MAJOR AUSTRALIAN FESTIVALS COMMISSIONING SITE 2020
Brisbane Festival is an initiative of the Queensland Government and Brisbane City Council
1/ 2/ WELCOME
On behalf of the Confederation of Australian The Confederation has had the privilege of CAIAF acknowledges the traditional International Arts Festivals, welcome to the Major administering the MFI fund since 1995 resulting owners of the land on which we gather, the Australian Festivals Commissioning Site. in the development of hundreds of new Turrbul and Yuggera people. We recognise Australian works. and respect their cultural and creative As we are all acutely aware, 2020 has been heritage and acknowledge their ongoing deeply challenging for the global cultural sector. Over the next two days we are delighted to be contribution to our shared future. When the pandemic hit earlier this year, the able to share with you projects in varying states Confederation met to consider how best to of development. The work of the selected artists The 2020 Major Australian Festivals respond within available resources and the scope is seen to be ready for further development and Commissioning Site is produced by of the Australian Government’s Major Festivals presentation, and we commend them to you for Brisbane Festival for the Confederation Initiative (MFI) fund. Simultaneously, many of your consideration. of Australian International Arts Festivals, our Festival members were recalibrating their funded by the Australian government’s I thank the Brisbane Festival for hosting this traditional festival formats and offerings against Major Festivals Initiative (MFI) through event in the midst of delivering a newly designed a backdrop of a constantly changing horizon of Australia Council for the Arts. Festival. To those joining around Australia and health and border restrictions, artist and audience abroad, I am delighted that you have joined us expectations; each of us are now looking towards in commissioning the next crop of exciting new MFI COMMISSIONING a very different 2021. Australian work. SITE 2020 The $1.5 million annual MFI fund supports the commissioning of new Australian works RICHARD EVANS PRODUCTION TEAM by the seven major multi-artform capital city CHAIR Melinda (Min) Collie-Holmes international arts festivals. The Confederation Producer/MC member Festivals, co-commissioners and Jess Audsley production partners collectively contribute Associate Producer 50% of their own funds towards seeding, developing and producing new work, resulting Craig Wilkinson/optikal bloc in approximately $3 million worth of work being Vision Mixer supported each year. Once commissioned, Chelsea Chua member Festivals and other presenters go on to Programming Intern fund the presentation of these works, all of which are presented nationally and some of which go on to tour internationally over many years.
3/ DELEGATES
CAIAF RISING ASSOCIATE MEMBERS Richard Evans Gideon Obarzanek AUCKLAND ARTS FESTIVAL Chair Co-Artistic Director Shona McCullagh Julia Herne Hannah Fox Artistic Director Secretariat Co-Artistic Director David Inns Chief Executive ADELAIDE FESTIVAL Kath Mainland Neil Armfield AO Executive Director NEW ZEALAND FESTIVAL/ TAWHIRI FESTIVAL AND EXPERIENCES Co-Artistic Director Mark Burlace Meg Williams Rachel Healy Deputy Executive Director Executive Director Co-Artistic Director Rose Harriman Marnie Karmelita Elaine Chia Curatorial Manager Creative Director Executive Director Lucy Forge Angela Green Lesley Newton Executive Producer Head of Programming Head of Programming Ally Harvey Tess Appleby Deputy Executive Producer FUNDING PARTNER Program Manager PERTH FESTIVAL AUSTRALIA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS Kate Hillgrove Iain Grandage Alice Nash Program Manager Artistic Director Executive Director Arts Investment Andrew Donovan BRISBANE FESTIVAL Nathan Bennett Director Multi-Year Investment, Arts Investment Charlie Cush Executive Director Chief Executive Officer Anna Reece Jade Lillie Head of Sector Development Louise Bezzina Executive Producer Artistic Director Norman Armour SYDNEY FESTIVAL North American Representative Kate Fell Wesley Enoch Program Director Festival Director
DARWIN FESTIVAL Olivia Ansell Felix Preval Incoming Festival Director Artistic Director Christopher Tooher (CAIAF Treasurer) James Gough Executive Director Acting CEO Vivia Hickman Vanessa Wright Executive Producer Program Producer TEN DAYS ON THE ISLAND Lindy Hume Artistic Director
Jane Haley Chief Executive Officer
Vernon Guest Executive Producer
4/ NATIONAL DELEGATES
ADELAIDE FESTIVAL CENTRE BRISBANE POWERHOUSE NORPA Liz Hawkins Kris Stewart Julian Louis Director or Programming, Development and Artistic Director Artistic Director Venue Sales Katherine Hoepper PACA APAM Programming Director Katherine Connor Catherine Jones Executive Director BRITISH COUNCIL Director Helen Salmon QUEENSLAND PERFORMING ARTS Naomi Velaphi Director CENTRE Program Producer John Glenn CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE Director, Programming ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE Alex Budd Edwina Lunn Director Rebecca Lamoin Director of Programming Director, Public Engagement and Learning Gill Hugonnet David Anderson Deputy Director – Programming RIVERSIDE THEATRE Head of Contemporary Performance Robert Love AM COUNTRY ARTS SA Director Daniel Clarke Anthony Peluso Creative Producer, Theatre and Contemporary Chief Executive Catherine Swallow Performance Program Manager Mary Harvey DEPARTMENT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE Creative Producer, Families and Children REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND Fiona Winning COMMUNICATIONS Angharad Wynne-Jones Director, Programming Alison Todd Head of Creative Engagement Director, Arts Policy and Development SYDNEY THEATRE COMPANY ARTS HOUSE Kip Williams HOTA, HOME OF THE ARTS Emily Sexton Artistic Director Virginia Hyam Artistic Director Head of Programming Ben White Sophie Travers Senior Producer General Manager ILLUMINATE ADELAIDE Skye Kunstelj Rachael Azzopardi Olivia Anderson Associate Producer Co-Founder and Creative Director Producer THE ARTHOUSE WYONG MELBOURNE FRINGE ARTS PROJECTS AUSTRALIA Anne-Marie Heath Simon Abrahams Ian Scobie Executive Director Creative Director and CEO Director
Lee Cumberlidge MERRIGONG THEATRE COMPANY/ ILLAWARRA PERFORMING ARTS Director CENTRE Simon Hinton AUSPICIOUS ARTS PROJECTS Artistic Director/CEO John Paxinos Executive Director Leland Kean Acting Artistic Director BLAKDANCE Merindah Donnelly NATIONAL THEATRE OF PARRAMATTA Executive Producer Joanne Kee Executive Producer BLEACH FESTIVAL/ PLACEMAKERS GOLD COAST Rosie Dennis Artistic Director/ CEO
5/ INTERNATIONAL DELEGATES
AUCKLAND LIVE MANCHESTER INTERNATIONAL Bernie Haldane FESTIVAL Director and General Manager of Programming Paul Clay and Presenter Services International Director
AURORA NOVA NEW THEATRE INSTITUTE OF LATVIA Wolfgang Hoffman Bek Berger Director Artistic Director
BAM NOORDERZON FESTIVAL OF David Binder PERFORMING ARTS & SOCIETY Artistic Director Mark Yeoman Artistic Director BARBICAN CENTRE Toni Racklin SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS Head of Theatre and Dance Natalie Hennedige BRIGHTON FESTIVAL Festival Director Sally Cowling STANFORD LIVE Artistic Associate and International Programmer Chris Lorway DAVID LIEBERMAN/ARTISTS Executive Director REPRESENTATIVES David Lieberman THEATER DER WELT President Stefan Schmidtke Artistic Director Allen Moon Director of Touring and Artist Management WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE Pádraig Cusack FIERY ANGEL ENTERTAINMENT Executive Producer Michael Stevens Head of Concerts and Special Events WEST KOWLOON CULTURAL DISTRICT AUTHORITY HARBOURFRONT CENTRE Kee Hong Low Iris Nemani Head of Theatre Chief Programming Officer
Nathalie Bonjour Director, Performing Arts
Laura McLeod Director, Cultural Engagement
KYOTO EXPERIMENT Juliet Knapp Director
LIFT FESTIVAL Kris Nelson Artistic Director and CEO
6/ PITCHING ARTISTS
AUSTRALIAN DANCE THEATRE GRAVITY AND OTHER MYTHS TANDEM Garry Stewart Jascha Boyce Fenn Gordon Artistic Director Company Director/Marketing/Acrobat Executive Producer
Nick Hays Darcy Grant TERRAPIN PUPPET THEATRE Executive Director Creative Lead Sam Routledge Artistic Director BARKING GECKO THEATRE COMPANY Christie Anderson Artistic Director, Young Adelaide Voices Luke Kerridge THE FARM Artistic Director Torben Brookman Gavin Webber Helen Hristofski Co-Owner GWB Entertainment Co-Artistic Director CEO & Executive Producer GUTS DANCE Chloe Ogilvie Core Artist BRINK PRODUCTIONS Frankie Snowdon Co-Artistic Director Chris Drummond THE LAST GREAT HUNT Artistic Director Madeleine Krenek Sian Roberts Karen Wilson Co-Artistic Director Executive Producer General Manager ILBIJERRI THEATRE COMPANY THE NEW ZEALAND DANCE COMPANY CASUS CIRCUS Rachael Maza James O’Hara Natano Fa’anana Artistic Director Co-Artistic Director Co-Founder & Creative Director Nina Bonacci Tor Columbus Senior Producer Co-Artistic Director CIRCA Yaron Lifschitz Daniel Riley Caroline Bindon Artistic Director Associate Producer Artistic Manager
Shaun Comerford INSITE ARTS INTERNATIONAL Janine Dijkmeijer Executive Director Penelope Leishman Creative Executive Director Danielle Kellie Kate Hancock JP Bolton Senior Producer Creative Producer LEGS ON THE WALL Lauren Eisinger Joshua Thomson Ross McCormack International Development Manager Artistic Director Choreographer and Set Designer
Ho-Yin Ng Cecily Hardy VITALSTATISTIX Board Director, Amanda Levete Architects Senior Creative Producer Emma Webb Director DANCENORTH METRO ARTS Kyle Page Jo Thomas INDEPENDENT ARTISTS Artistic Director CEO and Creative Director Emma Beech Anna Breckon Amber Haines Matt Seery Sophia Brous Associate Artistic Director Producer Rachel Arianne Ogle DEAD PUPPET SOCIETY RESTLESS DANCE THEATRE Nat Randall Nicholas Paine Michelle Ryan Justin Shoulder Executive Producer Artistic Director Nathan Sibthorpe Lara Thoms David Morton Roz Hervey Freya Waterman Creative Director Creative Producer Lisa Wilson Tom Wright STEPHANIE LAKE COMPANY Stephanie Lake Artistic Director
7/ SCHEDULE DAY ONE TUESDAY 22ND
TIME (AEST) TIME (SA & NT) TIME (WA) TIME (GMT) SESSION PROJECT PERSONNEL FESTIVAL APPLICATION STAGE DURATION
12midday 11:30am 10:00am 2:00am Welcome to Country Shannon Ruska Tribal Experiences 5 mins
12:05pm 11:35am 10:05am 2:05am Welcome to MFI Commissioning Site Richard Evans CAIAF 5 mins
12:10pm 11:40am 10:10am 2:10am Welcome from Brisbane Festival Louise Bezzina & Charlie Cush Brisbane Festival 10 mins SESSION ONE
12:20pm 11:50am 10:20am 2:20am Pitch One Introduction by Brisbane Festival
Stunt Double The Farm Brisbane Festival Creative Development 15 mins
12:35pm 12:05pm 10:35am 2:35am Pitch Two Introduction by Brisbane Festival
PATROCLUS Dead Puppet Society/Legs on the Wall Brisbane Festival Pre-production 15 mins
12:50pm 12:20pm 10:50am 2:50am Pitch Three Introduction by Perth Festival
Tales from the Inner City Barking Gecko Theatre Perth Festival Creative Development 15 mins
1:05pm 12:35pm 11:05am 3:05am Pitch Four Introduction by Adelaide Festival
Guttered Restless Dance Theatre Adelaide Festival Pre-production 15 mins
1:20pm 12:50pm 11:20am 3:20am BREAK SESSION TWO
1:45pm 1:15pm 11:45am 3:45am Pitch Five Introduction by Rising
The Invisible Opera Sophia Brous RISING Creative Development 15 mins
2:00pm 1:30pm 12:00pm 4:00am Pitch Six Introduction by RISING
AEON Dagger Justin Shoulder RISING Creative Development 15 mins
2:15pm 1:45pm 12:15pm 4:15am Pitch Seven Introduction by Adelaide Festival
Emma Beech/Brink Productions/ The Photo Box Adelaide Festival Creative Development 15 mins Vitalstatistix
2:30pm 2:00pm 12:30pm 4:30am BREAK SESSION THREE
3:00pm 2:30pm 1:00pm 5:00am Pitch Eight Introduction by Adelaide Festival
Supernature Australian Dance Theatre Adelaide Festival Tour Ready 15 mins
3:15pm 2:45pm 1:15pm 5:15am Pitch Nine Introduction by Sydney Festival
Daniel Riley/ILBIJERRI Theatre Tracker Sydney Festival Creative Development 15 mins Company
3:30pm 3:00pm 1:30pm 5:30am Pitch Ten Introduction by Adelaide Festival
THE PULSE Gravity and Other Myths Adelaide Festival Pre-production 15 mins
3:45pm 3:15pm 1:45pm 5:45am BREAK SESSION FOUR
4:00pm 3:30pm 2:00pm 6:00am Pitch Eleven Introduction by RISING
Manifesto Stephanie Lake Company RISING Pre-production 15 mins
4:15pm 3:45pm 2:15pm 6:15am Pitch Twelve Introduction by Brisbane Festival
Bounce! Circa Brisbane Festival Pre-production 15 mins
4:30pm 4:00pm 2:30pm 6:30am Pitch Thirteen Introduction by Perth Festival
Whistle Blower The Last Great Hunt Perth Festival Pre-production 15 mins
4:45pm 4:15pm 2:45pm 6:45am CONCLUSION OF DAY ONE Richard Evans
8/ TIME (AEST) TIME (SA & NT) TIME (WA) TIME (GMT) SESSION PROJECT PERSONNEL FESTIVAL APPLICATION STAGE DURATION
12midday 11:30am 10:00am 2:00am Welcome to Country Shannon Ruska Tribal Experiences 5 mins
12:05pm 11:35am 10:05am 2:05am Welcome to MFI Commissioning Site Richard Evans CAIAF 5 mins
12:10pm 11:40am 10:10am 2:10am Welcome from Brisbane Festival Louise Bezzina & Charlie Cush Brisbane Festival 10 mins SESSION ONE
12:20pm 11:50am 10:20am 2:20am Pitch One Introduction by Brisbane Festival
Stunt Double The Farm Brisbane Festival Creative Development 15 mins
12:35pm 12:05pm 10:35am 2:35am Pitch Two Introduction by Brisbane Festival
PATROCLUS Dead Puppet Society/Legs on the Wall Brisbane Festival Pre-production 15 mins
12:50pm 12:20pm 10:50am 2:50am Pitch Three Introduction by Perth Festival
Tales from the Inner City Barking Gecko Theatre Perth Festival Creative Development 15 mins
1:05pm 12:35pm 11:05am 3:05am Pitch Four Introduction by Adelaide Festival
Guttered Restless Dance Theatre Adelaide Festival Pre-production 15 mins
1:20pm 12:50pm 11:20am 3:20am BREAK SESSION TWO
1:45pm 1:15pm 11:45am 3:45am Pitch Five Introduction by Rising
The Invisible Opera Sophia Brous RISING Creative Development 15 mins
2:00pm 1:30pm 12:00pm 4:00am Pitch Six Introduction by RISING
AEON Dagger Justin Shoulder RISING Creative Development 15 mins
2:15pm 1:45pm 12:15pm 4:15am Pitch Seven Introduction by Adelaide Festival
Emma Beech/Brink Productions/ The Photo Box Adelaide Festival Creative Development 15 mins Vitalstatistix
2:30pm 2:00pm 12:30pm 4:30am BREAK SESSION THREE
3:00pm 2:30pm 1:00pm 5:00am Pitch Eight Introduction by Adelaide Festival
Supernature Australian Dance Theatre Adelaide Festival Tour Ready 15 mins
3:15pm 2:45pm 1:15pm 5:15am Pitch Nine Introduction by Sydney Festival
Daniel Riley/ILBIJERRI Theatre Tracker Sydney Festival Creative Development 15 mins Company
3:30pm 3:00pm 1:30pm 5:30am Pitch Ten Introduction by Adelaide Festival
THE PULSE Gravity and Other Myths Adelaide Festival Pre-production 15 mins
3:45pm 3:15pm 1:45pm 5:45am BREAK SESSION FOUR
4:00pm 3:30pm 2:00pm 6:00am Pitch Eleven Introduction by RISING
Manifesto Stephanie Lake Company RISING Pre-production 15 mins
4:15pm 3:45pm 2:15pm 6:15am Pitch Twelve Introduction by Brisbane Festival
Bounce! Circa Brisbane Festival Pre-production 15 mins
4:30pm 4:00pm 2:30pm 6:30am Pitch Thirteen Introduction by Perth Festival
Whistle Blower The Last Great Hunt Perth Festival Pre-production 15 mins
4:45pm 4:15pm 2:45pm 6:45am CONCLUSION OF DAY ONE Richard Evans
9/ SCHEDULE DAY TWO WEDNESDAY 23RD
TIME (AEST) TIME (SA & NT) TIME (WA) TIME (GMT) SESSION PROJECT PERSONNEL FESTIVAL APPLICATION STAGE DURATION
1:00pm 12:30pm 11:00am 3:00am Welcome to Day Two/ Housekeeping Richard Evans/Min Collie-Holmes 15 mins
1:15pm 12:45pm 11:15am 3:15am Brisbane Festival Update/ Welcome Louise Bezzina Brisbane Festival 5 mins
1:20pm 12:50pm 11:20am 3:20am Showcase of SILENCE: BlakDance Brisbane Festival Program 2020 BlakDance 15 mins SESSION FIVE
1:45pm 1:15pm 11:45am 3:45am Pitch Fourteen Introduction by Brisbane Festival
Lisa Wilson/Nathan Sibthorpe/ Bunker Brisbane Festival Pre-production 15 mins Metro Arts
2:00pm 1:30pm 12:00pm 4:00am Pitch Fifteen Introduction by RISING
Big Name, No Blankets Ilbijerri Theatre Company RISING Creative Development 15 mins
2:15pm 1:45pm 12:15pm 4:15am Pitch Sixteen Introduction by Darwin Festival
Value For Money GUTS Dance Darwin Festival Creative Development 15 mins
2:30pm 2:00pm 12:30pm 4:30am Pitch Seventeen Introduction by Ten Days on the Island
Monster Trucks Terrapin Puppet Theatre Ten Days on the Island Creative Development 15 mins
2:45pm 2:15pm 12:45pm 4:45am BREAK SESSION SIX
3:00pm 2:30pm 1:00pm 5:00am Pitch Eighteen Introduction by Adelaide Festival
Riders in the Chariot Brink Productions Adelaide Festival Creative Development 15 mins
3:15pm 2:45pm 1:15pm 5:15am Pitch Nineteen Introduction by Brisbane Festival
Amataga Casus Circus Brisbane Festival Creative Development 15 mins
3:30pm 3:00pm 1:30pm 5:30am Pitch Twenty Introduction by Adelaide Festival
Set Piece Nat Randall/Anna Breckon Adelaide Festival Pre-production 15 mins
3:45pm 2:15pm 1:45pm 5:45am Pitch Twenty-one Introduction by Auckland Arts Festival
Ross McCormack/The New Zealand As it Stands Auckland Arts Festival Tour Ready 15 mins Dance Company
4:00pm 3:30pm 2:00pm 6:00am BREAK SESSION SEVEN
4:15pm 3:45pm 2:15pm 6:15am Pitch Twenty-two Introduction by Brisbane Festival
RED Dancenorth Brisbane Festival Pre-production 15 mins
4:30pm 4:00pm 2:30pm 6:30am Pitch Twenty-three Introduction by Ten Days on the Island
How we Found what We Had Lost Terrapin Puppet Theatre Ten Days on the Island Pre-production 15 mins
4:45pm 4:15pm 2:45pm 6:45am Pitch Twenty-four Introduction by Perth Festival
And the Earth Will Swallow Them Whole Rachel Arianne Ogle Perth Festival Creative Development 15 mins
5:00pm 4:30pm 3:00pm 7:00am WRAP UP Richard Evans
10/ TIME (AEST) TIME (SA & NT) TIME (WA) TIME (GMT) SESSION PROJECT PERSONNEL FESTIVAL APPLICATION STAGE DURATION
1:00pm 12:30pm 11:00am 3:00am Welcome to Day Two/ Housekeeping Richard Evans/Min Collie-Holmes 15 mins
1:15pm 12:45pm 11:15am 3:15am Brisbane Festival Update/ Welcome Louise Bezzina Brisbane Festival 5 mins
1:20pm 12:50pm 11:20am 3:20am Showcase of SILENCE: BlakDance Brisbane Festival Program 2020 BlakDance 15 mins SESSION FIVE
1:45pm 1:15pm 11:45am 3:45am Pitch Fourteen Introduction by Brisbane Festival
Lisa Wilson/Nathan Sibthorpe/ Bunker Brisbane Festival Pre-production 15 mins Metro Arts
2:00pm 1:30pm 12:00pm 4:00am Pitch Fifteen Introduction by RISING
Big Name, No Blankets Ilbijerri Theatre Company RISING Creative Development 15 mins
2:15pm 1:45pm 12:15pm 4:15am Pitch Sixteen Introduction by Darwin Festival
Value For Money GUTS Dance Darwin Festival Creative Development 15 mins
2:30pm 2:00pm 12:30pm 4:30am Pitch Seventeen Introduction by Ten Days on the Island
Monster Trucks Terrapin Puppet Theatre Ten Days on the Island Creative Development 15 mins
2:45pm 2:15pm 12:45pm 4:45am BREAK SESSION SIX
3:00pm 2:30pm 1:00pm 5:00am Pitch Eighteen Introduction by Adelaide Festival
Riders in the Chariot Brink Productions Adelaide Festival Creative Development 15 mins
3:15pm 2:45pm 1:15pm 5:15am Pitch Nineteen Introduction by Brisbane Festival
Amataga Casus Circus Brisbane Festival Creative Development 15 mins
3:30pm 3:00pm 1:30pm 5:30am Pitch Twenty Introduction by Adelaide Festival
Set Piece Nat Randall/Anna Breckon Adelaide Festival Pre-production 15 mins
3:45pm 2:15pm 1:45pm 5:45am Pitch Twenty-one Introduction by Auckland Arts Festival
Ross McCormack/The New Zealand As it Stands Auckland Arts Festival Tour Ready 15 mins Dance Company
4:00pm 3:30pm 2:00pm 6:00am BREAK SESSION SEVEN
4:15pm 3:45pm 2:15pm 6:15am Pitch Twenty-two Introduction by Brisbane Festival
RED Dancenorth Brisbane Festival Pre-production 15 mins
4:30pm 4:00pm 2:30pm 6:30am Pitch Twenty-three Introduction by Ten Days on the Island
How we Found what We Had Lost Terrapin Puppet Theatre Ten Days on the Island Pre-production 15 mins
4:45pm 4:15pm 2:45pm 6:45am Pitch Twenty-four Introduction by Perth Festival
And the Earth Will Swallow Them Whole Rachel Arianne Ogle Perth Festival Creative Development 15 mins
5:00pm 4:30pm 3:00pm 7:00am WRAP UP Richard Evans
11/ STUNT DOUBLE THE FARM
PROJECT PROJECT PARTNERS DESCRIPTION For the challenges of using live film techniques ADMINISTERING One person’s talent, used for another CAIAF FESTIVAL person’s glory. on stage, and the cinematography demanded of these action sequences, we have completed Brisbane Festival Stunt Double is a social satire of power and fame an intense seed development week with local that examines the price paid for the creation of documentary film director Mick Angus and PARTNER our idols. feature film cinematographer Mark Wareham. CAIAF FESTIVAL/S We will continue to work with and consult them TBC It’s set in the 70’s cinematic world of Ozploitation, the period that brought such during the creative development. memorable movies as Wake in Fright, Razorback The Farm has always been interested in stunts, OTHER and BMX Bandits. 70’s Australia was a time of the consequences of high impact physicality, the CO-COMMISSIONING change, when the climate debate was starting, PARTNERS fragility of the human body and the connection the challenge to gender roles was well underway, HOTA that audiences feel when they experience Gough Whitlam was being sacked by the Queen actual risk onstage. For our drive-in thriller (and the CIA), Elvis was still alive and spandex Throttle (2019) we worked with the AP8 stunt OTHER FINANCIAL was a new thing. academy and world motocross champion Dan SUPPORTERS Readon. For Stunt Double we completed our The Farm Designed to be an accessible work that draws a crowd beyond the art elite, the popular cultural seed development week with Stunt coordinator references and biting comedy of Stunt Double Darko Tuskan and are in conversation with many TIMELINE will provide a unique perspective on the way experienced practitioners including Carly Rees, power and privilege operacte. and Yasca and Marco Sinigaglia. NOV – DEC 2020 Live filming of an action sequence takes place on “They suddenly realized you need a permit to Preliminary design conversations stage, and above it is a large screen where the set a car or a trashcan on fire, but you can set a Initial script ideas sequences are projected. human on fire with no permit. In a funny sort of Source material to inform studio rehearsals way, that’s a perfect analogy for the business.” Filming of test stunt sequences Through the differing lenses of fiction, Andy Armstrong – Stunt coordinator documentary and live theatre, The Farm will MARCH 2021 explore what is real, what is truth and what the Our company is based on the Gold Coast, in Two-week creative development at HOTA implications are when the truth is edited. the heartland of the Australian stunt world, and despite working in a vastly different industry, the Because we know whoever controls the lens communication that we have had so far has been controls the narrative. inspiring, and has made us appreciate how much “After many years as a stunt double for A-list knowledge, talent and potential collaboration is actors, I have first hand experience on the right at our doorstep. treatment of female stunt doubles in a male dominated industry. With a movement currently underway in the screen industry to recognise the unknown women and men that put their bodies on the line to make the Hollywood stars look so kick ass, it is time to shine a light on the Stunt Double in all our glorious forms.” – Carly Rees
12/ CREATIVE TEAM/ PRODUCING MFI CRITERIA PERFORMERS COMPANY PROFILE Whilst Stunt Double is a social satire bathed The artistic directorship team of The Farm Based on the Gold Coast with roots in Berlin The in 1970’s Australia, it’s underlying examination consists of five core artists, Kate Harman, Farm have been described as the gateway drug of hierarchies and power structures are both Michael Smith, Chloe Ogilvie, Gavin Webber to contemporary dance. That’s because we want current and universal. and Grayson Millwood who work collaboratively to connect to anyone, from dance aficionados to The innovative approach needed to mix live to create original dance theatre works. It is theatre virgins, and to challenge the status quo filming, stunt performance and dance theatre will important to us that these five voices are about what dance is and who it’s for. challenge The Farm to think beyond their own equally present in the direction of Stunt Double Our company is led by a collective of five artform, and open their processes to artists that because we know that, when speaking to themes artists spanning multiple generations, genders, work in an very different industry. of recognition and hierarchy, collaborators of backgrounds, zodiacs and disciplines. We believe different generations, backgrounds and genders With Stunt Double we are aiming to create a that all animals are equal and everyone we will better inform our process. work of a greater scale than usual, to reach a collaborate with brings their expertise to the mainstream audience not normally associated One person’s talent being used for another work, but are not confined to them. with contemporary dance. The success of shows person’s glory, may feel familiar to many people, Different combinations of our core artists and such as Cockfight (which received invitations but it is clear that this feeling is compounded collaborators have worked on a long list of to comedy festivals and won a Drover’s Award in some bodies more than others. successful shows that predates The Farm such as for best touring production) led the company to ADDITIONAL COLLABORATORS FOR Lawn, Roadkill (Splinter Group) and Underground be labelled “The gateway drug to dance”, this is THE CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT (Dancenorth). More recent achievements include something that we take pride in. We now wish Performers the Helpmann award winning TIDE, Cockfight to push this ability to make accessible physical Essie Horn and Taree Sanbury (Drovers Award, Helpmann nominated), Throttle theatre towards a larger scale work. (Matilda Award), Frankenstein (PAWA Award), Dramaturgy The Last Blast (Helpmann nominated). Louise Gough PREVIOUS MFI GRANTS
Cinematographer 2020 Mark Wareham Seed Development for Stunt Double FUTURE MFI amount granted $10,000 Documentary filmmaker POTENTIAL Mick Angus With professional stunt coordination and feature BUDGET Stunt Performer and consultant film quality cinematography, we believe Stunt Budget has been provided. Carly Rees Double is set to attract an audience well beyond the traditional dance crowd. Stunt coordinator Vasca and Marco Sinigaglia We are looking towards a Brisbane Festival premier in 2022 before presenting the work at WHAT THE MFI FUNDING
Composition and Sound design HOTA, our home venue. Working together with WILL BE USED FOR Luke Smiles Performing Lines, we will build a touring strategy The MFI Creative Development funding will Design for 2023 that utilises existing presenter interest allow us to find the ‘heart’ of the show. We will Zoe Atkinson and Tyler Hill in our past work as well as investigating new work with our traditional collaborative processes markets in line with the nature and scale of this and artists of The Farm, include all the elements new production. that worked well during our seed development and introduce an outside dramaturg, Louise Gough to the process. Her role will be twofold, she will focus on the script development around certain scenes, and provide an invaluable outside lens to the wider dramaturgical arc.
This creative development will build on a seed funding week completed in August 2020 in which we worked with some of Australia’s most experienced and sought after film and stunt practitioners.
13/ PATROCLUS BY DAVID MORTON DEAD PUPPET SOCIETY (DPS) AND LEGS ON THE WALL (LOTW)
PROJECT PROJECT CREATIVE TEAM/ PARTNERS DESCRIPTION PERFORMERS
ADMINISTERING An unlikely (and under told) classical love story, Writer and Director CAIAF FESTIVAL set against the epic violence of the Trojan David Morton War, PATROCLUS is a refreshing reimagining Brisbane Festival Director of Movement of one of the ancient world’s best- known Joshua Thomson (Legs On The Wall) heroes, and his not so well-known lover, to PARTNER CAIAF FESTIVAL/S reclaim the queer aspects of the mythology. Composer For Co-Producers DPS and LOTW this project Sydney Festival (TBC) Montaigne, Chris Bear (Grizzly Bear) is important and relevant for several reasons. and Tony Buchen In an increasingly divided world, the work will Creative Producers OTHER appeal for compassionate leadership and the Nicholas Paine and Cecily Hardy CO-COMMISSIONING service of others. As a concept, and from our PARTNERS research, this sort of contemporary retelling of Puppetry QPAC (TBC), Glass Half Full classical material is in demand and has a wide Dead Puppet Society Productions appeal due to both audience familiarity and Design a resurgence of interest in classical literature. TBC OTHER FINANCIAL Most importantly though, for us PATROCLUS is SUPPORTERS about diverse representation. We believe that Costume Designer Queensland University painting the portrait of the queer heroes at the TBC of Technology, heart of one of mythology’s most well-known Dramaturg Australia Council for the Arts tales has the potential to voice the narrative of Louise Gough individuals who make enormous contributions to their societies but still must fight for acceptance Projection Designer TIMELINE and visibility. To amplify this intention, diversity Justin Harrison of artistic leadership on this work is paramount. 2021 Additionally, the intention for the final work is Sound Designer Development to build an ensemble of diverse performers who Tony Brumpton will double through multiple roles, often blurring Lighting Designer JUN – AUG 2022 previously defined gender roles traditionally TBC Pre-Production associated with these mythological characters. By integrating human performers and puppets Cast SEP 2022 within digital environments, and shifting planes TBC Opening Season as the work incorporates stage combat and aerial physicality, we will create a versatile theatrical JAN 2023 palette. One capable of staging a story of mythic Second Season FUTURE proportions and continuing the multi-disciplinary POTENTIAL TBC experimentation with form that is a hallmark NA Third Season of Dead Puppet Society and Legs On The Wall’s work.
14/ PRODUCING MFI CRITERIA COMPANY PROFILE PATROCLUS brings together two leading Australian performing arts companies to reshape DEAD PUPPET SOCIETY 2017 and will tour nationally in 2019/20 to Cairns, and reclaim the queer story of two central Focussed on the creation of large-scale visual Arts Centre Melbourne, Queensland Performing characters of Homer’s Iliad. This collaboration theatre works, Dead Puppet Society has been Arts Centre and Sydney Opera House for will feature the heightened physicality of Legs operating for ten years and has received Sydney Festival, and internationally in 2020 to on the Wall combined with the visual mastery numerous awards and accolades, including six South Bank Centre in London and Edinburgh and contemporary use of puppetry from Dead Helpmann Award nominations and an Olivier Children’s Festival. Puppet Society to create a work of scale which Award nomination. After undertaking several deadpuppetsociety.com.au will take audiences to breathtaking new worlds. development programs and short seasons Pairing Justin Harrison’s visually exquisite with Metro Arts, Adelaide Fringe and Brisbane LEGS ON THE WALL projection design with Montaigne, Chris Bear Festival, our unique take on puppetry was Legs On The Wall (Legs) has a 35-year story and Tony Buchen’s internationally renowned solidified at La Boite Theatre Company in 2011 defined by daring, awe, heart and calculated and award-winning composition will further with THE HARBINGER, which moved from the risk. Their successes see have made them ensure the audience is immersed in this epic and Indie program to Mainstage in 2012 and toured Australia’s leading physical theatre company reimagined story. nationally in 2014 in co-production with Critical with global renown. Legs artists craft stories Stages. The slow development and multiple Dead Puppet Society is committed to providing through inimitable teaming of dance, theatre, iterations of this project gave us a strong opportunities to and collaborating with circus, sport, street arts, music, film, spectacle, understanding of producing large-scale work. Australian artists working in visual theatre experimental, installation, and other art forms. In 2013 we premiered ARGUS at the Brisbane forms. After 34 years Legs on the Wall remains Working with Australia’s best physical and non- Powerhouse. This production highlighted our a thriving heart of physical theatre in Australia. physical artists, and international collaborators, innovative approach to the form and received Legs is known nationally and internationally with a mandate to support and promote first a grant from the Jim Henson Foundation for for their exuberance, innovation and extreme nations artists the world over. With more than contemporary use of puppetry. A national tour physical skill – telling stories with depth 700,000 people having experienced Legs’ took place in 2015, visiting five states, with and intelligence. work first hand, their work appeals to a broad presenters including Queensland Theatre, audience across barriers of language, socio- PATROCLUS will make use of a wide variety of Come Out Children’s Festival, Darwin Festival, economic status, and more. forms. It will blend stage combat with aerial-work and others throughout regional Victoria and and integrate human performers and puppets Queensland. In 2016 and 2017 ARGUS was Since the appointment of Joshua Thomson as within digital environments — creating a versatile presented at the Kravis Center in Florida and Artistic Director in 2018, Legs has flourished and ambitious work of scale. at the Lincoln Center in New York City. with a renewed focus on telling relevant and powerful stories with physical metaphor. For the past five years, the Society has been Interactive intergenerational trampoline work PREVIOUS MFI GRANTS developing strong international partnerships, HIGHLY SPRUNG was experienced by over particularly across the United States and the Creative Development – PATROCLUS 9000 people in suburban Australia (Sydney United Kingdom. The need to build these arose Festival, Bleach festival, Art and About), and in 2013 when we worked with Handspring remote Australia (Karratha’s Red Earth Arts BUDGET Puppet Company as a JUMP Mentorship. Their Festival), as well as internationally (Santiago a advice was that a sustainable practice relied on Budget has been provided. Mil). 2018/2019 saw Indigenous led aerial work building an international career. In beginning this Man With The Iron Neck (MWTIN) premiere for process, we secured an eight-month residency Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Darwin major at St. Ann’s Warehouse in NYC to develop THE arts Festivals in Australia, receiving exceptional WIDER EARTH. In 2016 we co-produced the fully reviews and standing ovations. Above all, Legs realised production with Queensland Theatre. are determined to tell transformative and The work then enjoyed a sold out season at empowering stories in forms that will thrill and Sydney Opera House for Sydney Festival and resonate with audiences. a five month commercial season at the Natural History Museum in London. DPS also has a legsonthewall.com.au strong relationship with the New Victory Theater in NYC who hosted us in residence for two years and were our primary development partner for LASER BEAK MAN. The production had its world premiere with Brisbane Festival and La Boite in
15/ TALES FROM THE INNER CITY BARKING GECKO THEATRE COMPANY
PROJECT PROJECT PARTNERS DESCRIPTION SATELLITE’ PERFORMANCES ADMINISTERING Tales from the Inner City, the most recent work CAIAF FESTIVAL from master storyteller Shaun Tan, was born Audiences venture into the city to discover Perth Festival from a question: What would happen if animals three-five different immersive, site specific lived in places that were normally reserved only performances. These would be longer for human beings? The result is an extraordinary (approx.10-15 min) crafted theatrical experiences PARTNER that are adaptations of the more narrative-based CAIAF FESTIVAL/S collection of poetry, prose and artworks fashioned into 25 short stories that are exquisite, stories from the book. For example, in a museum TBC surreal, haunting, and befitting of the strange an evolutionary biologist awaits to share her times we now find ourselves in. Crocodiles live strange and magical presentation about a species OTHER on the 87th floor of a high rise. Bears are taking of Lungfish that evolved faster than the human CO-COMMISSIONING the human race to court. A baby orca is put into race. In a courthouse, a group of bears are taking PARTNERS the sky but no one knows how to get it down the human race to court. Outside a bank, a man City of Perth, Department again. It cries endlessly for its mother. feeding pigeons tells the story of a fantastical of Local Government Sport skyscraper hovering in the sky that challenges & Creative Industries (TBC) Utilising the city as a canvas and a stage, Barking ideas of wealth. Gecko Theatre’s adaptation of Tales from the Inner City will translate the elegance and dream- JOURNEY OTHER FINANCIAL like quality of Tan’s stories into a live experience SUPPORTERS Connecting the ‘Headquarters’ and ‘Satellites’ for children and families that will explode to life N/A will be a series of ephemeral visual art works that across the city. It is imagined in three ‘modules’: act as ‘breadcrumbs’ for the audience to follow. For example, a series of beautifully illustrated TIMELINE HEADQUARTERS posters about a missing cat plaster the streets A series of rooms constructed in an existing and projections of horses dance across city space, or perhaps purpose built. Each room is APR 2021 buildings, haunting the city they once helped an instillation inspired by a different story from Part 1: Concept development/ build. These works will transform the city and the book. The audience travel from room to Confirmation of story selections and form be enjoyed by the general public, whilst holding room, each one giving way to a new reality by (1 week) secret meaning for audiences on the larger shifting artistic form, perspective and scale. For journey of the work. JUN 2021 example, in one room audiences listen to a story Cumulatively, Tales from the Inner City will be an Part 2: Build and Test HQ rooms inc. about giant snails as they watch real-life snails experiential collage, with the engagements linked Composer, LX and Digital (2 weeks) crawl through a miniature city. In another room made entirely of fur, audiences are invited to on emotional and intuitive levels. For clarity, the DEC 2021 nestle in as they hear the strange tale of some work avoids anthropomorphised creatures. Part 3: Script Development tired factory workers awaiting the arrival of a A captivating and magical experience for (Satellite Site specific locations) (2 weeks) great yak. In another, a wall of intricate masks children and families, at its core, Tales from the reveal the subtle teachings of a predatory tiger. Inner City poses urgent questions about our MAR 2022 An ethereal soundscape is tailored to each room, relationship with the natural world. This is a work Part 4: Creative Development Perth: with stories communicated in different ways - that challenges established power structures and Creative Team and Performers (2 weeks) via audio, performers, text, and rich, resonant our assumed dominion over our environment. imagery. Once audiences have travelled through It is an act of imagining, that posits our shared the rooms at ‘’headquarters’ they receive a map future is a choice (rather than an inevitability) that directs them to encounters in the city. that depends upon our ability to imagine other lives and realities. As an act of re-imagining our city it is, ultimately, a work of hope.
16/ CREATIVE TEAM/ PRODUCING MFI CRITERIA PERFORMERS COMPANY PROFILE Tales from the Inner City is a large-scale work Author Barking Gecko Theatre is a leading professional of considerable ambition. It is a bold adaptation Shaun Tan theatre company based in Western Australia of Tan’s original work that pushes the boundaries led by Artistic Director, Luke Kerridge. Barking of what theatre can be and how we tell stories Director Gecko produces exquisitely crafted theatre that to young audiences. As the generation that are Luke Kerridge inspires audiences to imagine the world anew. arguably most actively concerned about climate Designer Barking Gecko Theatre’s productions speak to change, this is a meditative, sophisticated work Jonathon Oxlade children in the here and now – to their inner lives that meets young audiences with the respect and the experience of growing up in a complex they deserve. It is also a work of broad appeal: Composer world. The theatre we create is as rich, layered Shaun Tan’s work defies categorisation and Alex Somers (international, unconfirmed) and vibrant as the experience of childhood itself. crosses generations. Composer Alex Somers Production & Logistics Consultant Our investment in the creation of new theatrical (best known for his collaborations with Jonsi Drew Dymond experiences is rigorous; we push boundaries, from Sigur Ros) is internationally renowned for reimagine timeless themes and amplify the his ethereal soundscapes and creates music of Playwrights skilled at crafting work for child’s world-view. unabashed beauty, the perfect underscore for families such as Kate Mulvany and Dan Tan’s surreal worlds and distinctive aesthetic. Giovannoni will be engaged to adapt the In recent years, Barking Gecko Theatre Company narrative-driven ‘Satellite’ pieces. has consistently demonstrated is adeptness to Over the years Barking Gecko has had the collaborate with organisations and Australia’s privilege to adapt other iconic works by Shaun There will be a cast of diverse performers, leading theatre artists to deliver exceptional Tan: The Red Tree, an intimate in-theatre including children. It may be possible for productions that are accessible to families, as experience, and The Rabbits, a multi-award the cast to shift from city to city to engage well as lovers of finely crafted theatre. winning new opera for children and families local performers. co-produced with Opera Australia, only made We are honoured to create our work on possible through the support of the MFI. Tales Whadjuk country, the ancestral lands of the from the Inner City is the next bold work Barking Noongar people. Gecko will undertake, conceived to speak our times and the cities our major festivals reside in.
PREVIOUS MFI GRANTS FUTURE POTENTIAL 2015: Perth International Arts Festival and Melbourne Festival: $203,912 Tales from the Inner City is a new Australian work that will take over a city through a series of intimate 2016: Perth Festival: $6,320 and epic installations, site specific performances and ephemeral encounters. 2018: Perth Festival, Melbourne Festival and Modular in conception, it is envisioned the work will be made up of transferrable parts that could be Sydney Festival: $139,354 tailored to each city it tours. The central space, or ‘Headquarters,’ is a series of instillations in various rooms that could be built into an existing space or purpose built. ‘Satellite’ performances are immersive, site-specific mini-plays that would take place in buildings common to every city – e.g. a museum, a court BUDGET house, a town hall. Connecting the ‘Headquarters’ and ‘Satellite Performances’ are a series of visual Budget has been provided. works that will use the city as a canvas.
As a city takeover, Tales from the Inner City would ideally run for a minimum of three to five days across a Festival. It is imagined the full work would take around 75 minutes to experience, but it would be possible to attend just some of the ‘modules’. Part of the creative development process will be to plot the audience’s pathway and determine the full experience. This is a work for family audiences to enjoy in the afternoon/early evening and also has potential for schools audiences.
17/ GUTTERED RESTLESS DANCE THEATRE
PROJECT PROJECT PARTNERS DESCRIPTION
ADMINISTERING Guttered explores the notion of being a winner THE EXPERIENCE CAIAF FESTIVAL or a loser within the context of ten pin bowling The audience arrive, put on their bowling shoes Adelaide Festival and reunites the award-winning creative team and are guided to sit in the classic bowling from Intimate Space. Set in a classic bowling alley booths. In the beginning the audience alley, with the mesmerising sights and sounds, PARTNER may not know who is a performer and who CAIAF FESTIVAL/S the audience will be immersed in the competitive is an audience member. The performers will and social interaction of a game. With a similar Brisbane Festival and TBC slowly reveal themselves. Sitting in amongst the attention to detail as Intimate Space the work action the audience will be privy to intimate will challenge audiences’ prejudices while making exchanges and bowled over by boisterous OTHER them laugh and cry. physical action. Dancers will slide and move CO-COMMISSIONING PARTNERS along the lanes and take up the challenge to win FROM MICHELLE RYAN at any cost. Each dancer will be vying for the N/A ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF RESTLESS DANCE THEATRE attention of the audience. The audience will not Why don’t we allow people with disability only be able to score their game but also their OTHER FINANCIAL relationships. Exposing the dignity of risk, the SUPPORTERS to have the dignity of risk? Disability Service Providers often program bowling into daily living dancers will, at times, be denied the opportunity Arts South Australia – Richard to succeed. At other times the audience will Llewellyn Fund And City Of programs however guards on the sides of the lanes restrict failure. Failure is a key motivation be transported away from the bowling alley to Adelaide And Banksa Foundation to develop and learn. witness emotional relationships between these And James And Diana Ramsay enigmatic performers. Foundation A bowling alley is such a theatrical setting, the noise of the pins falling, the smell of the oil from With many duets, ranging from exuberant the hot chips, the classic bowling shirts and free-for-alls to tender and at times almost TIMELINE shoes and the raucous interaction of the bowlers, unbearably beautiful, the work will allow the it is almost a sensory overload. I can’t wait to audience to uncover the very personal stories JUL – DEC 2020 share the dancers intimate stories of winning and of the performers with disability. Development (4 Weeks In Total) losing in this intimate but public context.
JAN 25 – FEB 25 Pre-Production
FEB – MAR 2021 Opening Season – Adelaide Festival
SEP 2021 Second Season – Brisbane Festival
LATER 2021 Third Season – Possible Restless presentation TBC
18/ CREATIVE TEAM/ PRODUCTION OVERVIEW MFI CRITERIA PERFORMERS The work is set in an active bowling alley. There “Dance Theatre that engages by its simplicity and Director are no major set elements. Being a site specific moves by its emotional intensity.” The Australian Michelle Ryan work the team will reconfigure the work to a new Restless has made a name for itself, presenting venue. Restless requires 10 lanes and access to Assistant Director innovative, works of scale that showcase the the sound and audio visual systems. Bespoke Josephine Fitzgerald Restless dancers’ unique personalities in lighting will be developed during pre production unusual spaces. Over the last five years we have Music Soundscape to enable to the work to be presented in presented major works in festival contexts. Jason Sweeney different venues.
Lighting Designer For the premiere season the work will be RECENT PRODUCTIONS Geoff Cobham presented in the Woodville Zone Bowling 2020 Seeing Through Darkness Alley’s event space ‘The Sliders Room’. four-week season Art Gallery of SA Designer Meg Wilson 2019 Intimate Space Seoul Street Arts Festival Technology Developer PRODUCING Heidi Angove 2019 Zizanie by Meryl Tankard COMPANY PROFILE Adelaide Festival Assistant Director Restless Dance Theatre is Australia’s leading Larissa McGowan 2018 Creating the Spectacle dance theatre company working with artists Adelaide Film Festival Dancers with and without disability. Our artistic voice Kathryn Adams, Chris Dyke, Jianna Georgiou, is loud, strong and original. Restless invigorates, 2018 Intimate Space Michael Hodyl, Alexis Luke, Michael Noble, influences and diversifies dance by creating Bleach* Festival 2018 Commonwealth Games Charlie Wilkins innovative and highly distinctive works of dance Arts and Culture Festival theatre. Restless is a place where diversity Creative Producer 2017 Intimate Space is celebrated and all artists thrive creatively. Roz Hervey Adelaide Festival restlessdance.org 2016 In the Balance Adelaide Cabaret Festival
FUTURE We are the only Australian dance company POTENTIAL presenting work professionally with artists with NA and without disability. Guttered further develops the presentation of work in non-traditional venues which Michelle explored so successfully in her work: Intimate Space which was set in a working hotel. The unusual venue can help audiences sidestep their own prejudices and see the performers as what they are: dancers performing exceptional work – who happen to have a disability. Our work is unique. The individuality of the Restless artists is a major strength of the company. The dancers do not fit the stereotypical dancer image but it is in their difference that audiences see their beauty and creativity.
PREVIOUS MFI GRANTS Seed – Zizanie
BUDGET Budget has been provided.
19/ THE INVISIBLE OPERA AUSPICIOUS ARTS PROJECTS INC.
PROJECT PROJECT CREATIVE TEAM/ PARTNERS DESCRIPTION PERFORMERS
ADMINISTERING The Invisible Opera is a contemporary music Writer; Music Direction; Performer CAIAF FESTIVAL theatre work for public space. Sophia Brous (Aus) RISING (Melbourne International Presented as a 60-minute performance Sophia Brous is a cross-disciplinary musician, Arts Festival) intervention in a central square of a city composer and performance-maker. She creates centre, The Invisible Opera is a surreal new, commissioned collaborative works and PARTNER examination of the dynamics of private interest performances with companies, festivals and CAIAF FESTIVAL/S in our shared public environment. Unfolding as artists internationally. Brous was 2016-2018 N/A a cinematic observation of the behaviours and resident artist at National Sawdust, New York patterns of everyday life, a bustling metropolis and twice resident artist at The Watermill gradually gives way to mass spectacle, as Center, New York. She was 2019 finalist of the OTHER CO-COMMISSIONING PARTNERS forces of city surveillance, hostile architecture, Melbourne Prize for Music and recipient of Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), laws of assembly and creative activation the inaugeral Creative Victoria Creator’s Fund New York – ‘work in-residence’, begin to choreograph the space like a kind and the World Tour Scholarship of the Berklee of invisible theatre. School of Music. Brous is Artistic Associate project partner, future presenter of the Arts Centre Melbourne where she Utilising immersive sound design, electroacoustic founded Supersense; Festival of the Ecstatic orchestration, vocal performance, NURA Headphones – (in-kind) and is current Curator at Large of Pioneer choreography and large-scale scenic design, Works, New York. Recent touring projects and the work is a mesmeric examination of what we Arts Centre Melbourne – in-kind commissions include Dream Machine (2021 The see and do not see in our public environment. rehearsal venue for rehearsals Barbican, Todays Art Den Haag, Red Bull Music It catalogues a taxonomy of our public Festival, Scopitone Festival); Mount Analogue environment, and reveals how private interests (2021 Ultima Festival/Oslo Opera House/ OTHER FINANCIAL of real estate, big data, tourism and city planning SUPPORTERS Norwegian Arts Council); When The World’s On shape our collective behaviour. Australia Council of the Arts Fire (The Kennedy Center Washington/Direct 2020 creative development Created by cross-disciplinary performance- Current) with Marc Ribot; song cycle Lullaby makers Sophia Brous, Lara Thoms and Faye Movement (2019 Operadagen Rotterdam, 2021 Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Driscoll (USA), the work operates at the Southbank Centre London); and New York 2020 creative development threshold of contemporary music theatre and large ensemble EXO-TECH, with David Byrne, public intervention. Site specific and unique to Kimbra, Colin Stetson, Questlove, Sean Lennon each new city, it responds directly to landscape and Yuka Honda Other engagements include Arts Centre Melbourne and community, and exists easily as a COVID the world premiere of Music and Poetry of the Early phase creative development Safe, socially distanced work for performers Kesh by Ursula K Le Guin; In Dreams: David and audience. Lynch Revisited for The Barbican London, Paris Philharmonie; Hallucinations for DOCUMENTA Performed as a back-to-back performance TIMELINE Athens 2017, The Arthur Russell Retrospective cycle in which each new audience inadvertently Concert for the Brooklyn Academy of Music; 200 FEB – MAR 2021 become performers for the next audience’s Motels by Frank Zappa, with the BBC Concert Remote pre-production – creative team/ viewing, the work can be presented for up to Orchestra, for Southbank Center/Rest is Noise contractors six audiences across an evening and operate Festival); and Gorgon (National Sawdust). simultaneously as a ticketed work and public MAR 1 –5 2021 intervention. Using dynamic audio technology, Technical design development – sound, prop and production design integrating existing city scenic design testing architecture, and instructional participation (via the audiences’ mobile phones and own MAR 8-12 2021 headsets), the work ultimately leads the Ensemble rehearsals audience into becoming complicit in the public MAR 12-14 2021 spectacle, only for it to start all over again. Work in progress performances; documentation
20/ Dramaturgy; Direction FUTURE MFI CRITERIA Lara Thoms (Aus) POTENTIAL Co-created by two of Australia’s leading Lara Thoms as an Australian director, The Invisible Opera is a current new work contemporary artists working in performance, performance-maker and performer interested in in-residence at the Brooklyn Academy of Music who have produced work of distinctive socially engaged, site-specific and participatory (BAM), New York. Several phases of creative impact, quality and vision across artforms possibilities in contemporary art. Her work has developments have been undertaken at the and discipline in Australia and internationally. been presented with the Theatrespektakle and BAM Fisher Theatre since 2019, and discussions Sophia Brous and Lara Thoms experience Nooderzen festivals (for which she won the ZKB are underway for presentation in the 2021/2022 spans music, performance, public participation, Patronage Prize and the ZKB Audience Prize seasons, subject to covid measures. and site-specific performance, and together 2019 for We All Know What’s Happening), Sydney with the exceptional US choreographer and Additional development partners have included Opera House, SICK! and ANTI festivals, PIAF, performance-maker Faye Driscoll, The Invisible The Watermill Center New York (Sophia Melbourne Festival, The Malthouse, Next Wave Opera represents a distinctive opportunity for Brous solo residency, January 2020) and Arts festival, the MCA, Performance Space, Radial collaboration between three highly respected Centre Melbourne. System v Berlin, as well as many venues and female-identifying artists. institutions. She is current co-Artistic Director of Current discussions with potential future Aphids, was a curator/ producer for Dark Mofo The creation of a dynamic, site specific outdoor presenters include Manchester International Festival and works as an artist with Field Theory. work of scale has been carefully considered in Festival/The Factory; Manchester UK; Komische relation to the potential restrictions that may Opera, Berlin; Operadagen Rotterdam; and Choreographer be in place due to COVID-19. The work’s design Holland Festival. Faye Driscoll (USA) utilises technology that will allow audiences Faye Driscoll is a Bessie award-winning This work has been designed for touring. The to use their own handsets and headphones, choreographer and director whose work is touring party will be limited to three to five whilst the outdoor location will enable a group rooted in an obsession with the problem of being pax, and the work will have a large local impact participation in a socially distanced context, and “somebody” in a world of other “somebodies” tailored to each city site-specifically. The key the ability for additional hygiene protocols for and all of the conflicts and comedy born in our artists will work with a local performance audiences and performers to be enacted. This interactions with others. Driscoll’s work has ensemble and design the show and text for ensures the work can be safely presented over been commissioned by Walker Art Center, New each site uniquely. the coming years. Museum, Wexner Center for the Arts, Institute With a highly flexible presentation mode, it also for Contemporary Art/Boston, Danspace PRODUCING offers presenters the ability to attract a large Project, HERE Arts Center, The Kitchen, Dance COMPANY PROFILE audience over multiple performances within the Theater Workshop, American Dance Festival, same night. Fusebox Festival, UCLA, CounterPULSE, and Auspicious Arts will auspice the creative The Yard. Driscoll has collaborated with theater development funds for Sophia and Lara. They Conceived and led by artists based in Melbourne and performance artists including Young Jean will manage artist contracts and payment of fees, and New York, the work seeks to reimagine our Lee, Cynthia Hopkins, Taylor Mac, Jennifer wages, on costs and insurances. familiar city-scapes and encourage audiences Miller, and the National Theater of the United to connect with their cities, and with each In addition, Independent Producer, Freya States of America. She received a Guggenheim other, in new ways. The Invisible Opera will Waterson will provide project and budget Memorial Fellowship, Creative Capital and was be highly responsive to each city it is presented oversight and manage liaison between the Artist-in-Residence at Baryshnikov Arts Center, in; altered and inspired by each new site and MFI, Festivals and the Artists. Park Avenue Armory and Mass Live Arts (2015). presentation context. She received her B.F.A. from Tisch School of the Situated somewhere between staged Arts at New York University. She most recently performance, music theatre, participative premiered the third part to her celebrated choreography, public art and public spectacle, trilogy Thank You For Coming: Space. The Invisible Opera is designed as a site specific, participatory, contemporary performance experience that will deliver impact and quality for audiences.
PREVIOUS MFI GRANTS N/A
BUDGET Budget has been provided. 21/ AEON DAGGER INSITE ARTS INTERNATIONAL
PROJECT PROJECT SEEDS OF THE WORK PARTNERS DESCRIPTION • Unseen worlds beyond our knowing and perception. ADMINISTERING AEON† by Justin Shoulder CAIAF FESTIVAL AEON† is an in-theatre work for Playhouse size • Drawing from Mythos of Ancestral Rising Festival theatres or larger studio spaces Filipnx and Queer Lineage to Imagine a Filipinx Futurism. Fusing Filipinx myth, puppetry and queer PARTNER pageantry as ceremony, AEON† is a work • Interspecies communication/kinship: how CAIAF FESTIVAL/S to listen to the environment? Sydney Festival imagined by acclaimed Sydney artist Justin Shoulder. AEON† births a hypnotic ecology • Spaces for dreaming/becoming: offer of beings that emerge from the muck of a possibilities of alternate futures and OTHER decomposing parallel world. alternative ways of being beyond what CO-COMMISSIONING PARTNERS Aeon—meaning a vital force, or an indefinite we are experiencing now. N/A period of time—bears tension with †(dagger): • Bodies and beings that resist categorisation. the symbol placed beside the name of a species indicating it has become extinct. The world • Flora/Fauna Responses to threat: OTHER FINANCIAL Aposematism, startle displays, mimcry SUPPORTERS of AEON† speculates a realm between the and sonic responses. Justin Shoulder infinite and the definite. The performance space becomes a fertile petri dish incubating distinct • Quick Change Costumes, Masquerade, and recombinant organisms. Drag and Pageantry languages offer TIMELINE With an extraordinary team of collaborators modes of display in parallel to Flora/Fauna including Corin (music composition) Matthew Startle Displays (aposematism) larger JUL 2020 Stegh (co-designer) and Victoria Hunt (mentor scale dynamic and transformational set Justin Shoulder (Director/Performer) and collaborator), AEON† invites us to cross and costumes and other performers on and Matthew Stegh (Design) working on time, from the origins of life to glimpses beyond stage with Justin to articulate the sets development of visual treatment and designs its end. and costumes. for AEON DAGGER The work extends on Justin’s Phasmahammer, In October Justin’s will present an episode Making of Selected Set/Costumes Pieces an eco-cosmology of alter personas based on (extract) of the work as part of the Liveworks Justin Shoulder working with Corin Ileto queered ancestral myth. Creatures birthed at Carriageworks. The works forms part of the (Composer) and Victoria Hunt (Rehearsal are embodied through hand crafted costumes development of the larger scale work. Future Director) and prosthesis and animated by their own and committed commissioning partners to gestural languages. this work include Liveworks (Performance AUG 2020 Space) Fusebox Festival (Austin Texas), Fierce Free falling they recall the past in order Making of Selected Set/Costumes Pieces Festival (Birmingham, UK) and Montréal, arts to imagine a future of infinite-love- interculturels (MAI, Canada). Justin and Victoria working with performers possibility. Rhincodon cruise through oceanic and completed set pieces/objects and malls, Bakunawa ride countercurrents all the way This development was supported by Create costumes to the Skyscraper: Jaws of the Horizon aka The NSW and City of Sydney. Edge. Future life forms abound vertically in the SEP 2020 great continual unfolding… Justin and Victoria working with performers and set pieces
Preparation for Site Development Showing
22/ CREATIVE TEAM/ PRODUCING MFI CRITERIA PERFORMERS COMPANY PROFILE In our opinion Justin Shoulder is one of Lead Artist, Performer and Co-Designer Australia’s most innovative and exciting multi- INSITE ARTS Justin Shoulder disciplinary artists, recognised locally, nationally Insite Arts is an experienced team of creative and internationally for his solo practice as a Mentor, Co-Choreographer and Performer producers and arts professionals working in visual artist, as a performance artist and as an Victoria Hunt Australia and internationally to create and artist who openly and actively engages with produce arts events of high impact and calibre. Costume & Set Design community events. Based in Adelaide with offices in Melbourne and Matthew Stegh Hobart, Insite Arts is a full service producing and Justin’s work diversifies and re-imagines Composer production company specialising in the delivery performative narratives, bringing forward ideas Corin Ileto of arts events of all scales. that demand exploration. Queer and trans- cultural mythologies combine with innovative The directors of Insite Arts have a long and Producers performance in public spaces, ensuring these diverse history of curating programs, producing Jason Cross/ Insite Arts important stories find new audiences and events and developing cultural tourism Costume and Set Design Assistants communities. experiences – they are experts in place making Anthony Aitch, Luna Aquatica, Leo Borrero and community engagement and they are AEON† is a significant and important project supported by a staff of experienced producers for Justin and his associated collaborators and production managers. Prior to coming especially Matthew, Corin and Victoria. The work FUTURE together they held senior positions in the will be designed for larger spaces and creates POTENTIAL following cultural organisations: new opportunities for sets or costumes to be designed and made to “fit this scale” and how Arts Projects Australia, Womadelaide, Brisbane Justins’s performance work – including they come to life. THE RIVER EATS, CARRION (the show and Festival, Brisbane Powerhouse, Federation Episode 1) have been performed nationally Square, Come Out Festival, Melbourne Fringe, MFI provides an opportunity for the artists to and internationally. Australian Performing Arts Market, Edinburgh practice with “some” continuity which will allow Film Festival, St Kilda Festival, 2008 ASSITEJ the team to work collaboratively and build In 2018 and 2019 CARRION – Episode 1 World Congress and Festival, Cultural Program the work together (across the rehearsal room was presented at Fusebox Festival (USA), for the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth and workshop). Neon Lights Festival (Singapore), Palais de Games, Cultural Program for the 2007 World Justin and Matthew Stegh have a working Tokyo (France) and CARRION – the show Swimming Championships. was presented by Kampnagel Internationale studio and workshop in Sydney where all the Kulturfabrik (Germany), Fierce Festival (UK) and Insite Arts offers services for a wide range of sets, objects amd costumes are made with the Montreal arts interculturels (Canada) arts industry, corporate and government clients support of other makers. including programming, strategic planning, In 2019 Justin completed residencies at EMPAC creative management, and the delivery of PREVIOUS MFI GRANTS (USA), Walker Arts Centre (USA) and Battersea large-scale festivals and events. Insite Arts Arts Centre (UK). works regularly for significant clients such as the N/A Justin’s work appeals to a wide audience and can Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) in Hobart be presented in diverse programming contexts. as the Event Producer for the annual festival BUDGET Given the larger scale of the work and theatre MONA FOMA (Festival of Music and Art). Budget has been provided. (spaces) it could be presented in we envisage Insite Arts support a diverse group of that with larger audiences the work will open independent artists and companies across South up new possibilities. Australia, Victoria and New South Wales and Tasmania including Justin Shoulder.
insitearts.com.au
23/ THE PHOTO BOX EMMA BEECH, BRINK PRODUCTIONS AND VITALSTATISTIX
PROJECT PROJECT PARTNERS DESCRIPTION ARTIST STATEMENT “In September 2019, my mum and dad delivered In 2019 artist Emma Beech was gifted a box ADMINISTERING me a box of photos. Being one of nine children, of family photographs by her elderly parents, CAIAF FESTIVAL naturally we had a lot of old-school printed a not uncommon experience for middle-aged Adelaide Festival photos in a massive box in the linen press. My adults. What is less common is that Beech is parents, now in their early 80s, and with me as the youngest of nine children, from a family who PARTNER their youngest child heading into her 40s, in have been central to the life of a regional South CAIAF FESTIVAL/S very practical form, decided to get those photos Australian town. TBC sorted and create a box for each child. It’s not This box of fleeting moments in time, soon a huge box, but it’s big enough. revealed itself as a kind of balm, releasing in OTHER It’s not that my family is special. It is rather large, Beech half-memories, sudden recollections CO-COMMISSIONING yes, but not special. What it is, however, is full of PARTNERS and a profound curiosity for unravelling stories I never really knew the truth about. There Brink Productions, Vitalstatistix, unsentimental truths about how we all grow are many family myths, moved down from person from childhood to adulthood. Griffin Theatre to person, but the truth itself is not really known. Well known for making compelling theatrical My mum holding me in her arms as her OTHER FINANCIAL portraits of real-life characters through deep accidental baby #9 is one example of so many SUPPORTERS conversations with other people, The Photo Box – and the questions and doubts I raised for her Brink Productions, Vitalstatistix sees Beech turn her docu-drama lens on herself, are the roots of a wider personal, social and in a work that, from the deeply personal, draws political story, like so many others embedded us into the truly universal. TIMELINE in these photos. The Photo Box by Emma Beech will be a Ok, so that story of my conception is quite a surprising, heartfelt story-telling experience 2020 serious story; there are also other joyful ones, – think performance lecture meets cinematic Research/mapping the work funny ones, secret ones with secret people, installation – about family, choice, myth-making Currently underway; political ones, scary ones, and life-changing ones. and memory. Will include The Listening Hour with Emma I want to uncover them all, now, for real, with Beech for two nights at Rumpus on 1st and 2nd something resembling the truth. October. This will ultimately, of course, lead me back to 2021 me, to my choices, to the causes and effects of Creative development 1: April 12-24 my actions which, like any human, come from Focused on the theatrical development family life mixing with culture, home, my genes of the work with the key creative team. and everything in between. Followed by final mapping process. This will undoubtedly be my most personal and This is the focus of this investment most revealing work. I will tell intimate stories Creative development 2: November 8-26 only my dearest friends know, of my deep Focused on the cinematic content and fuck-ups, my attempts at life, the process of me final script. becoming me. Everyone has stories, most are 2022 buried, but in an age where the search for truth Pre-production and production: Jan – March 2022 abounds in such complicated ways, I want to find and tell what I know of the truth of my life, and unravel it in some way. I imagine people will be very glad they are not me on stage, but I also think it will give an audience a chance to sift through their own family narrative.
I see The Photo Box as part performance lecture, part family slide-show, part cinematic visual and audio experience. It will work with the very real, the very un-real and the dramatic. It will be funny, moving and have a sense of universality.”
24/ THE PHOTO BOX EMMA BEECH, BRINK PRODUCTIONS AND VITALSTATISTIX
CREATIVE TEAM/ FUTURE PERFORMERS POTENTIAL
CREATOR AND PERFORMER OTHER KEY CREATIVE ROLES Griffin Theatre, NSW, has expressed an interest in EMMA BEECH FOR THE PHOTO BOX INCLUDE: the work for 2022. Tessa Leong, Griffin’s Associate Emma started making shows for her mum in Creative Development Dramaturgy, Artistic Artistic Director, is a long-term collaborator of her bedroom when she was six. Since then, she Support and Co-conceiver Emma Beech’s and she may contribute to the has graduated from Flinders Drama Centre, Chris Drummond artistic development of the work. worked in theatre, screen and developed a Listeners practice developing theatre shows from intimate A team of listeners who are supporting the PRODUCING conversations with other humans, from strangers initial content edit for the work – what stories to her dad. The best of these moments Emma COMPANY PROFILE work, how are they heard, do they connect to collects together to make a show, and she is the photos? Listeners include Anne Thompson, Brink Productions and Vitalstatistix, small- constantly seeking to replicate the joy and art of Valerie Berry, Tim Overton, Stephen Sheehan, to-medium performance companies in South a great conversation on stage. Her work is often Chris Drummond and Yasmin Gurreeboo. Australia, and their artistic leaders Chris direct address, and montages stories, gestures Drummond (Artistic Director, Brink) and Emma and physical narratives that are collected from Cinematic Co-Director/Writer Webb (Director, Vitals), have long-term professional interviews, conversations, confessions and Craig Behenna relationships with the artist, Emma Beech. observations with imaginings of everything Documenter/filmmaker The two companies are committed to working in between. Shalom Almond together to co-produce The Photo Box, providing Emma works with collaborators that include Set and Costume Designer cash investment, artistic and administrative installation-theatre companies Carte Blanche, Renate Henschke support, production and venue support, and Group 38 and August and September, in other contributions. This exciting partnership Denmark, and Patch Theatre, The Rabble, Composer/Sound Designer will be the first time that Brink and Vitals have Arts House, Open Space Contemporary Arts, Jason Sweeney collaborated on a new work. Already it has become State Theatre Company of South Australia and a very rich, generous and fruitful process between Lighting Designer Vitalstatistix, in Australia. She is a founding the companies. Chris Petridis member of the Australian Bureau of Worthiness, brinkproductions.com through which she creates residency-made Co-director or rehearsal director for final stage/s vitalstatistix.com.au performance works. of the work’s development in 2021/2022.
Some of her shows have won awards, some Artist to be confirmed in conversation with of her theatre performances have grabbed Emma, the co-producers and presenters. MFI CRITERIA attention, and her last show Life is Short and This new work is an ambitious and innovative, Long put her in a wider public eye. She is and distinctively Australian in its content and currently collaborating with Sarah John, a visual style. artist and theatre maker based in Denmark. For screen, she has worked with Closer Productions, It offers a festival experience to audiences, Piper Films, Rob March, Charlotte Rose and marrying contemporary performance practice the ABC. with docu-drama/biography, and in key narrative threads (real life stories of people who include emmabeech.com asylum seekers and well-known artists, as just worthiness.com.au two examples) holds international interest.
It’s a significant collaboration between the festival, small-to-medium and independent sectors.
PREVIOUS MFI GRANTS N/A
BUDGET Budget has been provided.
25/ SUPERNATURE AUSTRALIAN DANCE THEATRE
PROJECT PROJECT FUTURE PARTNERS DESCRIPTION POTENTIAL
ADMINISTERING Supernature is the latest work from Garry NA CAIAF FESTIVAL Stewart and the dancers of ADT. Part of Adelaide Festival Stewart’s ongoing Nature Series, which includes the Helpmann Awardwinning The Beginning PRODUCING of Nature and acclaimed film, The Circadian PARTNER COMPANY PROFILE CAIAF FESTIVAL/S Cycle, Supernature investigates ideas on post- humanism as a springboard into new mythologies N/A adt.org.au/the-company on the potential future of the species. Working with RMIT Industrial Design Atelier, the OTHER work will thrust the audience into a world of CO-COMMISSIONING surrealism, bridging the divide between the MFI CRITERIA PARTNERS anthropomorphic and zoomorphic. Following an NA N/A initial creative development in 2019 (supported through MFI) and expanding on the work Colony, PREVIOUS MFI GRANTS OTHER FINANCIAL commissioned by AGSA for the 2020 Adelaide SUPPORTERS Biennial of Australian Art, ADT will present Seed – Supernature N/A Supernature in Adelaide in early 2021, with further touring opportunities sought nationally BUDGET for early 2022. TIMELINE Budget provided on request.
MAR 2021 Adelaide Festival 10-14 CREATIVE TEAM/ Opening Season PERFORMERS Choreographer Garry Stewart
Co-designers Garry Stewart Wendy Todd
Composer Brendan Woithe
Lighting TBC
Dramaturg Ruth Little
26/ 27/ TRACKER DANIEL RILEY/ILBIJERRI THEATRE COMPANY
PROJECT PROJECT CREATIVE TEAM/ PARTNERS DESCRIPTION PERFORMERS
ADMINISTERING Tracker, a multidisciplinary work by Wiradjuri Co-director/Choreographer CAIAF FESTIVAL choreographer and director, Daniel Riley, Daniel Riley explores the life and story of his Great-Great- Sydney Festival Co-director Uncle Alec ‘Tracker’ Riley, a Wiradjuri elder from Rachael Maza Dubbo NSW, who served the NSW Police Force PARTNER CAIAF FESTIVAL/S as a tracker for 40 years through the beginning of Writer the 20th century. Tracker aims to be a culturally Rising – Melbourne Ursula Yovich rich and ambitiously original work, exploring the Cultural Consultant legacy of Alec Riley’s decisions in the face of a Bernadette Riley OTHER forcefully implemented colonial system, a legacy CO-COMMISSIONING that fuels our continued cultural resilience. Composer PARTNERS James Henry N/A Featuring interwoven dance, music and text, Tracker will be made collaboratively by an Dramaturg experienced team of First Nations creatives, led OTHER FINANCIAL Jennifer Medway by Daniel Riley, and consisting of award-winning SUPPORTERS Visual/Spatial Designer playwright Ursula Yovich, the renowned Artistic ILBIJERRI Theatre Company Jonathan Jones In Discussion Dubbo Regional Theatre Director of ILBIJERRI Theatre Company Rachael Maza AM, cultural consultant Bernadette Riley, Dubbo Regional Council Performers composer James Henry, visual artist Jonathan Waangenga Blanco Arts House, City of Melbourne Jones and an all First Nations cast. Yolanda Lowatta Dion Williams Tracker is a story of continued cultural resilience Dalara Williams TIMELINE during a time of social and political change at Tamara Bouman the beginning of the 20th century. Alec chose to 7 – 18 JUN 2021 adorn the uniform of the NSW Police Force and Performer/Musician Development served a King and government who were openly Gary Watling enforcing assimilation whilst implementing the DEC 2021 White Australia Policy. He was the only tracker Pre-Production to be awarded the King’s Police and Fire Service Medal for Distinguished Conduct, and the first SYDNEY FESTIVAL 2022 to be promoted to the rank of Sergeant. His Opening Season complex decision to cross the racial divide is RISING MAY 2022 juxtaposed against today’s continually strained relationship between First Nations Peoples and Second Season the Police Force.
28/ PRODUCING MFI CRITERIA PREVIOUS MFI GRANTS COMPANY PROFILE Tracker will encourage an inquisitive audience ILBIJERRI’s projects have previously received ILBIJERRI is one of Australia’s leading theatre to see, hear and feel the story of Alec Riley in a the following support from MFI and festivals: companies, and Australia’s longest running First reclaimed First Nations context. This work will 2020 MFI Seed Development Funding $10,000 Nations theatre company. ILBIJERRI creates, resonate with audiences of all backgrounds, with (Sydney Festival) Tracker presents and tours powerful and engaging the dichotomy between family and responsibility theatre, creatively controlled by First Nations being something that we all empathise with. 2019 MFI Pre-Production funding Black Ties artists. Our stories are provocative and affecting The aspiration is to present the work in an open ($401,995.40 MFI; $84,456 from Sydney Festival, and give voice to our unique and diverse and transformative space with the potential for Perth Festival and Brisbane Festival; and $44,451 cultures. Born from community, ILBIJERRI has outdoor/promenade presentation. In this space, from Auckland Festival and New Zealand become a spearhead for Australian Aboriginal the cultural complexities of the era, and their International Arts Festival) and Torres Strait Islander peoples in telling our similarities to today’s political landscape, will be 2019 MFI Creative Development funding stories of what it means to be First Nations in presented in a personal and intimate way. ($28,081.67 MFI; $9,606.14 each Melbourne Australia today. The barriers between performers and audience Festival and Brisbane Festival) will be removed, inviting the audience to enter a 2016 MFI Creative Development funding ($27,799 ceremonial ground, and bear witness as the story MFI and $11,914 Melbourne Festival) unfolds. Inspired by the informal ways in which, FUTURE when surrounded by community and kin, we find 2015 MFI Seed funding ($10,000 Melbourne Festival) POTENTIAL a level of comfortability that allows a deeper connection and sharing. Dubbo Regional Theatre, which rests on BUDGET Wiradjuri country, have expressed interest Audiences will engage with a reframed First Budget has been provided. in presenting Tracker in the future, which for Nations storytelling experience in a space full of Daniel is an important part of the journey in generosity and warmth. The work will end with the life cycle of this work, in being able to gift the sharing of tea, continuing the informal setting it back to his community, from where the story beyond the performance, providing opportunity was born and belongs. This relationship is for dialogue between performers and audience. integral to the works development, as Daniel Performers will invite the audience to come, sit will consult with his extended Wiradjuri kinship and listen; to experience this journey first hand network, elders and youth on his and Alec Riley’s by being immersed in the performance and the ancestral country. Dubbo Regional Theatre and 75,000 year old ways of story-telling. We want Dubbo Regional Council will support Daniel the story and the message to resonate with the on his trips back throughout 2021 to develop audience for long after they have left the show the work, where he will also engage with local by grounding Tracker’s spirit in the centuries First Nations youth through workshops and one old tradition of connecting feet and voices with on one connections with the Tracker creative the land. team. Developing relationships and encouraging pathways within the performing arts industry.
Tracker will be easily tourable into open, flexible spaces, and will utilise ILBIJERRI’s extensive Australian presenter relationships following successful major festival national tours of Black Ties (2020), Which Way Home (2018), Coranderrk (2017), Beautiful One Day (2014) and Jack Charles V The Crown (2013).
29/ THE PULSE GRAVITY & OTHER MYTHS
PROJECT PROJECT PARTNERS DESCRIPTION
ADMINISTERING Everything is pulsing. The cells in our bodies are locked in a dance with the cycles of nature and CAIAF FESTIVAL the waves that describe reality. Sound, Light Adelaide Festival and matter itself is just a kind of wave. Different pulsing waves that are causing, effecting, PARTNER responding and reacting at every level of our comprehension and beyond. As our reptilian CAIAF FESTIVAL/S brain plods along to an ancient rhythm we Sydney Festival intuitively know that there is only one thing that truly unites all. THE PULSE. If you can’t feel it, OTHER CO-COMMISSIONING you are not alive.
PARTNERS One might say that the ultimate goal of physical N/A theatre language is to articulate what words cannot. To somehow explain the natural OTHER FINANCIAL and kinetic philosophies embedded in our relationships to each other and our existence. SUPPORTERS THE PULSE wants to tell a piece of this story. N/A It will see Darcy Grant alchemically wrangle... TIMELINE • All three ensembles of Gravity and Other Myths (30 acrobats)
AUG – SEP 2020 • A chorus of 30 vocalists formed from choir Creative Development groups local to each place of presentation Festival Theatre conducted by Christie Anderson
NOV – DEC 2020 • An alive and sentient original score by Pre-Production Ekrem Eli Phoenix (4 weeks total) • Design that sensitively compliments and extends the ambitious and complex nature JAN 2021 of the work by Geoff Cobham Opening Season Premiere Season Into a monolithic gesture of physical theatre and Sydney Festival (dates TBC) choral aspiration that pushes beyond physical boundaries that don’t yet exist. FEB/ MAR 2021 Second Season THE PULSE will be the embodiment of our Adelaide Festival universal need for physical touch. A mass of 60 bodies, moving together as one onstage will TBC act as a welcome reprieve after humanity has Third Season experienced restricted access to community. As with all GOM works, the heart of the piece is a celebration of the palpable human connection that manifests between the performer and the audience when experiencing the company’s infectious charm.
30/ CREATIVE TEAM/ PRODUCING MFI CRITERIA PERFORMERS COMPANY PROFILE THE PULSE is a work of scale that unites Acrobats Gravity and Other Myths (GOM) is an acrobatics audience, acrobat and choir into a single Martin Schreiber, Jacob Randell, Lachlan Binns, and physical theatre company pushing the organism for a moment in time. This ambitious Lewie West, Mieke Lizotte, Simon McClure, boundaries of new circus. Formed in Adelaide, work is for the here and now. Our ability to Jascha Boyce, Joren Dawson, Alyssa Moore, Australia in 2009, GOM has rocketed to engage close to 60 Australian artists as the Lachlan Harper, Annalise Moore, Rachael Boyd, stellar acclaim with a series of disarmingly arts industry is only just beginning to pick Jackson Manson, Megan Vaughan Giesbrecht, accomplished ensemble works. Their first itself up from beneath the ashes of COVID-19 Kevin Beverley, Lisa Goldsworthy, Chris Carlos, work, A Simple Space, achieved momentous makes the need for THE PULSE immediate Joshua Strachan, Benton Adams-Walker, Shani success having performed more than 850 times and unquestionable. Stephens, Ellen Grow, Lyndon Johnson, Axl across 34 countries and receiving multiple A work of this scale has not yet existed in the Osborne, Joanne Curry, Jordan Hart, Dylan awards, most notably the IPAY Victor Award small to medium physical theatre sector in Phillips, Amanda Lee, Maya Tregonning, Emily for People’s Choice. The company’s subsequent Australia and MFI is the optimum platform Gare, Andre Augustus, Lewis Rankin. work, Backbone, premiered as part of the 2017 to allow THE PULSE to be realised to its Adelaide Festival to critical acclaim and three Choir full potential. The compelling nature of this Helpmann Award nominations, cementing 30 vocalists formed from choir groups local proposed work is attractive to festival directors the company’s position as a global leader in to each place of presentation across the country due to its exceptionality but contemporary circus. GOM’s latest work Out also its potential to aid in filing the vacuum of Composer Of Chaos premiered at the 2019 Adelaide larger scale works triggered by the ongoing travel Ekrem Eli Phoenix Festival and received the 2019 Helpmann and gathering restrictions. Award for Best Physical Theatre. GOM utilises Conductor an honest approach to performance to create Versatility and agility make up the skeleton of the Christie Anderson work with a focus on human connection and productions that will find the ability to thrive in Director acrobatic virtuosity. the current global climate, especially within the Darcy Grant arts industry. THE PULSE will be at the forefront of the new market using the work’s ability to be Designer adapted to both indoor and outdoor settings to Geoff Cobham Associate become the answer to major festivals needs.
Designer Humanity, camaraderie and humour create Tom Borgas the unwavering foundation of GOM’s work, all Producers qualities that are embodied in Australian culture. Darcy Grant, Jacob Randell, Jascha Boyce, THE PULSE will be a culmination of and a Belinda Murphy provocation to GOM’s previous works. A physical representation of human connection, embracing Production Manager / LX Operator and championing Australian art. Marko Respondeck Stage Manager PREVIOUS MFI GRANTS Belinda Murphy Creative Development – The Pulse Costume Designer Emma Brockliss (TBC) Pre-production – Out of Chaos Creative Development – Inter
Pre-production – Backbone FUTURE POTENTIAL BUDGET N/A Budget has been provided.
31/ MANIFESTO STEPHANIE LAKE COMPANY
PROJECT PROJECT PARTNERS DESCRIPTION
ADMINISTERING CAIAF FESTIVAL Manifesto: A Tattoo to Optimism is the RISING (Melbourne International next ambitious major work from Stephanie Lake Company. Manifesto will feature nine Arts Festival) contemporary dancers along with nine drummers on nine drum-kits on an elevated semi-circular PARTNER stage that surrounds the dancers. The show CAIAF FESTIVAL/S will harness the power and volume of eighteen Adelaide Festival and performers in a fusion of huge sound and Perth International Arts Festival electrifying dancing.
Manifesto will have a diverse cast made up of OTHER CO-COMMISSIONING equal numbers of female and male drummers PARTNERS and dancers. N/A Historically, mass drumming and dance have represented military might. In Manifesto we OTHER FINANCIAL SUPPORTERS look to subvert that association and create its Australia Council and SLC donors opposite - a rallying cry for peace and solidarity. This new work is an extension of our exceptionally successful large-scale work TIMELINE Colossus, which sees fifty dancers flood the Creative Developments 2020-2021 stage in a work of high physicality and emotional punch. In Manifesto, we will work once again with scale but this time with only the raw sound Premiere Seasons 2022 of live instruments and with a set design – a first for Stephanie Lake Company.
32/ CREATIVE TEAM/ PRODUCING MFI CRITERIA PERFORMERS COMPANY PROFILE N/A Choreographer Stephanie Lake Company is a multi-award Stephanie Lake winning contemporary dance company based PREVIOUS MFI GRANTS in Melbourne. Known for a gutsy, original Composer choreographic style and striking visual aesthetic, N/A Robin Fox Stephanie Lake Company strives to create Lighting Designer performances that are affecting and relevant. BUDGET Bosco Shaw Our major works include Colossus, Skeleton Tree, Pile of Bones, Replica, Double Blind, A Small Budget has been provided. Set and Costume Designer Prometheus and DUAL. Working in collaboration Marg Horwell with Australia’s leading dancers and designers, Dancers the company has been presented in major Nine dancers TBC festivals and venues around Australia and has toured internationally to France, Germany, Hong Drummers Kong, Denmark, Singapore and the UK. Nine drummers TBC Artistic Director Stephanie Lake won the Producer Australian Dance Award in 2018 (Pile of Bones) Claire Bradley Duke and 2014 (AORTA) for Most Outstanding Production Management Choreography, the Helpmann Award for First In Last Out Outstanding Choreography in 2014 (A Small Prometheus) and the Green Room Award for Best Choreography (Mix Tape) in 2011. She is a recipient of the Australia Council Fellowship FUTURE for Dance, the Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship POTENTIAL and the Peggy Van Praagh Choreographic Stephanie Lake Company has strong Fellowship. The company collaborates across international touring networks. We will work theatre, film, music and visual art and has created with our international agents Aurora Nova several large-scale projects for more than one (worldwide) and Cathy Pruzan (North America) thousand participants. to secure touring of Manifesto. We have ongoing relationships with prestigious venues such as Theatre Chaillot, Paris.
33/ BOUNCE! CIRCA CONTEMPORARY CIRCUS
PROJECT TIMELINE PROJECT PARTNERS DESCRIPTION DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTERING Scoping, Seed funding and stakeholder Bounce! is a large-scale inflatable bouncing recruitment (completed) castle that is a circus tent and an immersive CAIAF FESTIVAL performance environment. Created by Circa Brisbane Festival FUNDING (CURRENT, IN PROGRESS) in collaboration with award-winning UK architect • Milestones: MFI funding outcome Amanda Levete. It radically democratises the PARTNER mid-September 2020 circus experience. The audience is spread in four pockets of 25 through an organically shaped CAIAF FESTIVAL/S • Space and Places funding outcome – tent-like structure. A team of Circa’s artists Sydney Festival (TBC) September 28, 2020 perform a choreography of bounces, balances • Confirm Festival bookings – October 20, 2020 and acrobatics that explores the unbounded OTHER CO-COMMISSIONING • DFAT funding outcome – October 30, 2020 freedom of movement where landings are soft PARTNERS • Design (current, in progress) and take-offs are assisted by momentum. It is a world of whimsy, abandon and unalloyed Manchester International Festival • Concept Design September 1, 2020 joy where the body in motion is a source • Schematic Design: January 30, 2021 of pleasure and inspiration. After 40 thrilling OTHER FINANCIAL • Detailed Design: February 28, 2021 minutes, the audience is invited to join and the SUPPORTERS lines between participant and performer are PRE-PRODUCTION exuberantly abolished. Cairns Regional Council • Construction and show pre-production Empire Theatres, Toowoomba (November 2020 – April 2021) Bounce! is not just a performance, it is also a Mackay Regional Council • Contracting of guest artists: April 1, 2021 distinct and visually compelling venue – making HOTA, Gold Coast it suitable for inclusion in arts festivals, cultural • Engagement of builders: March 30, 2021 spaces, public spaces and special events. It • Construction complete: May 15, 2021 is also an installation in itself – the structure • Testing: June 2021 changes in colour and sound for spectators • Rehearsals, show creation and venue liaison watching from the outside creating an iconic (April - September 2021) event of wonder for all onlookers as well as the audience inside. • Show rehearsals: April/May/June 2021 • Music completed July 1, 2021 Bounce! is designed to be simultaneously broadly popular and aesthetically refined. It • Venue liaison – April-September 2021 brings Circa’s globally renowned contemporary OPENING SEASON circus into the world of high-profile artistic • Manchester International Festival – July 2021 installations such as Carsten Höller’s Slides and Tomas Saraceno’s floating cloud webs. Bounce! SECOND SEASON will feature a bespoke Circa creation with music • Brisbane Festival, September 2021 from a prominent electronic musician. It will THIRD SEASON feature four Circa acrobats and be suitable for • Regional Queensland Festival Venues, multiple performances per day. October - December 2021 • Cairns Regional Council • Empire Theatres, Toowoomba FUTURE POTENTIAL • Mackay Regional Council • HOTA, Gold Coast N/A OTHER SEASONS • Sydney Festival, January 2022
34/ CREATIVE TEAM/ MFI CRITERIA ARTISTICALLY COMPETITIVE WORK PERFORMERS OF SCALE NEW AND INNOVATIVE Bounce! is a major new artwork of global Director Circa exist to ask ‘what is possible in circus?’ significance. It is the only circus work ever Yaron Lifschitz and in Bounce! Amanda Levete and Circa commissioned by Manchester International Festival. It is created by world-renowned artists. Architect have answered with a creation that is at once It is conceived and directed by Yaron Lifschitz, Amanda Levete performance, venue, public art installation and community engagement prospect. Circa’s visionary artistic director whose work Producer has been seen by over a million people in 40 Danielle Kellie Bounce! combines the highest levels of artistic countries and designed by Amanda Levete, sophistication with broad engagement. It is the UK’s leading architect in cultural spaces. It Technical Director bold, unafraid to break boundaries, to challenge is a highly ambitious work of scale which has Jason Organ norms and to redraw what is possible in circus attracted significant interest from festivals and Costume Design and the wider arts. It speaks of the confidence of venues across Australia and around the world. Libby McDonnell mutuality, the need for broad-based participation Proof of its significance is that Circa expects it to and the value of refined artistic excellence, not have between 8 and 12 commissioning partners Performers as opposites but as part of a vigorous exchange and to tour the world for 5-7 year with at least Four artists of the Circa Ensemble (multiple and connection. 1000 performances. Circa’s work has been called companies are available) With audience divided into intimate groups “a revolution in the spectacle of circus” (Les within the performance space, and a production Echos) and “the standards to which all circus can footprint that allows multiple performances per aspire” (The Age) and Bounce! is a major new PRODUCING day, Bounce! can adapt to changing legislative chapter in Circa’s creations. COMPANY PROFILE and social environments, providing presenting viability in a rapidly changing world. Circa Contemporary Circus is one of the world’s PREVIOUS MFI GRANTS leading performing arts companies. Since 2004, DISTINCTIVELY AUSTRALIAN Pre-production – Leviathan from their base in Brisbane, Australia, Circa has Circa have pioneered the stripped back toured the world – performing in 40 countries to Pre-production - Opus aesthetic and lyrical physicality now synonymous over a million people. Circa’s works have been globally with Australian contemporary circus. greeted with standing ovations, rave reviews and The fresh thinking, iconoclastic ideas and ability BUDGET sold-out houses across six continents. to be radically different, hallmarks of Australian Budget has been provided. Circa is at the forefront of the new wave of innovation and futurity, are embodied in Bounce! contemporary Australian circus – pioneering Australia’s famous sporting culture and spirit how extreme physicality can create powerful of participation are reinforced in this project and moving performances. It continues to push that focuses on the human body in motion, the boundaries of the art form, blurring the lines recreational playful movement and democratic between movement, dance, theatre and circus. access. Fuelled by the question ‘what is possible in circus?’ Circa is leading the way with a diverse Bounce! Is the brainchild of Circa’s Artistic range of thrilling creations that “redraw the limits Director Yaron Lifschitz and the performance to which circus can aspire.” (The Age). component will be created by an entirely Australian creative team. Under the direction of circus visionary Yaron Lifschitz, Circa features an ensemble of exceptional, multi-skilled circus artists. Circa is a regular fixture at leading festivals and venues in New York, London, Berlin and Montreal with seasons at Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Barbican Centre, Les Nuits de Fourvière, Chamäleon Theatre as well as major Australian Festivals.
Circa has been hailed as nothing short of “... a revolution in the spectacle of circus.” (Les Echos). circa.org.au
35/ WHISTLEBLOWER THE LAST GREAT HUNT
PROJECT PROJECT PARTNERS DESCRIPTION A large screen suspended above the front ADMINISTERING The Truman Show meets Escape Room - CAIAF FESTIVAL WHISTLEBLOWER is an immersive, interactive of the stage displays the action, with a live sound designer and visual director operating Perth Festival theatrical role-playing game for one. A willing audience member is the player and (there is and channeling the experience for the seated opportunity here for local performers to take audience. Costume racks and makeup stations PARTNER surrounding the box add an extra layer of CAIAF FESTIVAL/S part. Entering a soundproof set, embedded with hidden cameras, the player finds that they have investment and detail for the seated audience. TBC woken up in hospital with amnesia. Their goal: Willing audience members or community groups find out who they are, how they got there and will be transformed into characters, driving the OTHER CO-COMMISSIONING ultimately what is really going on. The narrative narrative, perhaps being fed lines through an PARTNERS is flexible depending on the choices they earpiece, and using extra props or set pieces TBC make. They might discover they are an android depending on the player’s choices. undergoing experiments of consciousness, or The player: they PLAY HARD and get completely OTHER FINANCIAL they are a clone bred for organs, or that they are swept up into the fictional world and as a result SUPPORTERS in an inception-like dreamscape. have the best night of their life. Australia Council, Every narrative twist involves a profound The Last Great Hunt The audience: They help give the player the best change in their perception of the fabric in their night of their life. They feel the immense joy of reality: and we as the audience can take delight being part of a creative ensemble. And they also TIMELINE in witnessing the reactions of the ‘player’, PLAY HARD! unless we are lucky enough to take part as the JAN/JUL/AUG 2020 supporting actors, extras, assistant directors, stage managers, costume and makeup – helping Creative Development to sculpt the best possible experience for FEB 2021 the player. With a ‘master’ director for the Premiere season at Perth Festival. experience inside the box, and a ‘master’ director for the seated audience’s experience, this show aims to entertain.
36/ CREATIVE TEAM/ PRODUCING MFI CRITERIA PERFORMERS COMPANY PROFILE In recent years immersive works have become Creators/Co-Directors The Last Great Hunt’s purpose is to empower its very prominent, and popular with international Tim Watts, Wyatt Nixon-Llyod Core Artists to create ambitious and exceptional and national festivals. WHISTLEBLOWER is theatrical experiences and connect these unique in its unwavering dedication to theatrical Performers works to audiences near and far. Since 2013 we play and wonder for the audience, but unlike Arielle Gray, Chris Isaacs, have produced 20 critically acclaimed new works other The Last Great Hunt works with small Gita Bezard, Adriane Daff in Perth, and toured regionally, nationally and audience numbers, WHISTLEBLOWER is a work internationally. In 2019 we performed six works, of significant scale for large audiences. This FUTURE in five countries to 13,500 audience members. work sits firmly as a new Australian work of scale investigating the shifts in audiences towards POTENTIAL Core Artists Gita Bezard, Adriane Daff, Jeffrey immersive and gaming experiences in a live Jay Fowler, Arielle Gray, Chris Isaacs and Tim WHISTLEBLOWER sees two of the world’s performance environment. leading theatre-makers Tim Watts (LÉ NØR Watts use a diverse range of skills, focus and [THE RAIN], THE ADVENTURES OF ALVIN aesthetics to create an imaginative and eclectic SPUTNIK: DEEP SEA EXPLORER, MONROE and mix of interactive experiences, visual theatre, PREVIOUS MFI GRANTS ASSOCIATES), and Wyatt Nixon-Lloyd (BRUCE) devised and text-based work. Creative Development – WHISTLEBLOWER create a brand new immersive, interactive work Our works tell stories that challenge, engage and on a large-scale. move our audiences. We explore contemporary BUDGET WHISTLEBLOWER will be designed to play ideas and offer a positive discourse on Budget has been provided. in a variety of theatres but is best suited to large social factors. We create new experiences proscenium arch spaces. Onstage will be an that are relevant and important to both our intricately designed, soundproof set (approx. audiences, and to ourselves. We value creativity, 8m by 8m) embedded with a plethora of hidden collaboration and artistic risk-taking. cameras. These cameras will be live mixed and displayed on a large screen suspended above the front of the stage. Designed as a large-scale theatrical role-playing game for one, the show is observed and co-created by many. Festivals will have the chance to engage local artists/ celebrities and audience members/community groups in this multi-discipline spectacle that encourages the ‘player’ to get swept up in their fictional world, while the audience takes part in giving the player the best night of their life, and feeling the immense joy of being part of a creative ensemble.
37/ BUNKER BY LISA WILSON & NATHAN SIBTHORPE METRO ARTS
PROJECT PROJECT PARTNERS DESCRIPTION In the months since, we’ve been growing ADMINISTERING A new intermedial dance theatre work CAIAF FESTIVAL by nationally acclaimed, Brisbane-based accustomed to a life of virtual threat, where a single text message could unravel our universe. Brisbane Festival choreographer Lisa Wilson and performance- maker Nathan Sibthorpe, exploring the physical But rather than fearing a single catastrophic threat of virtual fear. event, we’re living through a constant all- PARTNER pervading fear of the unknown. We receive daily CAIAF FESTIVAL/S On 1 December 2017, Hawaii tested its nuclear alarms by dubious means; our digital landscapes N/A threat siren for the first time in 30 years. In painting illusions of chaos. Panic has settled the following weeks, 26 drills were conducted into dread. to ensure the state was prepared for the OTHER CO-COMMISSIONING In our isolation we are desperate for a view PARTNERS worst. Then… outside - to what’s going on outside our Metro Arts ‘BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO bubble, outside our borders, outside of our HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS understanding. Our primal brains are engineered OTHER FINANCIAL NOT A DRILL’ for visceral encounters with predators, but with SUPPORTERS These alert messages were accidently pushed as the greatest dangers of modern life, we have no Metro Arts notifications to smart phones across the state. tangible source from which to assess our risk. Brisbane Festival Warnings interrupted radio and TV broadcasts Arts Queensland (2019 & 2020 Nuclear weapons, imminent war, the climate, and news was rapidly shared around the world. the virus… In the absence of sense-able danger, Creative Developments) It took 38 minutes for Hawaii officials to fully we compensate with our own lurid articulations, retract their warnings. building for ourselves elaborate nightmares and TIMELINE During this time, people all over Hawaii dispensing panic-stricken commentary in order desperately fought to secure themselves to come to terms with how vulnerable we feel. DEVELOPMENT ‘immediate shelter’. Motorists sped up to Global stories shift how safe we feel within our Judith Wright Arts Centre & Metro Arts 160km/h; shoppers hid in mall bathrooms; own bodies. But still we keep tuning in to alarm. (Aug 2019) parents threw their children into storm drains; and telephone systems crashed under the weight Where do we find refuge amidst the threat Brisbane Festival & Metro Arts (Sep 2020) of a whole population trying to say goodbye. of chaos? PRE-PRODUCTION How do we construct the illusion of safety 4-6 weeks in a climate of fear?
Jul-Aug 2021 And when do we begin to believe the panic online? OPENING SEASON Brisbane Festival & Metro Arts (Sep 2021)
SECOND SEASON TBD
THIRD SEASON TBD
OTHER SEASONS TBD
38/ CREATIVE TEAM/ PRODUCING MFI CRITERIA PERFORMERS COMPANY PROFILE Bunker is an original and fiercely contemporary Co-Director & Choreographer Metro Arts is developing the future of Australian new performance work, with an unshakeable Lisa Wilson contemporary arts practice, now. focus on how we live NOW.
Co-Director & Video Designer Championing all contemporary art forms, the two Lead by adventurous and highly-regarded Nathan Sibthorpe core activities of the organisation are developing choreographer Lisa Wilson and transmedia and co-presenting contemporary arts. performance maker Nathan Sibthorpe, Bunker Lighting Designer & Technical Coordinator seamlessly merges complex and ambitious Christine Felmingham Across Metro Arts’ multiple venues in Brisbane, technological innovation with exquisite Australia, there are artists taking risks, creating, Video Co-Designer & Stage Manager contemporary dance. developing, experimenting, and presenting Jeremy Gordon ambitious contemporary art. The work is created by an all-Australian Dramaturge ensemble of creatives and performers, each Metro Arts’ new home at West Village, Benjamin Knapton working at the top of their respective field from officially opened on 2 September 2020, across the country. Designer presents an annual program of contemporary Rozina Suliman and experimental performing and visual With Australia’s unique diplomatic and arts. This new hub for West End’s diverse geographic relationship with the rest of the Sound Designer & Composer community is the place in Brisbane to world, Bunker is perfectly positioned to survey Guy Webster experience the work of contemporary artists global experiences of digital fear from a distinctly Collaborative Artist & Performer ranging from the emerging to the mid-career Australian perspective. and the established. Charles Ball Bunker does not shy away from the experience Collaborative Artist & Performer metroarts.com.au that many Australians will recognise; the need to Asher Bowen-Saunders navigate both real and perceived threats from all corners of the world as they ripple across Collaborative Artist & Performer oceans, airwaves and social media feeds and into Hsin-Ju Ely PREVIOUS MFI GRANTS the lives of contemporary Australians.
Collaborative Artist & Performer N/A Guided by the accomplished creative leadership Jayden Grogan of Lisa Wilson and Nathan Sibthorpe, Bunker Bunker is produced by Metro Arts BUDGET exists as a rare collaboration between two esteemed artists coming together from two very Budget has been provided. *Credits above apply to 2020 creative different artistic practices. development only. Subject to change. Metro Arts seeks the support of the CAIAF so that these two acclaimed artists may continue FUTURE to explore the full extent of their unique, POTENTIAL intermedial collaboration and create an original Australian work of otherwise unattainable artistic N/A and technological scale.
Creative development has already opened extremely promising, aspirational tangents for the work including an unprecedented dynamic set and video design involving numerous cameras, biometric sensors, interactive media systems and, of course, a cast of five world- class contemporary dancers. This spectacular complexity of form, grown to match the equally complex thematic ideas within the piece, will set Bunker apart from other new Australian works as a leading candidate for national and international touring.
39/ BIG NAME, NO BLANKETS ILBIJERRI THEATRE COMPANY
PROJECT TIMELINE PROJECT PARTNERS DESCRIPTION AUG/SEP 2020 ADMINISTERING 1 week remote writing development BIG NAME, NO BLANKETS is a major scale CAIAF FESTIVAL rock’n’roll theatre show that celebrates the RISING (Melbourne International 20 DEC 2020 phenomenal journey and impact of Australian Arts Festival) 1st draft script due for feedback from Sammy music icons, the Warumpi Band, told through the and Community perspective of the Butcher Brothers. Created in collaboration with Warumpi band PARTNER 21 MAR 2021 CAIAF FESTIVAL/S member, Sammy Butcher and the families 2nd draft script due Darwin Festival – TBC of Warumpi band members, BIG NAME, NO Brisbane Festival – TBC 12 – 17 APR 2021 BLANKETS speaks untold truths about the Adelaide Festival – TBC * SEEKING MFI SUPPORT FOR THIS PHASE band’s extraordinary ride from the bush to Perth International Arts Festival international fame. One-week creative development in Melbourne Named after the title of Warumpi Band’s OTHER CO-COMMISSIONING 14 JUN 2021 second album, BIG NAME, NO BLANKETS features Warumpi Band hits, showcasing Luritja/ PARTNERS 3rd draft script due for community feedback before August creative development Pitjantjatjara, Gumatj (Yolngu Martha) and Sydney Theatre Company - TBC Warlpiri languages. Employing both new and 9 JUL 2021 80,000 year old story-telling techniques, all OTHER FINANCIAL Draft set design concepts due audiences will feel welcomed into this incredible SUPPORTERS story from the bush. Playwriting Australia 2 – 7 AUG 2021 Warumpi Band brought hope and strength to Dennis Osborne Clarke Charitable *SEEKING MFI SUPPORT FOR THIS PHASE First Nations people and united all Australians, Foundation One-week on-country creative development singing truths that echoed the realities of black Indigenous Languages and the Arts in Papunya and Alice Springs and white relationships in a colonised world. program – TBC Their songs celebrate unity, for black and white 19 SEP 2021 audiences to enjoy together. They amplified Rehearsal draft script due black voices, stories and politics while uniting all cultures together with their infectious music. 31 OCT 2021 Designs confirmed Packed with humour, iconic songs and rock star performances, BIG NAME, NO BLANKETS will LATE 2021 – 2022 be a joyful show that celebrates how music can Pre-production, rehearsals, premiere and touring influence change across a nation.
40/ CREATIVE TEAM/ FUTURE MFI CRITERIA PERFORMERS POTENTIAL As a rock’n’roll theatre show developed on- Writers Part theatre, part rock concert, BIG NAME, NO country in Papunya using traditional First Nations Ursula Yovich and Emily Anyupa Butcher BLANKETS will be accessible to theatre and methodologies to tell a contemporary First music lovers; non theatre-goers; and black and Nations story, BIG NAME, NO BLANKETS will Director white audiences alike. be a unique and innovative audience experience. Rachael Maza By incorporating Warumpi Band hits with With Emily Anyupa Butcher Designed for presentation outdoors, with archival footage, and both untold and celebrated audiences able to sing and dance along to Musical Director, Story & Cultural Consultant stories about the Warumpi Band, BIG NAME, Warumpi band classics, the experience will be Sammy Butcher (legendary Warumpi Band NO BLANKETS will be truly accessible and inclusive, generous and uplifting. BIG NAME, NO member) fun, whilst recreating the infectious and joyful BLANKETS will have minimal set and be easily atmosphere of Warumpi Band concerts. Story tellers tourable to remote communities and capital Sammy Butcher – Luritja cities alike. We will also look to developing an The show will celebrate Gumatj and Luritja Kumanjayi Butcher – Luritja in-theatre version if there is demand. languages - just as Warumpi Band songs do - Marion Burarrawanga - Gumatj (representing her showcasing these languages and cultures as ILBIJERRI has extensive Australian presenter father George Rrurambu Burarrawanga) proud and strong. Dialogue and song lyrics in relationships and ever-growing international language will have English surtitles, enabling Producer networks following successful major national and diverse audiences to appreciate their meaning, Nina Bonacci international tours of Black Ties (MFI Australian whilst being distinctly Australian. and NZ tour 2020), Blood on the Dance Floor Translator (Canadian tour 2019, and national) Jack Charles BIG NAME, NO BLANKETS is both timely and Lance McDonald V The Crown (national 2013, UK and Ireland 2014, joyful – the celebration that we all need. It will Creative Consultant Canada 2016 and 2017, US 2017, New Zealand and be the ultimate antidote to the current state of Lisa Watts Japan 2018), Beautiful One Day (national and the world. UK 2014), Coranderrk (national 2017) and Which Theatre Consultant Way Home (national 2018). Given Warrumpi Sarah Goodes PREVIOUS MFI GRANTS Band’s cult status, the strength of the team and Music Team ILBIJERRI’s track record, we are confident that ILBIJERRI’s projects have previously received Jason Butcher the work will translate successfully into a range the following support from MFI and festivals: of contexts, nationally and internationally. Crystal Butcher 2019 MFI Pre-Production funding ($401,995.40 Jeremiah Butcher MFI; $84,456 from Sydney Festival, Perth Festival Allen Murphy and Brisbane Festival; and $44,451 from Auckland Cast PRODUCING Festival and New Zealand International Arts Elaine Crombie COMPANY PROFILE Festival) Baykali Ganambarr ILBIJERRI is one of Australia’s leading theatre 2019 MFI Creative Development funding Derik Lynch companies, and Australia’s longest running First ($28,081.67 MFI; $9,606.14 each Melbourne TBC x 3 Nations theatre company. ILBIJERRI creates, Festival and Brisbane Festival) The band and performers will almost exclusively presents and tours powerful and engaging 2016 MFI Creative Development funding ($27,799 be First Nations, and we will endeavour to theatre, creatively controlled by First Nations MFI and $11,914 Melbourne Festival) appoint Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders artists. Our stories are provocative and affecting in all other roles, and provide First Nations and give voice to our unique and diverse 2015 MFI Seed funding ($10,000 Melbourne mentorship attachments where this is cultures. Born from community, ILBIJERRI has Festival) not possible. become a spearhead for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in telling our BUDGET stories of what it means to be First Nations in Australia today. Budget has been provided.
41/ VALUE FOR MONEY GUTS DANCE// CENTRAL AUSTRALIA
PROJECT PROJECT PARTNERS DESCRIPTION GUTS is making an ongoing commitment to ADMINISTERING Value For Money (VFM) is a contemporary CAIAF FESTIVAL dance work concerned with the polarity of First Nation’s representation in all aspects of its organisation, with all future projects (professional Darwin Festival power and vulnerability inherent within us all. It explores the value we place on human works, education programs and residencies) lives and bodies, focusing on how relationship, having strong equity in representation and input PARTNER from Australian First Nations and non-Indigenous CAIAF FESTIVAL/S proximity and community change our perception of a life’s worth and the worth of a body as a artists and creatives. This representation is TBC vessel. Drawing from global events and personal demonstrated and particularly important in accounts, a series of vignettes will be abstracted Value For Money so that a wide variety of stories, OTHER CO-COMMISSIONING and woven into a non-linear narrative that experiences and points of view are brought to PARTNERS explores stories, experiences and provocations the table to support the subject matter and the Araluen Arts Centre designed to encourage both the artists and the conceptual rigour of the work. The inclusion of audience to reflect on the way we understand Jasmine Sheppard at the helm alongside Sara OTHER FINANCIAL and value our fellow humans. Black speaks not only to this, but continues in SUPPORTERS the vein GUTS wish to pursue of creating fertile In context with the current political and social Artback NT, Australia Council, Arts and supportive environments for the creation of climate in Australia and the world, discussions NT, Regional Arts Fund, Creative brave work in which the creators have autonomy surrounding fear, alienation and human to shift from what might otherwise be perceived Partnerships Australia commodification are more pressing than ever. as “normal” structures in which to work. What is presented to us by our media and government in terms of who and what we should TIMELINE fear often closes down our abilities to engage with empathy and acknowledge bias, and this OCT 2020 – JUN 2021 fear separates us from communities that appear Pre-development research phase ‘different’ rather than allowing us to see our JUN – JUL 2021 commonalities. 2 week creative development VFM aims to further this urgent conversation and uses dance - with its primary concern for the body, that common commodity - as the language to unpack the concepts and conflicts at its heart.
42/ CREATIVE TEAM/ PRODUCING MFI CRITERIA PERFORMERS COMPANY PROFILE Value For Money represents an exciting bold Directors GUTS Dance // Central Australia is a new next step for GUTS Dance, and a significant Sara Black and Jasmine Sheppard Alice Springs/Mparntwe - based contemporary increase in scale for the company. There are dance organisation and is the only platform for considerable challenges for companies operating Producers/performers contemporary dance investigation, creation, out of the Northern Territory, these are often Frankie Snowdon and Madeleine Krenek training and performance within a 1500km radius. greater still for artists living in the Central Collaborating performers Desert. GUTS are committed to pushing artistic GUTS aims to be recognised as a centre for Waangenga Blanco, Kelly Beneforti, practice in the NT, and the support of the MFI artistic growth and excellence, championing Thomas ES Kelly will contribute significantly to the company’s bravery, risk, community and collaboration as capacity to develop this exciting work at the tools for the development of great art, Lighting Design scale it deserves. Chris Mercer meaningful experiences and empowered societies. Situated in the unique environment of VFM sees GUTS collaborate with the largest Sound Design the Central Australian Desert, GUTS also aims to ensemble of creatives to date, including two Tom Snowdon promote work created and performed in regional co-directors; Sara Black and Jasmine Sheppard. Costume Design and remote Australia by a diverse cross section Two male dancers join the company for the first Lizzy Verstappen of Independent movers, makers and thinkers time; Waangenga Blanco and Thomas ES Kelly. to national and international audiences. Previous collaborators Tom Snowdon (#1 Dads, Dramaturge NOMONO), Chris Mercer and Lizzy Verstappen GUTS co-Artistic Directors, Madeleine and Jonny Rowden round out the creative team. Within this dynamic Frankie, have created and produced two Research assistant team, half of the female creatives have young full-length professional works since starting the Tessa Snowdon families or are new mothers, and it is important organisation, The Perception Experiment (2017) for GUTS to continue to support them in this and The Lost Dance Project (2018), alongside phase of their lives and careers. By facilitating teams of highly acclaimed national collaborators. an opportunity in a place where proximity to FUTURE The Perception Experiment toured nationally the studio and ease of travel are much smaller POTENTIAL and internationally in 2019 and 2020, playing to considerations than in a city, we are able to Working with Artback NT to build national tour sold-out houses at Dance Massive and Darwin ensure that these important artists are not put in 2022/3. Festival, Festival Cultural de Mayo in Mexico, and at a disadvantage by motherhood or the logistics in five regional centres around the country. of working with young families. The dynamic mix of talents, as well as cultural backgrounds sits at the heart of this artistic project, as is a process driven development that draws on the unique environment and community of the Central Deserts to create a work that speaks to lives, and their value, across the country.
PREVIOUS MFI GRANTS N/A
BUDGET Budget has been provided.
43/ MONSTER TRUCKS TERRAPIN PUPPET THEATRE
PROJECT PROJECT PARTNERS DESCRIPTION The festivals would take the lead on establishing ADMINISTERING ‘“In Australia we have a car culture in the way CAIAF FESTIVAL Americans have a gun culture. The cult of the car. relationships with the companies/councils/ local government bodies that have appropriate Ten Days on the Island Violence by car.” George Millar 1982 in the run up to the release of The Road Warrior vehicles for the project. Terrapin would engage the artists, having built relationships with PARTNER Monster Trucks is a large-scale movable cartoonists and illustrators nationwide in the CAIAF FESTIVAL/S installation that uses magnetic transfers and making of You and Me and the Space Between. N/A augmented reality to transform earthmoving machinery, semi-trailers and other plant The purpose of this creative development is equipment into comic book monsters. Inspired to work with the artists to develop a unifying OTHER CO-COMMISSIONING brief for the creation of characters that is PARTNERS by the Stephen King short story ‘Trucks’ and the comical, irreverent and allows new characters N/A Art Speigelman designed sticker trading cards the ‘Garbage Pail Kids’, Terrapin will work with to be added over time. The artists would each Australia’s best comic book artists to create a create a draft character and development would OTHER FINANCIAL cast of funny, gross and irreverent characters commence on the A.R app, focusing on what the SUPPORTERS for audiences to ‘collect’ across the duration of artist is creating with the magnetic strip and what Terrapin a festival. the augmented reality is creating. For example, the artist may create the nose of a character, Using an app that further animates the with the A.R app creating snot running out of it. TIMELINE characters using AR, audiences are encouraged to undertake a scavenger hunt of sorts to MAY 2020 locate each monster in its location. The work is Machinery photographed and imagery prepared particularly aimed at smaller communities that may have limited access to festival events, with SEP 2020 the vehicles being located where there are high Prototype ‘Monster’ created – proof of concept levels of existing pedestrian traffic, for example sporting events, parks, main streets and markets. DEC 2020 There could also be an opportunity to transform Workshop with artists on character development vehicles that would be undertaking road-works and narrative. at the time. MAR 2021 A.R app development commences
APR 2021 Further prototype ‘Monsters’ created.
JUN 2021 A.R app trial commences
SEP 2021 Pitch to M.F.I. for Pre-production.
44/ CREATIVE TEAM/ PRODUCING MFI CRITERIA PERFORMERS COMPANY PROFILE Monster Trucks is significant work of scale that Director Terrapin explores beyond the borders of is ambitious in its aim to reach communities who Sam Routledge contemporary puppetry, contributing to the most may not otherwise experience a work in a major urgent conversations of our time. Making work arts festival. It is distinctively Australian in its Artists for intergenerational audiences, the company irreverence and ability to reach people ‘on the Tom O’Hern with others TBC creates work for theatres, and interactive road’, acknowledging the size of Australia and Puppet Construction installations for public spaces. the long distances people travel. Bryony Anderson Terrapin collaborates and tours nationally and Terrapin is a unique regional company with Composer internationally and has had its work presented by a niche artform that relies on commissioning Dylan Sheridan The Lincoln Center, Taipei Childrens Art Festival, funding to produce works of scale like All Aichi Arts Centre, A.S.K Shanghai, the Royal This Coming and Going, King Ubu and Infinite Shakespeare Company, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Monster. When given the opportunity, the FUTURE William Kentridge’s The Center for The Less company has proven the ability to realise the Good Idea, and The John F Kennedy Center for projects and find further opportunities for them POTENTIAL the Performing Arts. subsequent to the initial local seasons. N/A Over the last three years the company has created and co-created three works of scale for PREVIOUS MFI GRANTS festivals, which have been presented locally and 2016 internationally. Infinite Monster, a large digital $126,005 reimagining of the Exquisite Corpse drawing Ten Days on the Island game was commissioned by Dark Mofo in 2017, Melbourne Festival before playing The Reach opening festival at The Brisbane Festival John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Sydney Festival in 2019. The company co-created All This Coming Darwin Festival and Going, an installation across 14 shipping containers with Gruppe 38 and Trickster-P for Aarhus 2017 European Capital of Culture, which BUDGET was presented by Dark Mofo in 2019. In January Budget has been provided. 2020, Terrapin collaborated with Mona Foma on King Ubu, an outdoor spectacle presented at Cataract Gorge in Launceston as part of Mona Foma.
45/ RIDERS IN THE CHARIOT BY PATRICK WHITE, ADAPTED BY TOM WRIGHT BRINK PRODUCTIONS
PROJECT PROJECT PARTNERS DESCRIPTION
ADMINISTERING THE NOVEL WHY NOW? CAIAF FESTIVAL Riders in the Chariot by Patrick White is a These are complex and difficult times. Our RISING (Melbourne International towering work in Australian literature. Traversing ethical, social and environmental worlds seem Adelaide Festival years and continents, it is set in the mid-20th in freefall. So many are asking what to believe in? Century, in an Australia on the cusp of profound Where do we locate, in this fragmenting world, PARTNER change, in a world teetering between implosion our shared sense of humanity: transcending CAIAF FESTIVAL/S and transformation, as refugees flee post WWII- religion, class, gender, politics, race and the sins N/A Europe, precipitating, in part, the dismantlement of the past? of the White Australia Policy and opening Riders in the Chariot dares to be spiritual in the door to our contemporary multicultural a demotic age. It seeks to find the ‘infinite in OTHER CO-COMMISSIONING Australia and all the complexities of a globalising- PARTNERS everything’, or as White put it: to reveal how “all ghettoising society. Adelaide Festival Centre faiths – religious, humanistic, instinctive or the A FESTIVAL EVENT creative artist’s act of praise, are in fact one.” OTHER FINANCIAL Our concept is simple. Tell the stories of Riders The themes are timeless – otherness; migration; SUPPORTERS in the Chariot on the stage, using Patrick White’s alienation; exile and belonging; conflict Arts South Australia exhilarating prose, in an act of radical recitation. between good and evil; brutality pitted against Over eight hours, with a multicultural ensemble compassion – yet Riders in the Chariot ultimately of actors we will theatricalise the stories of transcends its themes to articulate a vision TIMELINE Riders in the Chariot in four parts; four poems of our fragile alikeness and our capacity for the stage. for transformation. FEB/MAR 2021 Four poems of Otherness. Form Testing and Commencement of First CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT Nations Cultural Consultation x 4 plays (2 weeks) Four poems of Australia. Tom Wright and Brink Productions will bring the stories of Riders in the Chariot to the stage, First Nations Cultural Consultation continues A major festival work, traversing eight hours, drawing upon the inherent theatricality of throughout in four two-hour plays, spiralling around four White’s exhilarating prose. Casting across gender ‘Riders’ - four seemingly unremarkable strangers, DUE END SEP 2021 and cultural divides, a large multicultural cast will who are, in fact, all anointed with shared 4 x first draft scripts inhabit the contemporary moment even as they revelatory visions. Mary Hare, an eccentric inhabit a ghost world of 50’s Australia, forging heiress living alone in a decaying mansion; OCT/NOV 2021 a new theatrical irony to re-activate White’s Alf Dubbo, a First Nation/stolen generation Creative Development (2 weeks) masterpiece; that it might speak anew: of who painter and visionary; Mordecai Himmelfarb, we are; of where we have been; and of what we a Holocaust survivor and despised immigrant; DUE BY MAR 2022 might become. 4 x Rehearsal Draft Scripts delivered and Ruth Godbold, a compassionate and evangelical laundress. White’s elliptical Our vision for Riders in the Chariot is for a poetic-prose conjures the mysteries of their festival event, not a literary dramatization. hallucinatory inner worlds; inner worlds that, The creative development, on the floor with on stage, can be made flesh, manifesting a deeply a company of diverse and brilliant actors, is communal and transcendent theatrical event. essential for shaping a living performative language, laying the groundwork, rules and parameters of form and creating a dramaturgical template with which to navigate the continuing adaptation process.
46/ CREATIVE TEAM/ PRODUCING PERFORMERS COMPANY PROFILE FIRST NATIONS CULTURAL Writer Based in Adelaide, Brink creates original CONSULTATION Tom Wright theatre through long-term collaboration Vitally, another reason for undertaking this with great artists. Recent productions include creative development is that one of the four Director Memorial (2018 AdFest, BrisFest, Barbican), The ‘Riders’ is a First Nations painter named Alf Chris Drummond Aspirations of Daise Morrow (2018 Galway Fest, Dubbo. We are fully cognizant that here is Cultural Consultant/Dramaturg AFC, CTC, Merrigong), Ancient Rain (2016 Dublin a fictional Aboriginal character, written by a TBC – Alexis West Theatre Fest, 2016 Melb Fest, CTC, Merrigong, white man in the late 1950s/early 60s – prior 2017 Dark Mofo, QPAC, 2017 AdCabFest). to the ‘67 referendum – most likely written without any consultation, in what would brinkproductions.com now be acknowledged as an act of cultural FUTURE appropriation. This needs to be deeply, carefully POTENTIAL and comprehensively addressed; with integrity, Early conversations with Sydney Theatre full consultation, collaboration and cultural MFI CRITERIA Company and Wales Millennium Centre – engagement. Riders in the Chariot is one of our nation’s both expressed interest to be kept abreast greatest works of literature; a sprawling and No writing or adaptation of the Alf Dubbo of development. visionary 1961 masterwork from Patrick White, narrative will begin on any element without a Australia’s only literary Nobel Laureate. First Nations’ consultation/collaborative process being in place. Brink Productions, in collaboration with Tom Wright, will adapt Riders in the Chariot into a IN SUMMARY major 8-hour festival event, for world premiere The objectives of the creative development in 2023. workshop are to: In all this, Riders in the Chariot has the profound Explore the collective act of theatrical potential to be rediscovered and re-articulated storytelling in White’s language. as a nation-defining text and festival-scaled Explore the impacts/opportunities of culture-/ theatrical event. age-/gender-blind casting.
Address, through consultation and collaboration PREVIOUS MFI GRANTS the fundamental question of the Alf Dubbo MEMORIAL, $360,985.36 – 2017 for 2018 narrative and issues of cultural appropriation presentations – Adelaide Festival, Brisbane and authentic representation. Festival, Melbourne Festival (no presentation), This process is vital to the overall vision and and Barbican Centre ultimate success of the project and, given the scale and complexity of the endeavour, BUDGET is essential that it precedes the first draft Budget has been provided. of writing.
In all this, Riders in the Chariot has the profound potential to be rediscovered and re-articulated as a nation-defining text and festival-scaled theatrical event.
47/ AMATAGA CASUS CIRCUS
PROJECT PROJECT CREATIVE TEAM/ PARTNERS DESCRIPTION PERFORMERS
ADMINISTERING Amataga explores modern-day versions and Jillibalu Riley CAIAF FESTIVAL interpretations of “initiation”. Rites of passage Kamron Wahanui McKinnon Brisbane Festival will be recounted and performed by an Mayu Muto ensemble of artists from four different nations Ella Ganza with five unique perspectives. Amataga is an Natano Fa’anana PARTNER exploration of active and inactive ancient rituals CAIAF FESTIVAL/S Director and respective practices in a contemporary N/A Natano Fa’anana circus context. Assistant Director The wider cultural themes, dances, and OTHER CO-COMMISSIONING Johnny Brown PARTNERS language pertaining to each key creative will be Cluster Arts, La Boite Theatre researched over this period. Cultural protocol, Creative Consultant Company authenticity and sensitivity will inform and guide Jesse Scott the creative development and rehearsal process, Lx and Set Design including movement that informs the acrobatics, Polytoxic OTHER FINANCIAL music made by and performed by artists of SUPPORTERS colour, and dramaturgical contributions from Musical Director Yirramboi Festival our Elders. Airileke Ingram
Amataga will be a visually and emotionally Set & Rigging Consultant stunning show features Casus’ signature style Lachlan Mcaulay TIMELINE of heart in the mouth moments. Using their Production Manager theatrical language featuring strength and NOV – DEC 2020 Latisha Ackland fragility which focuses on human connection, Research and individual development. inclusion, and diversity, Amataga will push the Supporter JAN – FEB boundaries and be the first of its kind of what La Boite we currently see on Australian stages. Date TBC: Relies on interstate travel. General Management Goals and Objectives: Reconnection and After 8 months of working remotely, this creative Cluster Arts Act Creation development project will bring the entire cast into one room, to compile our research, and layer APR 2021 in the artistic discoveries and cultural findings Continued research and development gathered during the period. This stage of the CD will also take the work to a APR – MAY 2021 larger scale with major collaborators including: Further develop existing acts, incorporating both technical and production elements. Renowned company Polytoxic in lighting and set design MAY 2021 • Excerpts of Amataga will be selected Airileke Ingram as Musical Director to be performed at Yirromboi Festival, La Boite Theatre Company being performed for the greater First Nations communities. This three-week creative development will culminate in a showing at Yirramboi Festival. • This is crucial moment to receive the critical reviews from our First Nations peers and to ensure each culture is being represented with cultural protocol and respect. All artistic and culturally specific feedback will be fed into the next creative development.
48/ PRODUCING FUTURE MFI CRITERIA COMPANY PROFILE POTENTIAL The Major Festival Initiative will allow Casus Casus Circus is recognised as a leader in Yirramboi Festival: Circus to move from being a small independent contemporary circus on the international stage. company to an organisation recognised for A festival dedicated to first nations content and showcasing and championing diverse acrobats Casus Circus performances are rich in human driven by First Nations creators and producers. on stage – in terms of colour, race, sexuality, size connection, integrity, cultural diversity and This is an opportune moment to put some and gender. precise, intelligent choreography. Acrobats fill of the content of Amataga in front of our the stage with momentum and stillness, with communities. From respected elders and cultural Casus Circus is the most diverse contemporary strength and fragility, and overwhelm audiences advisors, we will get feedback to take back to circus company in Australia. Casus tours 90 with breathless emotion that often leads to a the rehearsal floor in anticipation of the next percent of the year internationally and is silent theatre throughout the performance – creative development. unfortunately rarely seen in Australia. Currently, followed by a standing ovation at the end. our local stages do not see acrobats of colour on Darwin Festival stage. Amataga is set to change this with a main Renowned for their aesthetic of delicately human Felix Preval supported a funding application for stage production showcasing some of Australia’s circus, Casus Circus premier work Knee Deep is Amataga and a keen supporter of Casus Circus. leading artists of colour. an international sensation. Performed in more Upswing, United Kingdom Casus is currently than 24 countries, Knee Deep won numerous Amataga is culturally diverse in every sense – working with Vicki Amedume to provide international accolades, including Best Circus from artists, to production and team. There outreach programs in the UK with Amataga and Physical Theatre 2016 Adelaide Fringe, and has been an extensive research period prior to artists when the show tours internationally. Best Circus and Physical Theatre Avignon 2015. rehearsals beginning with constant collaboration Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute and feedback from Elders to maintain On the success of Knee Deep, Casus Circus Working with an Indigenous space driven by First cultural etiquette. have grown to an established touring company Nations people, we look to do further creative of 16 acrobats, making up three casts which Casus knows how to make a successful show that development and residencies in this space. tour internationally with the shows Knee Deep, has an extensive touring life as demonstrated Chasing Smoke, You & I, Driftwood and DNA. Droles De Droles by previous works such as Knee Deep. Support Presenting partner for France touring from MFI will allow the company to create new Inclusion and diversity are at the forefront of and residencies markets with a greater reach, specifically bringing all their work, giving light and energy to stories more culturally diverse audiences to the theatre. that are often absent from our stages, or heavily Kultureconsulting, Germany stereotyped. The company is one of the most Presenting partner for Netherlands, Germany diverse in Australia, with more than 70 percent PREVIOUS MFI GRANTS touring and residences of the company non-Caucasian, and strong 2020 – $10,000 – Brisbane Festival representation from the LGBTIQX community. (Seed Funding) – Amartaga Casus also subverts gender normative 2019 - $10,000 – Brisbane Festival stereotypes, with women demonstrating strength (Seed Funding) – Paradigm and basing complex balances, and men exploring delicate styles and moving with intimacy and finesse. BUDGET
Originating in Brisbane, the three co-founders Budget has been provided. (Jesse Scott, Lachlan Macaulay, and Natano Fa’anana) remain company members and close friends. Their home-town values of humanity, friendship and connection flow throughout the company and their performances. It is this that forms the backbone of Casus Circus signature style.
Off stage, Casus Circus actively work to maintain their human connections through community engagement, education, and collaboration alongside their performance works.
49/ SET PIECE ANNA BRECKON AND NAT RANDALL PERFORMANCE SPACE/TANDEM
PROJECT PROJECT PARTNERS DESCRIPTION Set Piece departs from a classical narrative ADMINISTERING Set Piece is a 90-minute live work at the CAIAF FESTIVAL intersection of theatre, film and dance that structure, instead, building interest through shifting intimate dynamics, visual and aural Adelaide Festival explores desire and intimacy in lesbian erotic dynamics. It consists of a 30-minute scene erotics, and logics of repetition. Audience feeling involving four performers repeated three times. is conjured through intimate physical contact PARTNER While the basic narrative scenario remains the between performers, haptic cinema and sound CAIAF FESTIVAL/S same for each iteration, dialogue, blocking, techniques (e.g. ASMR), subtle lighting states, RISING; PERTH performances, relational dynamics, lighting, colour, a tactile set design and set dressing that cinematography and editing shifts. The scene stimulate an erotics of touch. OTHER CO-COMMISSIONING operates in real time and is written to give a The set is a 6mx6m metre box demarcated by PARTNERS sense that it belongs to a broader theatrical thin chrome edges on a revolving stage with Liveworks/Performance Space; piece. Each iteration includes subtle changes, audience seated on facing sides. The lounge Artshouse; Vitalstatistix so no iteration is either exactly the same, or area and connected bedroom are lined in white dramatically different. longhair carpet, the kitchen and bathroom OTHER FINANCIAL The work explores lesbian dynamics in relation are connected by white tiled floor. With the SUPPORTERS to concepts of desire, power, representation, audience divided to the front and the back, Australia Council genre, ethics, attachment, friendship, and need. performers are visible from a multitude of The script brings together quotes, images, perspectives. The stage slowly rotates for a scenarios, erotic dynamics, power plays and single loop across the 90 minutes. The incredibly TIMELINE styles of intimacy from a range of lesbian films, slow movement allows the spectator to see the repeated action across 360degrees, giving the DEVELOPMENT television texts, and lesbian pulp fiction from the 50s and 60s. It also draws on improvisations with sense of surveillance, speaking to the history of Three previous developments, all funded queer performers and interviews to create an public investment in surveying and controlling through the Commissioning partners and the experience that moves through a range of genres queer private spaces. This movement also assists Australia Council: 1. Vitalstatistix July 2019 ($12K). of intimacy between women. in the hypnotic quality of the work, distorting 2. Artshouse November 2019 ($15k). 3. Online memory through minute shifts in physical point script development May-July 2020 ($9,996.40) Set Piece loosely takes up and adapts the of view. intergenerational premise of Who’s Afraid PRE-PRODUCTION of Virginia Woolf? The 30-minute scene Set Piece is captured by multiple cameras and Pre-production occurs in two timeframes: involves four characters; two sets of couples projected live on two large screens. Filmic in style – highly composed, subtly lit, shot on high- 21 – 29 November 2020 ($36,422 confirmed separated generationally. Where Who’s Afraid quality cameras and lenses – particular moments Australia Council funding) of Virginia Woolf? takes long-term coupledom and intergenerational heterosexuality as its are emphasised, making visible the unsaid. 4 – 16 January 2021 core relational structures, Set Piece considers The work is designed to present complex concepts intergenerational lesbian coupledom. in a highly accessible and entertaining form. OPENING SEASON It represents an alternative to heterosexual Adelaide Festival/Vitalstatistix, venue TBC,, models of intergenerationality and coupledom dates Feb/March 2021 in both its form and content. SECOND SEASON RISING/Arts House, Meat Market, Melbourne May – June 2021
THIRD SEASON Liveworks, Performance Space, Sydney October 2021
OTHER SEASONS Perth Festival, venue TBC, Feb/March 2022
50/ CREATIVE TEAM/ PRODUCING MFI CRITERIA PERFORMERS COMPANY PROFILE The work is made by two Australian artists Co-directors/writers Performance Space is the crucible for risk- utilising innovative theatrical forms blending Anna Breckon and Nat Randall taking artists. Emerging over 30 years ago in film and theatre and using repetition to deeply response to artists’ articulated desire to explore explore the ethics, politics and pleasures Performers and investigate new forms of art, Performance of queer dynamics. Following The Second Anni Finsterer; Eugenia Fragos; Space has consistently identified, nurtured and Woman, Set Piece develops the artists’ process Nat Randall and Carly Sheppard presented new directions in contemporary of creating cinematic spectacle out of live Producer practice. We champion risk, experimentation, performance, bringing to the fore questions of Performance Space/Fenn Gordon, Tandem and new modes of creative expression. the relations between the two forms. We have Performance Space continues to evolve and fielded strong international interest in this work Music Composition and Sound Design renew to meet the needs of the independent during its development. Nina Buchanan sector and explore new models for developing Although a relatively small cast, Set Piece is a and presenting the most critical and important Cinematographer work of significant scale in terms of concept, new work. Fenn Gordon moved to Australia in Ross Turley design and delivery, with live film components 2007 to join Performing Lines as the producer Lead Camera Operator that put the work beyond the scope of both the responsible for international projects. In late EO Gill artists and the original commissioning partners. 2017 she returned to independent practice Set design sector with her own company Tandem, working The key creative team consists of primarily Genevieve Murray (Future Method Studio) between Australia and New Zealand specialising Australian female and non-binary practitioners. in strategic development, producing and Lighting design Works of scale with high production values international touring. From 2009 – 2011 she Jo Kilgour that centre around lesbians and non-normative was the Director, Market Development for the modes of relationality are extremely rare. Australia Council for the Arts. She has written Music Curation Depictions of lesbians on stage often operate and taught extensively about the performing Jade Muratore in the domain of representation, with work arts, including developing and delivering market primarily serving the function of visibility. Set Hair/Makeup and costume design development workshops in New Zealand, Piece is as much interested in formal innovation Sophie Roberts Australia, Canada and Taiwan; is a founding as it is in representation. It deploys queer modes member of the Performing Arts Network of New Dramaturg of relationality and lesbian affect as a formal Zealand (PANNZ) and of the Asian Producers Miranda Harcourt system and structure. Lesbianism and queerness Platform (APP). She is the author of The Touring is not only its material but also its form. Manual (CNZ 2003; revised 2007). FUTURE performancespace.com.au PREVIOUS MFI GRANTS POTENTIAL CAIAF to complete N/A BUDGET Budget has been provided.
51/ AS IT STANDS THE NEW ZEALAND DANCE COMPANY (NZDC)
PROJECT PROJECT CREATIVE TEAM/ PARTNERS DESCRIPTION PERFORMERS
ADMINISTERING Celebrated New Zealand Arts Laureate Choreographer/Director CAIAF FESTIVAL Ross McCormack was commissioned by the Ross McCormack 2019 Auckland Arts Festival to create full-length Auckland Arts Festival Composer work As It Stands. A rich integration Jason Wright of design and dance paired with scenography PARTNER CAIAF FESTIVAL/S and performance, the work created with Lighting Designer McCormack’s company Muscle Mouth was N/A Natasha James met with critical acclaim. Dramaturg OTHER CO-COMMISSIONING The New Zealand Dance Company (NZDC) Melanie Hamilton and Muscle Mouth have since formed a PARTNERS Dancers new collaborative partnership, and will N/A James Vu Anh Pham together further develop the work for touring Lauren Langlois opportunities from 2022. OTHER FINANCIAL Tiana Lung SUPPORTERS Dancer, choreographer, actor, director and set Toa Paranihi N/A designer – McCormack has long been inspired by Luke Hanna the work of American artist Richard Serra, who Emily Adams creates large-scale assemblies of sheet metal Jeremy Beck TIMELINE that are formidable in size, commanding space Christina Guieb while imposing coordinates, rules, structure N/A and wonder. Large sculptures punctuate a ritualistic world FUTURE PRODUCING of mystery and knowledge. Eight dancers, POTENTIAL who serve as inhabitants/guardians of the N/A COMPANY PROFILE environment, create the rules by which NZDC is a high-calibre community of dancers, they move. creative collaborators, arts managers and Within this world, curiosity arises. Desire for supporters dedicated to producing and unity emerges equally with a desire to break MFI CRITERIA presenting inspiring new dance for Aotearoa/ apart and destroy. As It Stands embodies what N/A New Zealand and the world. We exist with the happens when man, nature and industry collide. desire to change the way audiences experience contemporary dance – to break boundaries and PREVIOUS MFI GRANTS share its power, beauty and humility. N/A Our vision is to create new connections to dance by staging compelling, relevant works in BUDGET highly engaging ways that not only entertain, but resonate long after the experience is Budget provided on request. over. NZDC was formed to build a hotbed of diverse, creative voices by attracting new talent whilst also reclaiming dancers and choreographers who have left our shores. Our point of difference exists in providing a full-time home for challenging and growing New Zealand contemporary dance culture.
52/ 53/ RED DANCENORTH
PROJECT PROJECT PARTNERS DESCRIPTION Red hair was created by a genetic mutation in ADMINISTERING RED – viewing humans as nature CAIAF FESTIVAL northern Europe tens of thousands of years ago. When humans migrated out of Africa their Brisbane Festival PROJECT NARRATIVE RED reveals humankind as a simultaneously skin lightened over time because they were insignificant and utterly dominant form of life on exposed to less sun. The gene associated with PARTNER Earth. Humanity cannot be sustained without a red hair, melanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R), had the CAIAF FESTIVAL/S diverse, resilient and intact ecosystem of natural beneficial effect of increasing the body’s ability RISING – TBC processes (internal and external), including to cope with sunlight, allowing redheads to bacteria, protozoa, fungi, plants and animals of all efficiently generate vitamin D2. sizes, at all levels of the food chain. OTHER CO-COMMISSIONING • Less than two percent of the world’s PARTNERS population have natural red hair. N/A Our relationship to nature is increasingly distorted and we no longer perceive the subtle • Carriers of MC1R are more prone to skin symbiosis required for life to sustain, let alone cancer and are more sensitive to pain. OTHER FINANCIAL flourish. We have separated ourselves from SUPPORTERS nature on a physical, psychological and spiritual • Global intermingling reduces the chance N/A level and the grievous damage we have done of redheads meeting and reproducing. to the beauty of the earth is crippling the • Total sperm count has declined by 59.3 foundations of human existence. TIMELINE percent over the last four decades among A 2016 study published in Science magazine1 North American, European, Australian and SEP 2020 analysed 2.38 million records for almost 40,000 New Zealand men 3. Development species, collected by hundreds of scientists at • In 2011 Cryos International Sperm Bank, over 18,500 sites around the world. On average, the largest sperm bank in the world, DATES TBC the number of originally present species has began turning redheads away due to lack Pre-production dropped by 15.4 percent globally as a result of of demand. (6 weeks incl. premiere performance) humanity’s changing modes of land use, with biodiversity having transgressed the safety • Red hair is recessive – their numbers are OPENING SEASON boundary in nine of the world’s 14 biomes – which in decline. Brisbane Festival include deserts, grasslands, forests, and other Humans have championed mastery over nature types of environment. The researchers found since time immemorial. When ecosystems fail, that species numbers have dropped to below our own health is at risk. When our own health is safe levels across 58.1 percent of the Earth’s land at risk, our internal ecosystems fail. surface, representing an area that is home to more than 70 percent of the human population. Time is running out. As co-author Andy Purvis explains, “until and unless we can bring biodiversity back up, we’re playing ecological roulette.”
We are plummeting toward a natureless world. The consequences are already being felt, for some far more than others.
54/ CREATIVE TEAM/ MFI CRITERIA PERFORMERS Dancenorth exemplifies creative leadership, THE PERFORMANCE ENVIRONMENT Direction/Choreography consistently producing works of the highest Audience members enter a large space to find Amber Haines and Kyle Page quality. Conceptual rigor, true collaboration, a transparent cube containing two performers risk and adventure are central tenets to the Dramaturgy with red hair. The performance is modular Dancenorth creative process. RED is a wholly Gideon Obarzanek with audience ideally seated in traverse, new offering from Dancenorth exploring notions simultaneously witnessing both the performance Lighting Design of humankind as a simultaneously insignificant and the other viewers. End on seating Niklas Pajanti and utterly dominant form of life on Earth. The arrangement is also possible. work offers a compelling and stark reminder of Sound Design humanities insatiable desire for progress and the An evocative sound score featuring text written TBC brutal costs associated with exponential growth and recorded by Victor Steffensen (Fire Country in a finite world. As air is continually removed 2020) saturates the space which is occupied Set Design from the structure we are collectively reminded by two of Australia’s most extraordinary dance David Cross that time is running out. artists, Sara Black and James O’Hara. Costume Design RED is distinctively Australian in that it The air inside the cube is gradually removed, Harriet Oxley is being made by Dancenorth out of our ultimately vacuum packing the two performers, Text and voice regional home base of Townsville North preserving them with nothing but one another. Victor Steffensen Queensland – Wulgurukaba Country. The These two bodies speak to the suffocation of our Performers work will be made with eight exceptionally environment, the rapid loss of plant and animal Sara Black and James O’Hara talented Australian Artists including Victor species, the suffocation of dissenting voices and Steffensen, a descendent of the Tagalaka an increasing global intolerance of minorities. people. Victor is a writer, filmmaker, musician and most recently well known for his work in Time is running out. FUTURE restoring and sharing the knowledge of cultural 1 Has land use pushed terrestrial biodiversity POTENTIAL responsibilities and practices of cultural fire beyond the planetary boundary? A global N/A in the Australian landscape. assessment
Science 15 Jul 2016: Vol. 353, Issue 6296, pp. PREVIOUS MFI GRANTS 288-291 PRODUCING Pre-production – Communal Table 2 The genes linked to red hair. The Roslin COMPANY PROFILE Pre-production – Dust Institute at The University of Edinburgh - dancenorth.com.au/our-company 10/12/2018 Pre-production – Attractor
3 European Society of Human Reproduction and Creative development – One Infinity Embryology, 2017 BUDGET Budget has been provided.
55/ HOW WE FOUND WHAT WE HAD LOST TERRAPIN PUPPET THEATRE
PROJECT PROJECT PARTNERS DESCRIPTION
ADMINISTERING How We Found What We Had Lost is an CAIAF FESTIVAL Australian/Japanese collaboration that engages Ten Days on the Island with speculative futures through the creation of a world that is very much alive, but has none of us in it. Using hacked kitchen appliances, PARTNER CAIAF FESTIVAL/S puppetry and simple robotics, a mysterious automated environment comes to life as we N/A listen to a story of renewal, where the children are the adults in the room. How We Found What OTHER CO-COMMISSIONING We Had Lost will be a visually arresting, funny PARTNERS and magical examination of a potential future. Aichi Arts Center (Japan), Kinosaki Arts Center,(Japan) The narrative for this work begins with the following lines:
OTHER FINANCIAL “When the birds became extinct, we gave up SUPPORTERS eating eggs.
Australia Japan Foundation, When the fish became extinct, we gave up Terrapin throwing nets.
When the ice became extinct, we gave up north TIMELINE and south.
AUG 2020 And when the clocks became extinct, we gave up Time.” Draft script complete - translated into Japanese – begin remote creative The text will be written as a story and read by development with Japanese collaborators. a local narrator in each place we play, providing the audience with maximum proximity to JUL 2021 the narrative by hearing it in their language Creative development focusing on integration and accent. of design and narrative (Kinosaki Arts Center, Japan) The work is designed by Ayami Sasaki from Tokyo-based theatre company FAIFAI. FEB 2022 Ayami will create a set that hints at a humidicrib, Creative development, Hobart, Australia where any incursion into the space can only LATE 2022/EARLY 2023 be made by an instrument, conjuring toxicity, fragility, the constant threat of failure and the Pre-production and premiere tenacity of getting something to work with the wrong tools. The company will also work with director Narumi Koehie, artistic director of Dienanagekijo, whose work have been performed at 33 cities in Japan and abroad in France, Germany, South Korea and Taiwan.
Terrapin and The Aichi Arts Centre (Japan) will partner on the development of this new work having successfully worked together on the Japanese premiere of Terrapin’s production of You and Me and The Space Between by Finegan Kruckemeyer in 2018.
56/ CREATIVE TEAM/ PRODUCING MFI CRITERIA PERFORMERS COMPANY PROFILE This work is formally ambitious in its aim to Co-directors Terrapin explores beyond the borders of create theatre that has no people in it. The work Sam Routledge and Narumi Koehie contemporary puppetry; contributing to the most is inspired by Heiner Goebbels works such as urgent conversations of our time. Making work Stifters Dinge and Everything that happened Writer for intergenerational audiences, the company and would happen where the sound composition Finegan Kruckemeyer creates work for theatres and interactive and the movement of objects and material Designer installations for public spaces. items infers meaning. It features a particular Ayami Sasaki combination of Japanese and Tasmanian artists, Terrapin collaborates and tours nationally and all of which share a unique island culture, living internationally and has had its work presented by Composer and Robotics on islands surrounded by islands. Dylan Sheridan The Lincoln Center, Taipei Childrens Art Festival, Aichi Arts Centre, A.S.K Shanghai, the Royal Terrapin is a unique regional company with Puppet Designer and Maker Shakespeare Company, Kunsthaus Bregenz, a niche artform that relies on commissioning Bryony Anderson William Kentridge’s The Center for The Less funding to produce works of scale like All Good Idea, and The John F Kennedy Center This Coming and Going, King Ubu and Infinite for the Performing Arts. Monster. When given the opportunity, the FUTURE company has proven the ability to realise the The writer for this project, celebrated playwright projects and find further opportunities for them POTENTIAL Finegan Kruckemeyer, has had 89 commissioned subsequent to the initial local seasons. Aichi Arts Centre in Nagoya is a presentation plays performed on five continents, translated partner for this work and we are seeking further into eight languages. He has received 35 Japanese presenters for the production. As awards including the 2017 Mickey Miners PREVIOUS MFI GRANTS with You and Me and the Space Between Lifetime Achievement Award (for services to 2016 (YAM), which was commissioned through the international theatre for young audiences), the $126,005 MFI framework, this work is designed to tour, 2015 David Williamson Award for Excellence in Ten Days on the Island featuring a model that casts a narrator in each Australian Playwriting, and an inaugural Sidney Melbourne Festival place it plays, facilitating local engagement and Myer Creative Fellowship. Last year 34 seasons Brisbane Festival presentation in multiple languages. After YAM (including six world premieres) were presented Sydney Festival played five major festivals in Australia, it went on globally, with seasons in eight countries and Darwin Festival to tour to the UK, USA, China and Japan. We are six languages. aiming, once international touring resumes, for Composing the score and creating the robotics, this work to follow a similar trajectory through BUDGET Dylan Sheridan is a composer and artist Terrapin’s established international networks. based in Hobart. In 2017 he received a Green Budget has been provided. Terrapin is represented in the US by Boatrocker Room award for Crush (with Sam Routledge) Entertainment. The target audience is families in the Contemporary and Experimental with children aged 8-12, also suitable for children Sound Performance category. He is regularly 6 and over. commissioned to compose sound for dance, theatre, parades and festivals, and frequently incorporates interactive technologies. He has undertaken a number of national and international residencies including an Asialink residency at the Kyoto Arts Center.
57/ AND THE EARTH WILL SWALLOW THEM WHOLE RACHEL ARIANNE OGLE
PROJECT PROJECT PARTNERS DESCRIPTION
ADMINISTERING And the Earth Will Swallow Them Whole CAIAF FESTIVAL (ATEWSTW) is a new work for five dancers, with Perth Festival a live sound score integrating electronica and a grand piano, and a strong design component. Inspired by the subterranean layers of the earth, PARTNER CAIAF FESTIVAL/S ATEWSTW explores notions of shifting tectonic plates, fault lines, and the natural processes of TBC the earth; delving into an underworld of death, grief and the unknown in between spaces. OTHER CO-COMMISSIONING PARTNERS Working with states of tension, instability, TBC rupture and collapse, ATEWSTW interrogates a movement language of visible and invisible forces pushing, pulling, sliding and fracturing. OTHER FINANCIAL The struggle of the human body dealing with SUPPORTERS the stress and unpredictability of an unstable Department of Local Government, environment is explored, unearthing the Sport and Cultural Industries & fragility and impermanence of our place within The Australia Council for the Arts the universe.
A work in two acts, ATEWSTW will shift the TIMELINE audience perspective of how they view and engage with the work. Act I is designed to be 2020 viewed from above; Act II invites the audience Creative Development #1 into the performance space with the performers.
2020 NOVEMBER Creative Development #2 And Set Construction
FEB 2022 Premiere season at Perth Festival
58/ CREATIVE TEAM/ PRODUCING PERFORMERS COMPANY PROFILE Choreographer Ogle is a dance artist with an 18-year career the physical language and signification of dance Rachel Arianne Ogle as a performer, choreographer, educator as a mode for both performer and audience to and arts worker. Her investments in dance engage with the world as revealed in the body. Sound Designer as a contemporary art form are deep and Often drawing from the cosmos, works place the Luke Smiles multi-faceted, encompassing artistic roles in audience in a liminal space, oscillating between Live Pianist and Sound Collaborator company and independent dance, international the micro and the macro. Her 2014 landmark Gabriella Smart residencies and exchange projects, tertiary work precipice was nominated for a Helpmann lecturing, and a dedication to long-term projects Award for Best Dance Work in 2015; and Set Designer within disability arts and remote communities. shortlisted for a 2015 Australian Dance Award Bruce McKinven Over the past eight years she has been for Outstanding Achievement in Independent Performers creating a body of work distinctive in style Dance. In 2016 Ogle was a commissioned Dancers x 3 and content, adding to the diversity of artistic choreographer for Sydney Dance Company’s voices occurring within Australia. Her work has season, New Breed. Ogle has been the recipient been presented in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney; of an Asialink Residency (2016); an Australia FUTURE France, Netherlands, Singapore and Nigeria. Council International Residency at EMPAC POTENTIAL Her work is distinguished by precise, physically in New York (2017); and an Australia Council demanding and acutely complex choreography. International Residency at Cite Internationale N/A Her detailed approach to kinesthetic movement des Arts in Paris (2018). In March 2019, she and energy allows intricate, elastic dynamics to presented her installation and performance work emerge and immersive experiences to manifest i have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of through the dancing body. Her works seamlessly the night at The SUBSTATION in Melbourne, integrate choreography and design, creating as part of Dance Massive. Most recently synergetic collaborations with designers across programmed by the State Theatre Centre of visual, spatial and sonic planes. Focusing on the WA for a return season of precipice in May 2019, body as a site to explore temporal concepts followed by a season at PICA in June 2019 of the of time, space and self, she aims to interrogate sequel work i have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.
MFI CRITERIA N/A
PREVIOUS MFI GRANTS N/A
BUDGET Budget has been provided.
59/ 60/