at the theatre. the 2017 financial year. We have taken action to close this activity. With the opportunity Samon Flack and Ursula Yovich at the Balnaves Foundation Indigenous Playwright’s Award 4 Benedict Hardie & Sheridan Harbridge in The Dog/The Cat. Photo: Brett Boardman. ARTISTIC DIRECTOR’S REPORT Eamon Flack This was a year of new and individuals finding mad, creative ways to stories. outwit the horror. All three were celebrations of storytelling and imagination. Celebrations We aimed for an of theatre itself, really. upbeat year and we had an upbeat year: They weren’t all new stories. The old stories celebratory, joyous, (not pejorative) were both women’s stories: defiant. Our shows Aphra Behn’s The Rover and Ibsen’s Ghosts. refused to put up with The Rover was a show of outright playfulness, the bleakness of the and you can palpably feel the sudden world and they refused appearance of a new account of womanhood to succumb to cynicism. If I had to pick one in this play – the first by a professional show that exemplified this idea it would be woman playwright. Megan Wilding, Nikki Tommy Murphy’s Mark Colvin’s Kidney, the Shiels and Taylor Ferguson owned the stage. story of a member of the Conservative party Ghosts, on the other hand, is a restrained in the UK who donated her kidney to the work that gradually fills until it bursts. Our journalist Mark Colvin. Its sense of human production was exquisitely crafted. Pam Rabe frailty and human generosity cut through in was magnificent as Mrs Alving. weird, divided times and touched audiences. All in all? Stories about strong, difficult, We continued the relished task of breaking unidealised women. A rich variety of down the homogeneity of our national arts shows – some formally adventurous, some culture. A good third of our season was led adventurous in their content. A lot of by artists and stories outside the cultural Australian work – we’re on a mission with centre. We developed a double-strategy new work (watch this space). A strong sense for this. On the one hand we pumped time of the weirdness of the historical moment and resources into new storytelling – Katie – the fear and confusion, the new kinds of Beckett’s Which Way Home, Barbara and families, the accumulation of historical rage, the Camp Dogs by Ursula Yovich and Alana the sense that we have to think our way out Valentine. And we gave existing shows a of trouble. second chance – Future D. Fidel’s Prize We continued to rebuild our relationship Fighter was given a new draft and a second with our audience without sugar-coating production, and we brought back Jasper or popularising. We took artistic risks and Jones and The Dog/The Cat. This strategy pulled them off. We have pushed on with is good for artists, good for the Australian our recovery without shrinking the scope of repertoire, and good for audiences. our artistic work, without hiring fewer artists, For the first time in a very long time, without reducing our ambitions. perhaps ever, we had two American plays at It was a good, rich year of theatre, in which the centre of the season. One, a dystopian we held our nerve. light opera based on The Simpsons, of all things, which brought in eager new I’d like to thank Chair Sam Meers for her audiences in droves. The other, a classic unshakable support in her first year; Sue American family drama with a queer twist, Donnelly for coming back home to Belvoir; Hir, which gave Helen Thompson a role to all the staff of Belvoir, who work beyond their relish, and introduced Kurt Pimblett, the limits, especially this year between Executive first trans actor to play at Belvoir. These Directors; and most of all the artists who held were both wild, original stories about the back nothing and kept the whole shebang 21st century. You could put Lally Katz’s alive for another year. Long may they reign. Atlantis in the same group – all are tales of American dysfunction taking over the world, Eamono 6 Tom Conroy & Pamela Rabe in Ghosts. Photo: Brett Boardman. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT Sue Donnelly It was with great and social diversity to the stage – delight that I with five productions in 2017. We are returned to Belvoir in able to accomplish this through the September, initially developmental work we have always on a part-time basis, done which includes in-house creative after an 11-year developments as well as workshops absence. The feeling with other organisations to inspire and was very much like develop new writers, creatives and ‘returning home’, performers. except that someone Belvoir believes that the participation had come in and totally redecorated in, and appreciation of theatre is for all a number of rooms and I couldn’t find people.