0
regional artists
0
new works
0
artists & arts workers employed
Our CELSIUS: Independent Theatre program has being running since 2019 and has provided opportunities and employment for local creative teams and artists for creation, development and presentation of work that champions local stories for our regional audiences.
Developments this year include Life is Short by Jenni Munday, Parenting Partners by Alyce Fisher, a new family work from Brendan Hogan and The Plan & Other Plans by Grace Rouvray & Bridie Connell.
This provides small bursts of investment, providing time for individual artists or small teams to do the work necessary to refine and articulate their ideas. This may include (but is not limited to) undertake research for a project, gathering of project material or interviews; writing/scoring the first draft of a play/devised work; testing a particular form or technique in a devising process; or consultation with a dramaturg, collaborator or mentor – for example.
This process supports artists to put well-formed ideas into a rigorous testing phase, working collaboratively to advance the project, through to a first public presentation. This may take the form of an in-progress play reading or presentation of material in performance to a small audience. The purpose of this development is to progress the work practically and begin to engage audiences through a sharing and feedback discussion.
Prototyping applications are by invitation only.
Artists or teams seeking to apply for Prototyping & Refinement stream must arrange an initial meeting with HHT Artistic Director to discuss the project in advance of the application closing date.
Prototyping is for works that have had considerable development and are close to being ready for production.
This development enables artists or small teams to identify the final elements that need to be resolved in order for the work to become production-ready. This may involve final script work, experimenting with form and/or introducing key vital collaborators required to take the work to completion (ie. Producer, Director, Dramaturg, Performers, Composer or Designers – set, costume, AV, puppetry, lighting, sound).
Prototype developments conclude with a public presentation of a rehearsed reading or sharing of the complete work, followed by a discussion with audiences and a project debrief with the HotHouse team.
Production applications are by invitation only.
Artists or teams seeking to apply for Independent Production must arrange an initial meeting with HHT Artistic Director to discuss the project in advance of the application closing date.
Independent Productions are co-presented with HotHouse Theatre and will receive:
CELSIUS is open to individuals or groups with an independent arts practice, primarily in the broad definition of theatre. Applicants must live and work in the Albury-Wodonga region or be an ex-pat with a family home base here, who returns frequently to be active in the local arts community.
We welcome submissions from Independent artists across disciplines and forms.
We specifically encourage submissions from:
Artistic teams may include artists from beyond the region, but the lead artist/s applying for the program must be local.
(Please note – Lead artist status does not extend to artists living in major neighbouring regional centres such as Wagga Wagga or Wangaratta).
We strongly recommend you take the opportunity to chat to our Artistic Director, Karla Conway prior to applying if you have any questions that are not covered in these guidelines.
The new program categories are designed to offer artists a flexible and iterative approach to the development of new works through to production. HotHouse is committed to supporting artists to determine the needs and next steps for the development of ideas through four unique processes.
Download the Guidelines
Writer/Producer Aimee Chan, Director/Dramaturg/ Producer Rachel McNamara, Musical Direction Connie O’Connell
Aimee and her team are developing a stage adaptation of children’s picture book The Happy Mask by Albury-based author Aimee Chan. This children’s book is a gentle story that examines what it is like to live in a world surrounded by people in masks from a child’s perspective.
They will experiment with music and movement playing off each other’s strengths to bring out the emotions and the layers in the story that were previously represented with printed words.
The long-term goal is to create a theatre show for families with children under 10 or primary school groups.
Writer Jenni Munday, Dramaturg Peter Matheson
Jenni is writing a playscript adaptation of Vitae Brevis by Jostein Gaarder – the novel is based on fictional letters of St Augustine’s concubine. The play shows a woman who has remembered a different relationship and through her reading of Augustine’s writing and her own recollections comes to terms with the ill-treatment and disregard of her former lover. Gradually through her reflections and through the vehicle of Seneca’s Medea, a work contemporary to the time, she grows in strength.
With support from Peter Matheson, Jenni will work toward a first draft of the play.
Acrobat & Producer Felicia Lannan, Producer Marina Gellmann, Acrobat Amy Stuart, Acrobat Marcela Scheuner, Acrobat Kelsey Shepherd
BOSS SQUAD is an award-winning contemporary circus show featuring high level circus skills from some of Australia’s fiercest female performers. The show calls out the cat-callers while embracing all things weird and acrobatically wonderful.
BOSS SQUAD 2.0 (Working Title) will have themes of empowerment throughout and there is strong feminist undertone, as it’s led by all-female artists. The concepts explored will be largely based on ‘the female experience’; drawing on our own personal experiences with topics such as cervical cancer, anxiety, female comedy, female friendships, sexuality and physicality/the female body.
Australian circus is always pushing the limits of what is possible in acrobatics. Women can often be left out of the conversation (and the action) when it comes to developments of new acts and skills, but BOSS SQUAD intends to ‘up the ante’ and assert ourselves as ones not to be overlooked.
The key outcome will be to finish and perform new acts in front of an audience for the first time, receiving constructive feedback for future refinement of the new show.
Created by Jo-Ann Lancaster, Simon Yates, Tim Barrass
From locally grown, internationally renowned artists, Acrobat – a Clown Punk Protest Band. Subversive and cathartic. The world is broken and we will have the delusion that we can make a difference. It will be funny and/or sad.
We are sick of all the bullshit. The world needs change. Without it we continue the march into an exploitation fuelled environmental (and the accompanying social) oblivion. We need to put our shoulder to the wheel and do our bit. It may already be too late.
Initial support from the Flying Fruit Fly Circus as part of the ‘Make Our Way Out’ program.
Created & performed by Alyce Fisher, Co-creator Seth Scheuner, Director & Dramaturge Rachel McNamara, Sound Artist Lucy Tan, Sound recording and technical support Adam Boon from Professional Audio Services.
She is not the vessel, He is not the donor. Parenting Partners is a deeply personal one human show, which tells the story of Alyce Fisher and Seth Scheuner’s experience creating a family outside of the heteronormative. The work explores the themes of fertility, conception, pregnancy, birth, family and is ultimately a love story. The show is grounded in storytelling, features comedic highs, gear shifting and confronting truths, audience participation, and aims to leave the audience having experienced all the emotions. Parenting Partners is envisaged as a 50-minute, one human show, which stretches performer Alyce Fisher’s varied skill set as she brings the audience into the fold of her warm embrace.
Writer & Performer Kerryn Beatty, Directorial support Karla Conway, Dramaturg Alyson Evans, Musical Director Helena Kernaghan
Her is about a girl, a woman, a mother who lives regionally. Her is asking the questions of why is it so? Her is asking how hard parenting is, how hard partnering is, how do we end up where we do. What are we scared of and why?
Kerryn was part of the 2019/20 Celsius program. With her current draft, Kerryn and her team will be exploring and investigating essential elements for the future production of the work, including form, musical composition, design and casting.
Tale of Two Harpies is a new physical theatre comedy co-created and performed by Nicci Wilks and Emilie Bloom and co-created and directed by Susie Dee, Assistant to the Director Meg Shiels, Slapstick Consultant Phill Witt with Lighting Design by Kofi Isaacs.
The tale of two displaced Clowns – Audiences will experience a nostalgic and timeless world that is inspired by old circus vintage aesthetics and found detritus – like someone poured black paint over a Doctor Seuss book. Using attention to the smallest of details that render even a walk on stage as a hilarious act, Tale of Two Harpies is a parade of sight gags and circus tropes that is underpinned by a foundation of an intelligent examination of the human condition in a displaced environment.
Performances 9 to 11 December at the Butter Factory Theatre, included as part of the Flying Fruit Fly Circus’ Borderville Festival
Kerryn Beatty – HER | Development II
Jai Butler & Evelyn Deery – FRESH FACED DRAG + THE IDENTITY PROJECT
Michelle Fracaro – BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
Alyce Fisher – PARENTING PARTNERS
Alyce Fisher – THE BLACK HOLE
Clancy Hauser – HUNTER KILLER
Mitch Hibbens, Bobby Whybrow & Aaron Perkins-Kemp-Berger – HAUS OF FORK
Brendan Hogan – THE UIVER | Development II
Rachel McNamara – LAND OF SNOW & ICE
Racheal Oak Butler & Kamarra Bell-Wykes – WARRIORS R OUSSS!
Grace Rouvray – GROWING DOWN
Nick Steain – BURN OUT
Lucy Tan – SYNC
Ben Tari – THE RIVER FLOWS | Development II
Rachel McNamara – RABBIT HOLE by David Lindsay-Abaire
Coralie Schell and Emily Weavers – EDLMAYR by the Reginas
Kerryn Beatty – HER
Tahni Froudist & Alyson Evans – NEIGHBOUR
Brendan Hogan – THE UIVER
Ben Tari – THE RIVER FLOWS
Leisa Whyte – THAT SUMMER
Writer/Producer Aimee Chan, Director/Dramaturg/ Producer Rachel McNamara, Musical Direction Connie O’Connell
Aimee and her team are developing a stage adaptation of children’s picture book The Happy Mask by Albury-based author Aimee Chan. This children’s book is a gentle story that examines what it is like to live in a world surrounded by people in masks from a child’s perspective.
They will experiment with music and movement playing off each other’s strengths to bring out the emotions and the layers in the story that were previously represented with printed words.
The long-term goal is to create a theatre show for families with children under 10 or primary school groups.
Writer Jenni Munday, Dramaturg Peter Matheson
Jenni is writing a playscript adaptation of Vitae Brevis by Jostein Gaarder – the novel is based on fictional letters of St Augustine’s concubine. The play shows a woman who has remembered a different relationship and through her reading of Augustine’s writing and her own recollections comes to terms with the ill-treatment and disregard of her former lover. Gradually through her reflections and through the vehicle of Seneca’s Medea, a work contemporary to the time, she grows in strength.
With support from Peter Matheson, Jenni will work toward a first draft of the play.
Box Office & Administration Hours
The Box Office at the Butter Factory Theatre is open 45 minutes prior to each show.
Administration open Monday to Friday 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Acknowledgment of Country
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional custodians of our land. We pay respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Elders past, present, and future.
Contact Us
Phone: 02 6021 7433
Postal Address: PO Box 479
Wodonga VIC 3689
