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After 10 amazing years The Store Room venue has closed its door and the company has now officially left the Parkview Hotel.
On Saturday the 5th June 2010 The Store Room held its closing party. To all who assisted us in the final set up of that event and all those who attended our deepest thanks.
Ben Harkin came over from WA to attend and we especially thank him for that. Also to Wes Snelling, Mikelangelo, Rebecca McIntosh, Fiona Scott-Norman, Andrew McClelland and Brian Munich and Friends for entertainment – you all made the night very special.
Many thanks too to Anniene Stockton and her helpers and Penelope Bartlau for hosting an excellent auction of some Store Room memorabilia - all proceeds have assisted the company with costs associated with the exit of the venue.
We also thank all who sent in images of past work that became a part of the two slideshows that were on in the theatre and foyer areas.
It was a fitting end to a great era at the Parkview and we thank the Pub for their continued support to this point.
Post closing I would also like to thank the generous support of the Revolt Melbourne team who have taken possession of The Store Room seat and will be launching their venue in Kensington very soon.
Many thanks to all the volunteers and workers who assisted us in stripping the theatre and clearing the space. Special thanks to The Dog Theatre who has the better part of our lighting stock and were very helpful and the get out and to Anniene, Jessi, Marcus, Luke, Ben, Fiona and anyone else I forgot - it been a blur and I thank you for all your assistance!
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SPECIAL LAST MINUTE EVENT!
The Melbourne Times is doing a cover story about Melbourne Independent theatre and last minute want to do a photo shoot for the cover at The Store Room this Sunday 23rd at 2pm.
SO ... if your involved in the sector in any way shape or form get down to The Store Room carpark 1.45pm!
The more the merrier!!! A great opportunity to get a pic of as many of us as possible in the same place at the same time!
Post this up on your pages and sites if you can and message your members.
Please rsvp to artistic@thestoreroom.com.au to let me know your coming
(or just turn up!)!
See you there.
Todd
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MEDIA RELEASE!
After 10 years in one of Melbourne’s best loved and vibrant venues for the independent sector, Store Room Theatre bids a fond farewell to the upstairs of the Parkview Hotel, North Fitzroy, in June 2010. Having occupied the venue for a decade, the end of the company’s lease at the Parkview has provided the catalyst for an exciting new stage in the Store Room Theatre’s development.
In celebration of the company’s 10 year anniversary and to celebrate the end of one era and the beginning of another, Todd MacDonald and Ben Harkin (co-founders of the venue) will host one final event on Saturday the 5th June at the Parkview Hotel for industry and audiences. The evening will incorporate performances from some of the many artists who have climbed the back stairs over the years as well as an auction of memorabilia and key items from the space.
Since opening its doors in December 1999, The Store Room has been the host venue and launching pad for some of Melbourne’s most talented actors, directors, comedians, designers, technicians and Independent companies, and has played a major role in the sector’s continuing growth and vitality.
“Todd MacDonald and Ben Harkin established The Store Room at a time when Victoria’s independent artists had very few outlets for professional development and presentation. The Company’s unique structure which places the artist at the very heart of its mission remains a relevant and vital beacon for any company engaged in the difficult but rewarding process of developing new work. The Store Rooms ongoing commitment to the development of these artists has, without a doubt, contributed to the growth and vibrancy of the sector, placing the role of development high on the agenda across the industry whilst at the same time producing challenging works of a high caliber for the audiences of Victoria.”
Aidan Fennessy, Associate Director MTC.
Last year, The Store Room played host to 18 presentations and was a key venue for the Melbourne Fringe, while presenting its own entrepreneurial program. Life is a Dream received 5 nominations for The Green Room Awards and Attract/Repel won the Kultour Tour Development Award in Fringe. Store Room Theatre’s research, development, and presentation arm extended well beyond its former home with collaborations with Full Tilt at the Arts Centre, and Melbourne International Arts Festival, with a mainstage presentation of Anna Tregloan’s Dictionary of Imaginary Places developed by the company and presented with the Festival at Arts House Meat Market.
June 2010 will see the end of the company’s role as a hub venue, however Store Room Theatre, under the ongoing artistic Direction of co-founder Todd MacDonald, will continue to focus on long term development of new performance works as well as practice and industry discourse outcomes, expanding collaborations throughout 2010, across a number of venues in Melbourne and interstate.
2010 season includes:
• Store Room Seeding Program, sponsored by the City of Yarra, is in the process of initiating a number of new projects that the company will focus on in coming years. Artists include Roslyn Oades, Vincent Crowley, Ingrid Weisfelt, Deborah Leiser Moore and Rebecca McIntosh.
• A training and workshop project in the planning stages in collaboration with Tashmadada.
• A second Salon Series: Cultivate (a podcast discourse series) following on from the 2009/10 season.
• Presentation of the production Chesapeake by Lee Blessing starring Alan Brough.
• Interstate second stage development of a performance work by Kelly Ryall.
“I would like to thank Terry Williams, all the staff at the Parkview Hotel and Claude Gomes for his initial vision to invite us to set up shop. The ‘Pub’ has been one of our greatest collaborators during the past ten years and what we have achieved in that time would not have been possible without their continued support. Also thanks to our adventurous audiences who have continuously shown, with their feet, and their wallets, a dedication to innovative and challenging theatre and deepest thanks to all our past staff who have given so much love to the place! Finally to the many artists who have ‘trod the concrete’ over the years in our intimate, sometimes hot, sometimes freezing, but no less beloved space - we thank you. It is your dedication, creativity and bravery that has helped breathe life and energy into a simple storage room on top of a pub and made it home to a vibrant artistic community. We look forward to continuing our work with Melbourne’s diverse and inspiring community of artists, as we launch into this next phase of the company’s development.”
Todd MacDonald, Artistic Director, Store Room Theatre.
If anyone wishes to participate or volunteer on the 5th June please contact artistic@thestoreroom.com.au
Many thanks!
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2010 started with the our Store Room Seeding Program. Over the past month we hosted a number of 4 hour creative development blocks allocated to a selection of Associate Artists and new invited artists with the intention to create an environment for creative thought and discussions of ideas, as a collaborative process to develop a working relationship.
We hope follow up with these ideas in the coming weeks to consolidate and create a strategy for further development.
Recently we completed our fourth installation of The Store Room Salon Series with an excellent night on the 15th of February. Many thanks to all who have attended for the past four events. We intend to launch the podcast component of the project in early March 2010, so stay tuned to download each of the salons from here!
Congratulations to Daniel Schlusser (Artistic Associate) and the creative team and ensemble of The Store Room Presents Season of Life is a Dream who received 5 Greenroom nominations in the Independent Theatre section!
Congratulations also to Bagryana Popov and the company of Progress and Melancholy who received 6 nominations in the Independent Theatre section. Store Room Theatre is very excited to announce that Bagryana Popov (Director and producer) will collaborate with Store Room Theatre to continue the touring life of this project. Artistic Director Todd MacDonald performed in the development and presentation of the work and has received a nomination for Best Male Performer. We will be representing the production at APAM this year along with The Dictionary of Imaginay Places our sell out 2009 Melbourne Festival production.
Also a very interesting article by John Baily in the current edition of Realtime - check it out HERE
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The final production for 2009 has closed. Congratulations to the team of Life is a Dream on an incredibly successful season.
We have one more Salon programmed for December 7th and the final set for January 2010.
Finally on Tuesday 15th December we will have a public showing for our second development for Gorkem Acaroglu’s Exception (formerly known as Bare Life). Feel free to join us on the evening at 7pm to listen to the reading of the script. RSVP is essential so please email manager@thestoreroom.com.au we would love to see you there to discuss the work.
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First of all a very big congratulations to all who participated in this year’s Fringe Festival and particularly to the Fringe @ The Store Room shows. Under the very assured hand of producer and programmer Laura Milke Garner we enjoyed an amazing array of excellent works at the venue.
Special congratulations to The Melbourne Town Players on winning the Kultour Award for their beautiful production of Attract/Repel.
Congratulations also to our Artistic Associate Anna Tregloan and the cast and crew of The Dictionary of Imaginary Places for the outstanding success of its sold out season at this year’s Melbourne International Festival! Thanks must go to our presenting partners Melbourne International Festival, Arts House, Arts Victoria and the Australia Council.
We also had our second instalment of our Store Room Salon series. An excellent night of great food and discussion was had by all around the subject of cultivation. This night focused around fertilisation and how to support and nurture new ideas. Keep posted and soon we will have them up on the website as podcasts.
Currently Artistic Associate Daniel Schlusser is in preparation for the re mount of his renowned production Life is a Dream. Its a short season so don’t miss out and book now.
Also of note Artistic director Todd MacDonald is currently in rehearsal for Progress and Melancholy a Bagryana Popov production at fourtfivedownstairs this November. Book at www.fortyfivedownstairs.com
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Fringe @ The Store Room opens on Tuesday 29th September!
Once again we are leaping into the Fringe Festival with the reopening of the Cabaret space and an amazing line of work programmed by Laura Milke Garner!
Don't miss out! There are a plethora of fantastic comedy and theatre shows to be seen!
Make a night of it, see a couple of shows and have a meal downstairs in the pub.
Click HERE for full program
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Attract / Repel
by The Melbourne Town Players
Opens Thursday 17th September, all shows are 7PM and this productions runs into the Fringe Festival season so get in early to see this work before the Fringe madness begins...
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SEASON POSTPONED!
It is with deep regret that we announce that the season of Chesapeake at the Store Room will be postponed until further notice.
Alan Brough has suffered a serious case of H1N1 and his doctor has advised against performing even a partial season.We are all very disappointed but we look forward to remounting the production at a later date when Alan is at full strength.
All booked tickets will be refunded automatically through Easytix - if you have any problem call them on 9639 0096
We will advise new dates for the production as soon as possible.
For any further inquiries please contact us for any inquiry manager@thestoreroom.com.au
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Starting August 25 28th Store Room Theatre teams up with Alan Brough to present the Australian Premier of the Lee Blessing play – Chesapeake. Directed by Todd MacDonald and performed by Alan Brough this is a co production that see’s Todd and Alan working together again after Alan’s successful one man Comedy Festival show Top Town. Follow this LINK for details and bookings.
August will also see the first of our Cultivate Salons at The Store Room. Details HERE- stay tuned for the pod cast of the event!
October sees Store Room Theatre presenting its first fully developed project in this year’s Melbourne International Arts Festival.
The Dictionary of Imaginary Places has been created by SRT Associate Artist Anna Tregloan and has been in development over the past two years. With a successful development as a part of Arts House CultureLab, SRT teams up with Arts and Melbourne International Festival to present the première season of the work at Arts House Meat Market.
We urge you to get behind this production and book early as tickets are selling and the audience capacity is limited! Click HERE to read more and book!
SUPPORT US!
Store Room theatre has had a brilliant launch to this year’s program and we have great plans for the 2010. If you want to get behind us and keep this unique independent company thriving please support us now. Follow this LINK to make a tax deductable donation!
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On July 1 we had our 2009 program launch.
It was brilliant to see such a fantastic turn out on such a wintery Melbourne night. The program for this year is extremely exciting, click here to see more details and we look forward to seeing you at one of the many events we are producing.
We are extremely excited to have opened our first two presentations at the venue in over 18 months with the first of our Store Room Presents shows: Lucy Freemans production of A Narrow Time for Angels and Ben Packers production of Strangers in Between. Follow the link on the image to the right for full details of the entire 'The Store Room Presents 2009' season coming up.
We also launched a fundraising initiative - asking for donations to support the company by buying a "seat" for $100 or more - there was a great response on the night and we have already sold 14 seats. Click here to find out how you can support us too.
All in all it was an amazing night and I would like to thank all the volunteers who helped on the day and in the preceding months leading up - our foyer looks stunning as does the backstage areas and theatre - big thanks to Bron for many hours co -ordination and work!
Also thanks need to go to Simon Kingsley-Hall for coordinating the bar and Tommy Collins Events for the excellent food on the night!
Thanks to Event Equipment for the data projectors and to the Parkview Hotel for the use of the space and ongoing support.
Thanks must also go to the Artistic Associates and the Store Room Theatre staff and supporters - Marcus Schutenko, Bronwyn Pringle and the front of house staff including Charlie and Janine, our designers Lisa Hoebartner (brochure) and Matt Angel (website and branding), Adel Urie at Wordsworth Communicating for the great build on this site, Arts Victoria for great financial assistance to bridge this past 6 months of planning, John-Paul Fischbach and Mark Crees at Auspicious Arts Incubator for guidance and a bit of discipline, Laura Milke for producing the very exciting forthcoming Fringe Season as well as publicity and producing services, Melbourne Fringe and Mary and Tatia from TS Publicity for publicity and general great support.
Finally to Ben Harkin and Ian Enright - it was not the same without you there and many thanks to you both for all you have done.
Todd MacDonald
Artistic Director
