- Eleven regional performing arts organisations to receive grants of up to $150,000
- Funding program enables circuses, theatre shows, ballet and Aboriginal storytelling to reach audiences in regional Western Australia
- Possible thanks to the State Government's Regional Performing Arts funding
Eleven regional performing arts organisations will receive more than $1.3 million between them to support touring and reaching audiences in Western Australia's regions. The recipients include circuses, theatre shows, music, puppetry, and Aboriginal storytelling.
The State Government support is via Regional Performing Arts funding, including the categories Playing WA and Made in WA, and comes from the Regional Arts and Culture Investment Program (RACIP).
An independent panel of peers from Western Australia's regional arts touring and performing arts industries assessed dozens of applications against stringent guidelines before selecting the recommended recipients. The recommendations were approved by the Culture and the Arts Minister.
Grants totalling $1,330,435, for 2024, go to:
- $72,258 to Whiskey & Boots for Mama Stitch to tour to Moora and Harvey;
- $86,975 to Tura New Music for Mungangga Garlagula to tour Albany, Denmark, Margaret River, Busselton and Bunbury;
- $150,000 to Bunbury Regional Theatre Inc to produce and present This is where...
- $143,682 to YUCK Circus for their 2025 tour to Mullewa, Walkaway, Geraldton, Narrogin, Albany, Borden, Varley, Hopetoun and Kalgoorlie;
- $107,359 for Zap Circus to tour to Broomehill, Carnarvon, Dalwallinu, Three Springs, Albany, Cranbrook, Kalgoorlie, Brookton, Mukinbudin, Busselton and Esperance;
- $149,800 to CircuitWest Inc to tour their show From Be-bop to Hip Hop with the WA Youth Jazz Orchestra and Zero Emcee in Harvey, Margaret River, Esperance, Ravensthorpe, Karratha and Mandurah;
- $149,914 for Australian Baroque to deliver A Double Bill: Space Music and Bach and Beer over five weeks in Wokalup, Denmark, Albany, Kalgoorlie, Merredin, Geraldton, Exmouth, Karratha, Port Hedland and Esperance;
- $130,598 to Indigenous Arts Foundation for aYarning Singing Tour 2024 in Margaret River, Mandurah, Northam and Karratha;
- $147,924 for CircuitWest to deliver An AWESOME Little Ballet Tour: The Lost Little Llama and Little Red Riding Hood double bill in Esperance, Kalgoorlie, Busselton, Port Hedland, Karratha, Beverley, Hopetoun, Narrogin, Harvey, Albany and Moora;
- $42,119 Spare Parts Puppet Theatre's The One Who Planted Trees in Geraldton and opening night of the Red Earth Arts Festival in Karratha; and
- $149,806 Yirra Yaakin love story Songbird to tour in Roebourne, Karratha, Exmouth, Carnarvon, Harvey, Merredin, Albany and Bunbury.
As stated by Culture and the Arts Minister David Templeman:
"Our Government is proud to invest in performing arts work, made right here in WA, and this funding ensures it reaches regional audiences who otherwise might not get to see these wonderful Western Australian shows.
"A range of diverse and unique stories are being told through the successful applicants and I know receiving arts and entertainment centres and communities will delight in the performances.
"Supporting regional preforming arts helps with social cohesion across the State and has flow-on economic benefits for our regional towns that host the productions."
As stated by Regional Development Minister Don Punch:
"It is fantastic to see regional audiences benefit from the Regional Performing Arts program.
"This latest round really has something for everyone, with circus performances, puppetry and Aboriginal storytelling all represented.
Background
- Whiskey & Boots will tour their performance work Mama Stitch to the Moora Performing Arts Centre and Harvey Recreation and Cultural Centre. They will collect interviews from local people reflecting on their mothers and retell these accounts with original, bespoke, live music.
- Tura will remount and tour the remarkable new work Mungangga Garlagula by Mark Atkins and Erkki Veltheim. This theatrical story and sound-based work is a deeply human journey of disorientation, reorientation and homecoming which speaks to the heart of Mark Atkin's experience as a Yamatji man growing up in Albany, WA. The tour will feature performance and community engagement programs in Albany, Denmark, Margaret River, Busselton and Bunbury.
- Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre will co-produce and present a multistage development and premiere of 'This is where...', a new South West-made multidisciplinary theatre production by Bunbury creative Siobhan Maiden. The production is a site-specific promenade, exploring moments in time, personal stories and places of the Bunbury CBD, as well as sharing ideas of belonging and home.
- YUCK Circus will tour two company shows, DEADSET and self-titled work YUCK Circus, to nine regional communities including Mullewa, Walkaway, Geraldton, Narrogin, Albany, Borden, Varley, Hopetoun and Kalgoorlie. The two works are performed by the same cast, and toured with the same equipment, hence provide sustainable and marketable options for regional communities. The tour will also include circus skills workshops aimed at all ages, all genders, and all physical capabilities.
- Zap Circus will tour a circus and physical theatre piece designed for families and older couples. The tour will reach 11 towns including Broomehill, Carnarvon, Dalwallinu, Three Springs, Albany, Cranbrook, Kalgoorlie, Brookton, Mukinbudin, Busselton and Esperance and include performances, Q&A sessions and skills workshops that provide alternative learning environments for young people.
- CircuitWest will coordinate a regional WA tour of From Be-bop to Hip Hop with WA Youth Jazz Orchestra and Noongar hip-hop MC, Zero Emcee. This exciting and engaging repertoire takes audiences on a journey on how melody, improvisation, and self-expression cross music genres. The production will tour an 18-piece orchestra with community workshops in six regional communities including Harvey, Margaret River, Esperance, Ravensthorpe, Karratha and Mandurah.
- The touring show, Yarning Singing, is a concert hosted by Ernie Dingo, featuring Phil Walleystack, Warankga Band, Miss Genius and Sam B. The concerts and community workshops will tour to Margaret River, Mandurah, Northam and Karratha and will be supported in each town by local support acts and a traditional dance group.
- Australian Baroque will deliver a five-week regional tour of their multimedia production Space Music as well as the classical music and craft beer fusion experience Bach and Beer to Wokalup, Denmark, Albany, Kalgoorlie, Merredin, Geraldton, Exmouth, Karratha, Port Hedland and Esperance. The tour will include incursions into aged care facilities, as well as music and science incursions in schools, performance masterclasses, and presentations catered for mums with young children.
- CircuitWest will deliver a five-week regional tour to 11 regional communities of the children's ballet productions The Lost Little Llama and Little Red Riding Hood as a double bill. The shows are a collaboration between AWESOME Arts and the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. It will also include engagement opportunities for young people and skills workshops offered in each community, which includes Esperance, Kalgoorlie, Busselton, Port Hedland, Karratha, Beverley, Hopetoun, Narrogin, Harvey, Albany and Moora.
- The One Who Planted Trees is an original puppet musical with a message of community and sustainability. The show has great resonance and respect for regional communities and their care for land. Spare Parts Puppet Theatre will remount the work in Geraldton which includes sector building, professional development, and workshops for the regional centre, then move to Karratha to showcase at the opening night of the Red Earth Arts Festival.
- Yirra Yaakin will tour Songbird by Shakara Walley to seven regional communities including Roebourne, Karratha, Exmouth, Carnarvon, Harvey, Merredin, Albany and Bunbury. Songbird is a deeply layered love story about a young couple who experience love, loss and reconnection in a remote town.
