Did you know there was a get together of independent theatre Artistic Directors and General Managers last week at Flipside Circus? It was a bit of an old school invitation in … umm … email instead of Facebook but, nonetheless, it was sent around.
I went along because I had recently sent an email and Facebook message around asking people if there was a Brisbane Theatre Producers’ network I could tap into to talk to people about my current project, the Anywhere Theatre Festival. I received a number of responses about things that had happened in the past (and generally imploded). Then, completely unconnected, I received an email from Markwell Presents’ Stephen Maxwell about the event at Flipside Circus.
What happened at the event? Well, I’m not supposed to tell you, but we came up with a secret handshake, discussed how we would form a cartel that would limit any kind of funding going to any other company, and devised a strategy to steal everyone’s audiences. Pity you weren’t there. Or, in reality, we had some lunchtime food and drink organised by Flipside Circus and Markwell Presents, had a chat to a mixture of people we had and hadn’t met before (or for a while) and then decided we should do this again on at least a quarterly basis.
The event got me thinking. In Brisbane theatre I think we are great at coming up with new ideas and starting new things. I think we are pretty shite at admitting someone else has come up with something great and joining in or simply sharing. It isn’t an original thought. You may argue it isn’t even an accurate thought. There are exceptions. However, after attending many forums, sessions run by visiting international artists, sessions run by funding bodies or festival organisers, I’d have to say it could be a reason why many of these events are woefully underattended. Or is it? Continue reading Theatre Will Eat Itself (Guest Contributor: Paul Osuch)
