Belvoir Announces Inaugural 25A Downstairs Independent Season

Belvoir has announced that the Downstairs Theatre is re-opening to independent artists for the first time in seven years. The inaugural 25A season will take over the Downstairs Theatre from April to December with a lineup of independent shows from the brightest new talent in Sydney.

In a bold new initiative aimed at providing support to emerging artists, the Downstairs Theatre will be provided to artists for free, along with rehearsal space and marketing support for the show.

Belvoir's Artistic Director Eamon Flack said of the new program, "This brilliant little theatre has been home to the early work of an extraordinary number of extraordinary artists - Kate Mulvaney, Toby Schmitz, Simon Stone, Anne-Louise Sarks, Imara Savage, Lee Lewis, Yael Stone, Geordie Brookman, Sam Strong, Brendan Cowell, Wayne Blaire... I could go on. The question now is, who will be the next bunch of great artists? Where will they come from? How will they stretch their wings? That's what 25A is about".

"I made my own first shows down there and I wanted other young artists to have the same chance I had. When I arrived in Sydney in 2004 you knew that you joined your profession by making work at Downstairs Belvoir and the Fitz. Well now Downstairs Belvoir is back".

"This a new 'flat-pack' model of making independent theatre. "We've set up a situation where the costs to artists are close to zero. But it's something of a challenge too, because you've got to make your show for less that $1500 - that's the rule. The focus is on the work and the work alone".

Flack says the idea came from his own early directing experience. "When I wanted to learn to direct I put on a show in an empty rehearsal room with 15 actors for six nights. We spent $500, mostly on blue tarps and vegetarian sausages. We didn't have to worry about budgets and producing. All we had to worry about was the work. It was probably the most artistic freedom I've ever had".

Highlights of the season will include Greater Sunrise, by Zoe Hogan, and directed by 2017 ATYP Scholarship recipient, Julia Patey, The Readers, the directorial debut of actress and Belvoir alumni Elizabeth Nabben (The Rover and Picnic at Hanging Rock), and Yarramandoon The Musical, from the Logie-nominated creators and stars of ABC's Growing Old Gracefully, and The Maids, directed by Belvoir's 2018 Andrew Cameron Fellow, Carissa Licciardello.

2018 25A SEASON:

5 to 21 April - Greater Sunrise

5 to 19 May - The Readers

13 to 30 June - They Divided the Sky

25 July to 11 August - Yarramadoon The Musical

24 August to 15 September - The Maids

14 November to 1 December - The Overcoat

7 to 22 December - The Club

Tickets to all 25A shows are all priced at $25, and the full season can be viewed at: https://belvoir.com.au/25a/

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