Five professional Theatre, Music and Visual Arts organisations, including The Song Company’s 2018 Season of Imagin’d Corners and Ensemble Theatre’s tour of Two by Jim Cartwright will share their productions across the state thanks to Regional Arts Touring funding of $161,104 from the NSW Government.
Create NSW Acting CEO Grainne Brunsdon said that the funds delivered through the NSW Government’s arts, screen and culture agency, Create NSW, are important in improving access to contemporary arts and cultural opportunities for communities in regional NSW.
“The cost of touring can often be prohibitive to organisations, both for venues and presenting companies, but sharing their productions across the state has a great benefit in strengthening regional connections to arts and culture and ensuring some of the state’s best work is seen by more people,” said Ms Brunsdon. “As a priority area for us, we are delighted to help cover these costs and improve our regional community engagement.”
Amongst the various productions, the five organisations awarded funding in Round two of the Regional Touring funds by Create NSW will also support the touring exhibition Charles Sturt University’s Elsewhere: Travels through Morocco, Egypt, Syria, Iran and Central Australia.
“With such strong diverse projects being generated in NSW, we want to extend these exciting productions past metropolitan areas so that the wider state can share these wonderful experiences. I am sure that each one will be very well received,” added Ms Brunsdon.
For more information on arts, screen and cultural funding, including targeted support opportunities, visit www.create.nsw.gov.au for details.
Image: Thomas Murray & the Upside Down River – courtesy of Critical Stages
Recipients of the NSW Regional Arts Touring Fund are:
Intimate Spectacle Pty Ltd (27, 704.00)
Ich Nibber Dibber is a hilarious and joyful contemporary theatre work that distils ten years of real recorded conversations into a warts and all epic of enduring friendship. Written and performed by POST,and lying somewhere between drama, comedy and political commentary, Ich Nibber Dibber looks at what it means to be a woman, an artist, and the way we make sense of the world in conversation with those nearest to us. Ich Nibber Dibber is a surprisingly candid piece that appeals to young and women audiences particularly, filling an important programming gap for 9 regional presenters (4 in NSW).
The Song Company Pty Ltd ($22, 455.00)
Imagin’d Corners is The Song Company’s 2018 national touring season of vocal chamber music. It comprises four touring programs totalling 39 performances, 14 of which are in Regional NSW (11 self-presented). The Song Company performs music of an international standard sharing this with diverse Australian communities, including regional NSW. Community engagement through performance and workshops has been achieved by building relationships with community groups such as local choirs, music societies and venues.
Critical Stages ($30, 921.00)
Critical Stages will tour Thomas Murray & the Upside Down River across regional Australia, including touring to Cessnock, Tamworth and Orange. This NSW tour forms part of a confirmed national 8-week tour commencing 1 March and supported by Playing Australia. The production is a contemporary stage play by award-winning playwright and screenwriter Reg Cribb (Last Cab to Darwin / Bran Nue Dae) and featuring Grant Cartwright, Francisca Savige, Bjorn Stewart, and Nicholas Papademetriou. The project will offer employment for 13 performers, creative artists and crew.
Ensemble Theatre ($38, 995)
This is the NSW regional component of the national tour of Ensemble Theatre’s production of Two by Jim Cartwright. The tour supports NSW presenters to build audiences for theatre with a high quality production that has a regional relevance. The NSW regional component has a significant audience reach, with 11 regional venues, 17 performances and a projected audience of over 5,000. Additional presenters on the NSW leg are one Western Sydney venue and one metropolitan venue. The national tour includes 13 interstate venues across Victoria, Queensland, WA and the NT.
Charles Sturt University ($15, 580.00)
The touring exhibition Elsewhere consists of recent artworks by the highly acclaimed Australian artists Wendy Sharpe and Bernard Ollis, in partnership between Charles Sturt University and five regional NSW galleries. Elsewhere is designed to challenge perceptions and improve the resilience of regional communities by sharing innovative perspectives on places misunderstood and rarely visited by Australians – North Africa, the Middle East, Iran and Central Asia. Elsewhere has been curated for communities with first-generation populations linked to these global regions, in order to create an inclusive platform for engagement in Wagga Wagga, Griffith, Dubbo, Port Macquarie and Tamworth, through 2018 and 2019.