Merrigong Theatre Company Launches MERRIGONGX 2023 and a New Temporary Independent Artist Hub, 93 CROWN

Merrigong Theatre Company has announced another exciting year of their annual artists' program, MERRIGONGX, showcasing the outstanding breadth of local talent and their bold new works. In 2023, the program will feature a line-up of four exciting productions on stage, as well as 17 works in development ranging across dance, theatre, music and more.

In 2023 during the refurbishment of the IPAC, Wollongong City Council has provided Merrigong with temporary space at 93 Crown Street to house a dynamic artist space in the heart of the Wollongong CBD. With the availability of 93 Crown for the first half of the year, MERRIGONGX will enhance their support which launched five years ago and has become the largest artists' programs in Australia, offering artists both a stage platform for their new works, and a dedicated space as they refine their craft and develop new outstanding works of theatre that reflect the amazing stories and communities Wollongong knows and loves.

Providing independent artists with the support of financial, technical, marketing, and artistic resources usually out of reach for them, MERRIGONGX allows for more daring creative risks in artistic practice.

Artistic Director and CEO of Merrigong Theatre Company, Simon Hinton said, "Our MERRIGONGX program goes from strength to strength each year, supporting artists to take creative risks, and championing local stories and community. This year we welcome 22 artists, busy working on developing new projects, and showcase the culmination of many years' hard work, with the public presentation of 4 new independent theatre works.

The temporary artist hub at 93 Crown Street, generously provided by Wollongong City Council during the refurbishment of IPAC, will open the door for more community and artist activities, such as drop-in sessions, small showings of new work, and a creative space to work on projects."

Kicking off the year in March, MERRIGONGX will stage the first of four productions, ChaChi and the Sea of Tears, by circus artist Neisha Murphy, which combines clowning and storytelling to present the action-packed show about facing your fears and finding light in the darkness - even in the biggest downpours.

March will also see the contemporary dance performance Optimal Stopping, by Proper Motion and La Infinita Compañía, bringing together two very different groups of dancers from opposite sides of the world, to meet and get to know each other as performers on stage. Five of Mexico's finest dancers along with local dancers from Wollongong will navigate space, choreography and relationships in real time in front of audiences.

Following a prolific inaugural 2022 season, uNCOILEd eXposed is back in October featuring three new pieces by local and NSW based choreographers as part of an experimental dance residency, all performed by the strikingly talented AUSTI. Dance and Physical Theatre (AUSTI.) company dancers.

Finally, in November, the subversive all-female ensemble featuring Cheryle Moore, Stephanie Hart and Lenny Ann Low, Frumpus present Landed, a new work about three shifty women, wordless but with plenty to say, who take an unnerving and rib-tickling excursion into silliness and power play.

This year MERRIGONGX will also present the development showing of Alana Valentine's (Letters to Lindy) My Beautiful Man, a deeply moving new play, featuring songs, based on the 2014 Lindt Cafe Siege and the lives impacted by the tragic loss of manager Tori Johnson.

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