Category: Commentary

September has been a terrific month for theatre in Queensland.  The biggest story was the Brisbane Festival with a wide array of local, national and international acts in town.  Then there was the Under the Radar Festival of fringe theatre – both put a spring in the step of Queensland in the south-east.  Closer to home, we launched Greenroom here on 1 September, and since then we’ve been thrilled at the welcoming response.  It proves to us the interest in and the need for a niche spot to focus on the work being done by professional and independent companies in Queensland.  We pull in reviews, interviews and commentary in the one spot.  Suddenly though … it’s October.

Wikipedia says October is actually the eighth month of the year in the old Roman calendar.  It’s also breast-cancer awareness month – who could miss Brisbane’s Story Bridge lit up pretty in pink?  Thanks to @BrisbaneGirl who was en route to the theatre when she snapped this image from a CityCat on the Brisbane River – great way to get there, and no parking worries!

October is also young adolescents’ month; popcorn popping month (really); orange month in Sweden (look it up yourself), Black Cat month (Halloween I suppose),  and Women’s Small Business Workplace Politics Awareness Month (you didn’t know about that now, did you?).

In the Australian theatre world,  October sits in the middle of a 3-month launch season for the coming year.  From late September through early November you can log on to websites and see what will be coming to theatres near you in 2010.  Smart brochures begin plopping into mailboxes around the place, and casual subscription sales staff swell the ranks of the employed around the country.

Apart from launches, October is still a pretty busy time on the theatre calendar.  Queensland Theatre Company celebrated the start of its 40th anniversary year on 1st October, the date of its first production of The Royal Hunt of the Sun with a reception hosted by the Governor of Queensland.  Both the Under the Radar Festival and the Brisbane Festival finish on October 3, while former Artistic Director of Queensland Theatre Company Robyn Nevin continues her fine, fine performance in Cate Blanchett‘s production of The Year of Magical Thinking for the Company at QPAC until 17th.  Don’t miss this one.

There are more season openings throughout the month: The Crucible (Queensland Theatre Company); Lazarus Won’t Get Out of Bed (AS Theatre); Cats (Empire Theatres); Les Liaisons Dangereuses (THAT Production Company); As You Like It (QSE) … to name a few.  Check the season dates and times by mousing over the calendar on Greenroom.  You can also subscribe to add what’s on and coming up to your desktop calendar or phone.

Applications for La Boite Theatre‘s innovative Indie 010 project will open on Monday October 5, the same day that Queensland Theatre Company launches its 2010 season.  La Boite will launch its season early in November, and there are lots of people keen to hear what AD David Berthold has in store for the new-look La Boite.

Epilogue:
Don’t forget, if your group wants to send in details of an upcoming production, an audition, or a launch, please contact us and we’ll do our best to assist.  And if you would like coverage of a production or would like to talk to us about your company, we’d love to hear from you.  This site is about helping the professional and independent theatre community, and enhancing the work being done throughout the state.  The image on this page is a screen-grab of our ‘poster wall’ on Greenroom right now.  It features companies and organisations with links to their home pages.  If you’d like to be added, send us your group’s logo and we’ll add it to the wall.

Do you have a Twitter account?  You should!  If you do, don’t forget to following us @greenroomQ for wider coverage of your work.  Remember Twitter gets the word out beyond the closed walls of Facebook – great as FB is!