Landmark partnership announced - The Second Cities Producing Consortium pilots new pathway for new large-scale Australian theatre works.
Four major performing arts organisations from Australia's ‘second cities’ have joined forces to create a new way of developing and presenting large-scale Australian theatre productions.
The partnership has received strategic investment from Creative Australia through its Creative Futures Fund, which includes a grant to deliver the first two years of a proposed four-year pilot, with a $280,000 investment in year one.
Known as the Second Cities Producing Consortium, the collaboration brings together:
- Geelong Arts Centre (VIC), Australia's largest dedicated regional performing arts complex;
- Wollongong’s Merrigong Theatre Company (NSW), Australia's largest and most prolific regional theatre company;
- HOTA, Home of the Arts (QLD), the Gold Coast’s landmark cultural precinct;
- Canberra Theatre Centre (ACT), the performing arts centre of the national capital.
The pilot project will create a stronger pathway for new Australian theatre works by involving audiences from the very beginning and planning for productions to tour multiple regions from the outset. This will help artists and producers create ambitious new work that can reach more communities across Australia, rather than being focused primarily on capital cities.
The consortium will also enable the organisations to share resources, knowledge and investment, helping them address common challenges and build a more sustainable performing arts sector.
Regional centres such as Geelong, Wollongong, the Gold Coast and Canberra already play a vital role in Australia's arts landscape, but large-scale productions can be expensive and difficult to tour.
This new model aims to make it easier for high-quality Australian productions to be developed, produced and presented in regional communities.
With a combined catchment of 2.6 million people, the consortium hopes to grow audiences, create more opportunities for artists, and strengthen the role of Australia's second cities in shaping the nation's performing arts future.
More details about the consortium's first projects and initiatives will be announced over the coming year.