Thinking small a risk for Perth performers

Are Western Australia’s theatre-makers doing themselves a disservice by focusing on small-scale, easily-tourable works?
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The Last Great Hunt’s Fag/Stag. Photo by Jamie Breen.

Perth’s thriving independent theatre-makers may be damaging their artistic development by placing too much emphasis on creating easily tourable small-scale productions, according to Susannah Day, producer at The Blue Room Theatre.

‘Five years ago, artists and independent companies were all looking to have their work remounted by a major or having their work picked up and taken to a bigger and better stage,’ she said. ‘Then in 2009, I think, when three of our Perth-created works got picked up for the New York Fringe, including Alvin Sputnik, that was a catalyst for artists to realise that actually maybe the dream of having a major actually pick up their work was no longer as valid.’

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Richard Watts is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts