Anywhere Festival is an annual Brisbane based festival for performance anywhere but traditional theatre spaces. The first anywhere-but-in-a-traditional-theatre concept was brought to Brisbane in 2011 by creative director Paul Osuch and his partner, Ally McTavish. Their theory is that we need to take traditional story-telling out of theatre buildings and back to where life really takes place, in the community.[1]
The festival – which holds performances anywhere but in a traditional theatre – began in 2011 with 4000 attendees and 31 productions.[2] Since it began, the Anywhere Festival (they dropped the "Theatre" in 2015) has grown in size and popularity as it inhabited the nooks and crannies of this city of ours [3]
The idea behind Anywhere is that the art of theatre should not be constrained by, well, a theatre nor by a time frame of two plus hours with interval, or even a genre.[4]
The idea behind Anywhere Festival is that you don't - you shouldn't - have to go to a traditional theatre space to see theatre. You shouldn't have to pay a lot of money for tickets, and artists shouldn't be limited by space or cost or time. For 10 days this month, you can see exciting theatre in parks, backyards, bedrooms, lifts, trains and even on Twitter, not just in Brisbane but as far away as Toowoomba to the west, and Yandina to the north.[5]
"The festival is about theatre anywhere but in a theatre," explains Paul Osuch, the mastermind behind the festival. He started Anywhere with his wife, Alex McTavish. "I could see people wanted exciting theatre that didn't have to happen in a theatre," he says. "What kicked it over the line was when English actor Ian McKellen couldn't find a theatre space in Brisbane to bring his acclaimed Waiting for Godot. I figured that if he had trouble getting into a Brisbane theatre there were probably a lot of less-well-known theatre producers with the same problem." [5]
It wasn't just a lack of available theatre venues that prompted him to act. Osuch says he found many traditional theatre spaces were restrictive, both for audiences and artists, and smothered in an air of "elitism" that was turning people away.[5]
"I find that most performances in a theatre space are just a little sterile. And parking's difficult, the drinks are generally overpriced and, as someone over the height of six foot, I'm not a big fan of theatre seating where I have to watch a show through the gap in my knees," he says. "I feel that the traditional theatre spaces stop more people going to experience it than it regularly attracts. It's been turned into this big thing with a huge infrastructure around it instead of it being something that people feel they can pop along to in their own neighbourhood or do themselves." [5]
"Ultimately, the Anywhere Festival is about entertainment and theatre but it is also about encouraging businesses to engage with their community in a new way", says co-founder and creative producer, Alex McTavish."[6] "It may seem like it is a simple arts festival but community and communion is what it's all about," she says.
The festival began in 2011 as the Anywhere Theatre Festival, Brisbane but became known as the Anywhere Festival in 2014 to expand its remit beyond traditional "theatre". It was created and directed by Paul Osuch and Ally McTavish.[1]
The 2011 Anywhere Theatre Festival included cabaret, circus, comedy, drama, site specific theatre and kids theatre features productions by Riot Stage, underground Productions, Black Fox Theatre, Divalution, Cracked Pavement, Rag Tag Productions, Somerset Mills Productions, Flipside Circus, Roundabout theatre, Queensland Arts Council, Gumball Theatre, Edge Improv, Spangles Aura Productions, Booster cushion, The Deconverters, Fractal Theatre, Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble, Two Hours Traffic, Circa Zoolings, Cradle Productions, Michael Weston Organisation, Soapbox Theatre, Circa Zoo, allison Manson and Imploding Fictions.[11][12]
2012
The 2012 Anywhere Theatre Festival ran from 10 to 19 May 2012 and included the following organisations and theatre practitioners: Arts Queensland, Queensland Theatre Company, Brighton Fringe, Markwell Presents Cinematic Theatre Co, Underground Productions, The Alleyway Collective, Cradle Productions, ELaRT Productions, Hannah Taylor, Tease, Black Fox Theatre, La Petite Famille, 2Muse Productions, Egg Festivals Inc., Musica Viva, Arts Support, Sarah Reinking, La Boite, Stage On Screen, Metro Arts, Woodfordian Institute of Street Performances (WISP), SeeD Theatre, Fixate Productions, HolePunch, Synestheatre, Tessa Waters, Mager & Smythe, Lucy Ingham & Alexander Baden Bryce, Australian Actors Network, Jennifer Bismire, 8 Wing Theatre Co., Two Hours Traffic, heartBeast- vicious theatre ensemble, Flipside Circus, Queensland Wind Orchestra, Oxford Girl Theatre Project, Hidden Room, Edrich, Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble, Belles of Hell, Marcus Lilley Artist, Small Crown Productions, Sandra Carluccio, UQ Drama, Medley Theatre Company, Babushka, Circa.
2013
The 2013 Anywhere Theatre Festival changed from a ten-day to twelve-day festival, running from 8 to 19 May.
2014
The 2014 Anywhere Festival ran from 7 to 18 May and included 420 performances of 67 different productions over 27 suburbs of Brisbane. It featured cabaret, circus, comedy, drama, site specific theatre and kids theatre. Festival director Paul Osuch said this year's event, running May 7 to 18, would see pubs, hotels, shops, cafes, parks, churches, homes and even a garage serve as a venue for a range of theatre, dance, music, circus and comedy acts.[13]
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area: Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The university in its current form was founded in 1989, when the then Queensland Institute of Technology (QIT) was granted university status by the Queensland University of Technology Act 1988, and by the subsequent merger of Brisbane College of Advanced Education with QUT in 1990.
The Queensland Performing Arts Centre is part of the Queensland Cultural Centre and is located on the corner of Melbourne Street and Grey Street in Brisbane's South Bank precinct.
The culture of Brisbane derives from mainstream Australian culture and incorporates a strong history in the performing arts, music and sport.
David Berthold is one of Australia's most prominent theatre directors and cultural leaders. He has directed for most of Australia's major theatre companies, as well as internationally, and has led several key arts organisations. He was most recently Artistic Director of Brisbane Festival, one of Australia's major international arts festivals and Queensland’s largest arts and cultural event. Through his tenure of five festivals, 2015-19, Berthold transformed the Festival into Australia's largest major international arts festival, presenting more works to more people than any other, with an audience of more than one million people.
The Kransky Sisters are an Australian musical comedy trio created, written and performed by Annie Lee (Mourne) and Christine Johnston (Eve) initially with Michele Watt and later with Carolyn Johns. They regularly appeared on In Siberia Tonight on SBS Television, The Sideshow with Paul McDermott on ABC Television and had guest appearances on Spicks and Specks and Adam Hills Tonight.
Melbourne International Arts Festival is a major international arts festival and a celebration of dance, theatre, music, circus, visual arts, multimedia, outdoor and free events held each October in a number of venues across Melbourne, Australia. The 2016—19 Artistic Director is Jonathan Holloway.
Theatre of Australia refers to the history of the performing arts in Australia, or produced by Australians. There are theatrical and dramatic aspects to a number of Indigenous Australian ceremonies such as the corroboree. During its colonial period, Australian theatrical arts were generally linked to the broader traditions of English literature and to British and Irish theatre. Australian literature and theatrical artists have over the last two centuries introduced the culture of Australia and the character of a new continent to the world stage.
Dancenorth is a contemporary dance company based in Townsville, North Queensland, Australia. Founded as the North Queensland Ballet Company in 1969, Dancenorth performs for regional, national and international audiences. It is one of Australia’s leading contemporary dance companies having presented work in over 35 International Arts Festivals and venues around Australia and the world..
The Matilda Awards are awards which recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, theatre, and performance in southeast Queensland.
Vulcana Women's Circus is an Australian circus, created with the aim of training women and girls in the circus arts. The company was founded in 1995 at West End in Brisbane, by Antonella Casella in Brisbane, Australia, the company was named after the famous British strongwoman Vulcana.
The Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts is a performing arts center in Fortitude Valley in Brisbane, Queensland. The venue was renovated and re-opened as an arts centre in October 2001. The Centre is named after Judith Wright, who was a celebrated Queensland poet and an advocate for Indigenous rights and an environmental activist. Wright was one of two Australian poets considered for the Nobel Prize for Literature. She died June 25, 2000 in Canberra.
Dead Letter Circus is an Australian alternative rock band from Brisbane, Queensland. Their 2010 debut album This Is the Warning debuted at No. 2 on the Australian album charts and spawned a number of singles that were played heavily on radio, and was later certified Gold and voted by listeners into Triple J's Hottest 100 Albums of All Time, at number 86. The band's third studio album, Aesthesis, was released on August 14, 2015.
La Boite Theatre Company is a major Australian theatre company based in Brisbane, Queensland. La Boite was established in 1925 and now is the second largest theatre company in Queensland. It is known for its bold, contemporary approach towards theatrical texts, and its development of new Australian work. Its declared mission is to "produce and present exhilarating theatre that is alive to the present, extends and inspires artists, and invigorates the hearts and minds of audiences".
Libby Munro is an Australian actress.
La Boite Theatre Building is a heritage-listed former theatre at 69 Hale Street, Petrie Terrace, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Blair Wilson and built in 1972. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 30 January 2004.
John Sheedy is an Australian theatre director, born in Geelong in 1972. He was educated at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). Based in Melbourne, he is a director of drama and musicals for the stage as well as opera. He has been described as "a director of bold vision both filmic and theatrical”.
Ladies in Black is an Australian musical with music and lyrics by Tim Finn and book by Carolyn Burns, based on the 1993 novel The Women in Black by Madeleine St John.
Alexandra McTavish is an Australian actress, writer and producer best known for Neighbours (2014), House Husbands (2012), Mako Mermaids (2013), and her self-penned comedy, Sport (2015). Born in Hong Kong to Australian parents, she is also co-founder and producer of the Anywhere Festival.
Circa Contemporary Circus is an Australian contemporary circus company. Based in Brisbane, Australia, Circa produces circus productions drawing on acrobatics, movement, dance, music and theatre that tour in Australia and internationally. The company was established in 1987 and was initially named Rock n Roll Circus, before shifting its name to Circa Contemporary Circus in 2004 under the direction of Artistic Director Yaron Lifschitz.
Nakkiah Lui is an Australian actor, writer and comedian and is a young leader in the Australian Aboriginal community.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
