Fringe theatre gets a boost at last
Rough Cuts
Belvoir St Downstairs, Sydney
Until August 13
REVIEW BY BRENDAN DOYLE
Theatre in Sydney is still losing ground to the multiplex cinemas, television and the home computer. The subsidised, subscriber-based theatre companies keep putting prices up, making their productions an increasingly elite entertainment. They play it safe. They can't afford to stage new writers, they claim, because they are too much of a "risk".
This is where the "fringe" comes in, or it should. Non-mainstream theatre practitioners justifiably complain about the lack of support for alternative theatre by the media and funding authorities, lack of cheaper venues and the general dismal situation for new groups trying to break into theatre production.
With its Rough Cuts program, Belvoir Street Theatre is doing something worthwhile for these groups. The three-week initiative that began on July 26 is based at Belvoir's Downstairs Theatre. Coordinator Lyn Wallis says Rough Cuts is a development program that aims to support, showcase and provide networking opportunities to the independent theatre community.
And it's free! Interested people just have to register at any session.
The response from independent theatre makers has been impressive. In the first week, I attended a forum on small company survival. Representatives from Tamarama Rock Surfers, Hair of the Dog, Self-Raising Theatre, Siren, Ricochet and Darlinghurst Theatre talked about their successes and failures, especially in chasing funds. One success was convincing a local leagues club to support a company. Clubs have to spend some of their pokie takings on community projects.
On the same evening, five theatre groups presented works in progress. Platform 27's performance was a lively account of the plight of refugees. Two actors, each clutching a case, go through the stages of leaving home, the voyage, arriving in Australia and subsequent treatment in soulless detention centres where they must submit to an inhuman regime.
Another outstanding performance was a beautiful and physically impressive movement piece by Paul Cordeiro and Ben Palumbo, which hopefully will become the basis of a show.
On July 30, reviewers spoke about how they approach reviewing non-mainstream performance. Stephen Dunne, the Sydney Morning Herald's fringe reviewer, said that although he makes allowances for youth and inexperience, a low budget is no excuse for no concept. He also made the point that a lot of what he sees is terminally untheatrical and derivative of TV and cinema.
In week two, Flyby Productions presented two works in progress which both contained the seeds of very entertaining pieces. Hoopla, written by Madeleine Jaine, used circus acts as a metaphor for relationship problems. Knife-throwing, tight-rope walking and lion-taming became theatrical images for what can happen when the initial spark of romance dies.
The third week's program includes: performances of Flyby Productions's Hoopla and Mud on August 9, 8.30pm; a reading of Adam Grossetti's The Teeth in the Wind on August 10, 8.30pm; and the wrap-up session on August 13, 5.30pm. For a complete program, phone Lyn Wallis at Belvoir St Downstairs on 9698 3344.