[Updated] On Monday, it was announced that Lyn Wallis will be leaving her position as Director of the B Sharp program at Company B. She is to take the role of Artistic Director at the new performing arts venue at Casula Powerhouse.
An advertisement in ArtsHub for the vacancy reads;
"After 9 years at the helm, Lyn Wallis is stepping down as Director, and Company B seek an innovative, inspiring and driven new Director to lead the program into its tenth year and beyond."
This is big news for the theatre scene in Sydney. Lyn has been, for as long as I can remember, a rock solid pillar of our small community.
She has championed the smaller independent theatre scene through B Sharp and it is no exaggeration to say that her passion and involvement have changed the theatrical landscape in Sydney immeasurably.
Her central role in running the small stage of Belvoir Street Theatre, programming year-in and year-out and propping up the aspiring groups of directors, actors and playwrights has been nothing short of inspiring.
A director herself, her programming reflected a much needed home to harness the talent of new theatre directors. Most recently she created the Boiler Room programme, which sought to further develop the skills of Wayne Blair, Lee Lewis, Tanya Denny... but to name a few.
B Sharp under Lyn's stewardship has strengthened the theatre scene in Sydney and brought together teams of people who have gone out there to try and create wonderful theatrical experiences. She has also overseen the transition of a small and fidgety space into a more user friendly and adaptable stage.
She was always the most accommodating individual and even wrote an invaluable book which was a guide for burgeoning theatre companies in the staging, marketing and reality of creating theatre in contemporary society with its contemporary constraints.
I for one am sad to see her go but I can imagine that the role at Casula will be enormously challenging and worthwhile and I cannot wait to see what she does with the programming there. The shoes she leaves behind, however, are big ones and it will be extremely interesting to see who Company B puts in her place.
Image: myrtlemount/flickr
Saturday, 14 July 2007
Lyn Wallis to leave Belvoir Street
Posted by Nicholas Pickard at 6:59 pm
Labels: Independent Theatre, News, Theatre
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17 comments:
Why not Lee lewis? Then she can implement all her innovative ideas.
To be honest, I think we now need a person with a playwriting background to shift the focus in the independent scene.
There isn't nearly enough local plays being performed in Sydney, nor plays from a diverse range of countries. It could shake a few people out of their blind allegiance to US and UK imports.
I would love to see someone like Van Badham or Ben Ellis given the role... Chris Mead would be the most ideal choice but he just took the reigns of PlayWriting Australia.
Speaking with friends last night, it appears that most are stumped in thinking of an appropriate person.
Maybe it needs to be a Melbourne, Brisbane or Perth import? Now that would clean the slate for all the little clicky allegiances.
John Romeril gets my vote.
What about Kate Gaul?
What a great suggestion! Kate is a wonderful talent and the friendliest director you are ever likely to meet with a network to boot!
come on arts journalist - which horse are you backing a playwright or a director? Kate's great but she ain't a writer - make up your mind.
Not only was she "nine years at the helm", she created the B Sharp model. (There was a thing called New Erections -- no, really! -- that she was doing in Canberra prior to bringin' it to Belvoir.)
Interestingly enough, Lyn started out as an actor -- Q Theatre/Railway Street Theatre -- in the mid 80s, doing country tours. Then went to Jigsaw Theatre Company, in Canberra, which she ran for four years maybe.
That was about 90 hours a week.
I can't imagine how Casula lured her away.
I like the Ben Ellis suggestion -- a lot -- but do you really think that a playwright would be any more committed to doing plays than Lyn was? (Then again, you probably mean more new and more local scripts.)
Have you any idea how many Mamet/Shepard/usual suspects proposals she would knock back in a round?!! LOL!
She really is a very hard act to follow...
C'mon Chris No.1, I can put an each way bet can't I????
Other names that have come up tonight are;
Damien Millar
Louise Fischer
Lally Katz & Chris Kohn
Ben Harkin
Todd MacDonald
Interesting.
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban?
Naomi Watts and her husband?
Ok, now things are getting ridiculousmous!! But seriously - Nicholas you published an open letter to the Independent arts community a while back - I can't seem to access it from this site - but from memory you highlighted some issues which I think the next B Sharp Director should address. Perhaps when I've re-read the article (can you make it available?) I'll be more specific. In the meantime - for what it's worth - I think Kate Gaul is/would be terrific. However, I imagine that Neil Armfield and his groovy gang will surprise us with the appointment. Bring on the surprise. Hugo T.
Hi Hugo... if you go to the side panel and scroll down to 'Published Article', the bottom one entitled To Keep Vibrant New Theatre... and there it is!
I think Kate Gaul is precluded from a Sydney theatre-based arts appointment on the grounds that she is a) not a movie star and b) not married (at least to my knowledge).
Mary Anne Gifford, who used to run the Q, would be a terrific choice. I would have said Marion Potts but bell has snapped her up. Geoffrey I think you can rest at ease that B Sharp won't be attracting any movie stars, even your namesake and Belvoir saint, Mr Rush (who is married).
... but Jane's not a writer, she's an actress ... so they wouldn't get a look in anyway.
On a serious note, what an astonishing opportunity for not only the company, but independent theatre in Sydney generally. No doubt Armfield will exercise his usual aplomb with the filling of the position ... and possibly even lure Brendan Cowell and yes! Rose Byrne! There we go! Actress/Writer! Are they married?
Hugo here.
“I approach the job as a curator who cares for the art form. I have a tremendous belief in the human imagination and its value beyond producing a commodity …I continually think about the role of the festival and its audience, as well as the evolution and legacy of artists. It’s a matter of commitment and saying “this is the time to present an artist (and) to take a leadership role by moving things on…I don’t use the commercial producer’s hand but try to maintain the integrity of artists…it’s a dramaturgical approach that’s very much about advocacy and challenging audiences in the way great artists keep challenging themselves.” Kristy Edmunds (Director, Melbourne International Festival) quoted from SMH 18/7/07
Such inspiring words. My criticism of the curation of small venues and independent arts projects (in Sydney) centre on the seeming visionless leadership we have endured and will continue to endure if there isn’t a shift in modus operandi. Maybe the opportunity at B Sharp will be beginning. I was interested to re-read Nicholas’s article (which is indeed available on this site – thanks!) which describes his disappointment in what he saw as the conservative and predictable programming of venues that seem desperate to maintain their commercial viability. Read it again yourselves – it would be weird if I go on to quote the entire piece.
I was then reminded of another article by Gareth Boylan (from September 2004 – my filing system is good!) that, while its target was arts journalism, went on to describe what I think is the underlying corruption in the entire system of independent/curated venues - especially when attached to a main house:
“…almost all workers in the “independent” theatre sector are working on a voluntary basis, or in a “profit share” capacity, where it is common to be paid a couple of hundred dollars for a couple of month’s work. If you include award wages in the budget of these independent theatre shows, every show runs at a loss of many thousands of dollars each……. This is an ongoing misrepresentation in the media of the independent theatre sector, which is consistently described as “healthy” or “flourishing”.
So my point is this – how can the administrators, producers, directors, technicians, venue managers and so on who head these venues and organizations (B Sharp, Darlinghurst Theatre, BITE at the Seymour to name three) work in a system where the makers of their raison d’etre (ie, the ARTISTS) are by and large not getting paid? What contribution to the performing arts are they making by programming pot-boilers? By always programming based on the bottom line? For every time one of these folk are asked and they crinkle their brows and look incredulous at me and are offended at what I see as blatent exploitation there are 10 artists behind me who can say yes – their work was rejected because it “wouldn’t sell”, the participants “aren’t well known enough” or they show hasn’t garnered glowing reviews from an out of town paper.
Artists need opportunities to make work, for it to be seen and to engage in a conversation with an audience. But they also deserve to be paid for what they do. In a system or modus operandi as we currently have in Sydney there isn’t even a suggestion from the managers that they will advocate for increased funding to this sector, develop patronage through private sponsorship, or invent, brainstorm, lobby, insist that the economic climate to change. Frankly Nicholas you should be pleased at one level you were rejected by a system which supports imitation of the mainstream, exploitation of artists, cult of the new over ongoing support and maintenance of their own hip pockets.
I plea for change. Can change be part of the B Sharp job description? Can the programming be far less Anglo-centric (here here the blogger who suggested that places like B Sharp become leaders! and yes I loved the image of the independent theatre going down in another blog); far less “it was on at the Royal Court so it must be good”; can it support the maverics, the fringe dwellers, the writers, our poets; can it begin to address the questions “Why Theatre? Why Now?”
Hugo T.
I don't disagree with your argument, Hugo. (It would be one reason why a "true believer" like John Romeril would never take on the role. Equity or bust!!) But I have to take issue with your line about "programming based on the bottom line". At least with regard to B Sharp.
The guest company gets the entire box office. (90-odd percent of it. The rest is spent on advertising of the show.) Belvoir gets squat. So there's no incentive to programme pop-schlock.
Dear Chris
Companies curated for the B Sharp Season retain 75% of the box office. Company B retains 25%. it is the most generous of the deals.
The Darlinghurst Theatre retain 33%; the Stables about 30%. The Seymour Centre has a number of options to chose from and other theatres eg, the Newtown Theatre take a % on top of a weekly rental.
In most venues there is no cap to the % taken.
Hugo T
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