What’s Happening This November

Ah November. That strange month where you can start to make out the festive season shimmering enticingly in the distance. Then you look down at the road ahead and realise there’s just a whole lotta stuff between here and there so get your head down and get busy!

Of course the big news for ATYP is that the 2018 Season has been launched. If you haven’t seen it yet check out the website here. As always there’s a lot to get excited about in the year ahead. If I had to highlight just one aspect of the program it would be the amount of new work developed by ATYP that is landing on the national stage. All six of our main stage shows next year are original works. From the international success of Patrice Balbina’s Chance Encounter with the End of the World, the national tour of A Town Named Warboy through to a regional story coming to Sydney with The Climbing Tree, we are continuing to build a canon of plays exploring the world through young people’s eyes. And we’re working with some exceptional companies in 2018, have a look at the program to see what’s coming.

But before we get carried away with next year we have one more main stage production to open … next week! This one has a particular significance because it will be our last ever show in Studio 1. As I type this introduction I’m being serenaded by the excitement and superhero energy of the cast preparing for their tech run. Yes, it’s the show that’s faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, stickier than chewing gum on the kitchen floor. Its Wonder Fly by Nick Atkins! This is the perfect show for young audience aged 8 and up. Get in fast to secure your ticket, this little two week season will sell out.

This weekend we begin the first of our Fresh Ink readings starting in Darwin at Browns Mart. From there it’s off to Melbourne, then back to Sydney and finishing up with the four talented writers working with Barking Gecko in Western Australia. Then on November 23 the two exceptional artist from the Rebel Wilson and Rose Byrne Scholarships, Thomas DeAngelis and Julia Patey will showcase what they have developed over the past twelve months. If you know a talented young artist aged between 18 and 26 that should apply for a scholarship in 2018 let them know that applications are now open.

Of course there’s lots more – workshops, script developments, the planning of Christmas parties – but you can find those details on the website. But as we prepare to open Wonder Fly let’s end this month’s introduction with an inspirational quote … from Batman:

“You only have your thoughts and dreams ahead of you. You are someone. You mean something.”

Until next month
Fraser