04 Mar 2014
Never try to produce a theatrical tour on top of attending APAM. You will miss most of the market and lose your sanity dealing with schedules, media, actors and production issues while everyone else is at workshops, showcases and receptions.
On the other hand, presenting a season in the World Theatre Festival at Brisbane Powerhouse during APAM was a great opportunity to get the work in front of programmers, presenters and producers from around Australasia and the world.
By a stroke of miraculous timing, we launched Black Faggot – a comedy by Samoan/Kiwi playwright Victor Rodger – in Brisbane over 19-23 February, coinciding with APAM, followed by seasons in Wellington and Auckland the following weeks. So instead of performing a showcase, we were able to present the full work in front of diverse and enthusiastic audiences.
One of our main goals at APAM was to find out more about Pacific, Māori and Kiwi audiences in Australia – and we were thrilled to meet so many of them at our show. They were enthusiastic, appreciative and hungry for more Polynesian content. We have been invited back to Brisbane Powerhouse after a sold-out season and look forward to sharing more “brown” New Zealand work with our Aussie cousins.
We also got great feedback from the APAM professionals who came to see the show – some more than once!
Thanks Creative New Zealand for supporting Black Faggot and sending us to APAM. It was crazy but wonderful.
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