The Journey begins

​Writing is a leap of faith. You start out with a vague idea in your head and just hope that one day that idea will grow into a sustained piece of drama that can work in front of an audience. Today I have finalised the cast for Frank Forbes and the Yahoo Boy and we're ready to begin rehearsals. Last year it was a staged reading. This year it is a full scale production. I'm nervous as hell, but excited at the same time. It's going to be an amazing journey. 

Producing original work in adelaide

Yahoo Boy is part of our crazy experiment to see if you can put on an original play in Adelaide and find a good, solid audience. And then do it again. And again. And again, until the general public gets used to the idea that going to see local content in the theatre is actually a worthwhile experience. Equivalent, say, to watching Netflix or perhaps watching near fatal accidents on YouTube.

The thing is, we feel there's a million stories out there in the state of SA. There are unique communities and individuals who have no voice or representation on stage, or indeed, on screen. By creating the South Australian Playwrights theatre we hope to model a practice that might in some way help others to have a voice. Original stories are incredible and should be cherished. They shouldn't be obliterated in favour of more monied entertainment industries from the US. 

sustaining the practice

OK, so it's not all about money, but bums on seats should translate to at least some revenue that offsets the expense of putting on the show. A solid also indicates your idea has some resonance with the community and you're not a crazy person who should be put away. So how do we get these bums on seats? At this stage the South Australian Playwrights Theatre has no government or corporate funding. We're just a notion, really, and a bunch of people with a strong desire to see original stuff made. We hope one day to grow bigger and stronger. In this blog I'll be sharing not only the creative practice of writing, rehearsing and producing a play, but also some tips (and failures!) about publicity, marketing and budgeting. Who knows, if you are also a writer or an artist, maybe we can grow bigger and stronger together! Stay tuned.