Earlier this year, Everybody NOW! were commissioned to create a special performance event celebrating the 150th Anniversary of Her Majesty’s Theatre Ballarat, Australia’s oldest continuously operating live theatre venue.
After a five-month community-engagement process, over 200 local musicians and performers took to the stage (and the hallways, laneways and dressing rooms!) for a one-night, all-in, genre-hopping community takeover.
In this case study, we reflect on how we set about creating the project, the challenges and pleasures of working in an historic venue, and the impacts a project like this, can have in communities.
As one reviewer reflected, it was, “An excellent evening, genuinely celebrating some of the incredible talent and history of the performing arts in this town [Ballarat]. This is how we should celebrate Her Maj’s birthday every year.”
KEY REFLECTIONS
- A hunger for ritual- In this era of screens, algorithms and AI, the theatre has an unrivalled ability to create memorable experiences that can reach hugely diverse audiences. This whole (quite complex) process was made possible by a massive hunger for a bespoke experience, a ritual really, that celebrated people and place.
- Embrace opportunities to break down convention – Working in a heritage space made it even more important to find opportunities to subvert etiquette and convention to allow for more inclusive access and embodied participation from diverse audiences and performers.
- Meet people in their space and on their time. This is an Everybody NOW! golden rule. Communities are busy, so do as much of the work as you can at the times and places that the groups and artists are already rehearsing and gathering. That means Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings are your keys times. Followed by weekends.
- Hold on tightly, Let go lightly! – Be ambitious with what might finish up on stage, but be prepared to let things go. Then be quick with Plan B!
- Support the project with technical expertise – Use the best techies and bring them into the project as early as you can.
- How do we celebrate? We were interesting in disrupting the audience’s expectation of what they had come to. By breaking down the category of performer and audience member we were able to create a share experience of celebration and connection.
FROM INVITATION TO CREATION
Director Ian Pidd says, “From our very first visit it was clear that working in Her Majesty’s Theatre was going to be the most wonderful gift and a huge challenge. It is an absolutely gorgeous and brilliant stage upon which to perform (and in which to watch a performance.) It’s pretty much unimprovable.
It’s much loved by the community, with many locals having performed or attended shows over the years. The theatre itself has plenty of stories and history to work with, but there is also a broader creative and cultural story of Ballarat that lives outside of the venue.
All our early research and community conversations made it clear we wanted to include an energy from within, and outside, the walls of the theatre.
We were interested in using the space differently, providing audiences access into unseen places, especially post renovations, creating a sense of connection and pride, and having music seep through walls with energy and life.
Ian Pidd, “We came up with the idea that we’d start the show at the scruffy side laneway where audiences would be greeted by furious 150-year-old techie saying ‘It’s the wrong day you idiots, go away!’
Her Maj didn’t actually open until June…8th… but our show date was 1st Feb. We thought that would get a raise from those more historically informed in the crowd, and indeed a roar of laughter erupted from the crowd.
After a series of musical interventions, the audience would storm the building from all four sides, with 45 minutes of them wandering around the rabbit warren of backstage to discover musicians in all the nooks and crannies.
Then the second half would be a ‘proper concert’ showcasing local talent, new collaborations, running gags and things “going wrong” and then a big anthem at the end with everyone singing along – performance and audience alike.”
Executive Director Kate Baggerson reflected on her experience as an audience member,
“I loved being in the laneway at the top of the show with all the exposed brick of the buildings around us. I loved the tension in the air, the uncomfortable feeling of breaking down the formality and etiquette of arriving at such an old theatre.
“Despite the unknown, the vibe was so welcoming! There was a curious happiness from the crowd as a New Orleans style marching band lead us down the searing hot main street of Ballarat to enter via stage door.
Backstage was happy chaos. People contorting their bodies with ‘hellos and excuse me’s’ as they passed in tight corridors or stepped out of a dressing room after a private viewing of whatever musicians were hidden inside – wild haired surf rock musicians (not your usual Her Maj clientele) bashing away on an acoustic guitar; a brass band in a stairwell; a ridiculously wholesome and totally joyous bunch of musical theatre young people belting out classics around a piano. By the time I took my seat for act 2 ‘the proper concert’ I was smiling from ear to ear. I felt like I’d meet half of Ballarat (well, 700 of them) and had already experienced some very fine musicianship”.
WHO WAS ON THE STAGE
We often talk about ‘casting-a-wide-net’ across whatever the community it is that we have been invited to work with. Meaning, that we go to the very edges, looking to reach people that might not be the ‘usual suspects’ and give them visibility.
As young musical theatre performer, Oscar from BLOC, describes “I love that they have reached out into the weeds of Ballarat. It’s really nice to see all of the groups get a space on the stage in this show.”
While we might not describe them as the ‘weeds’ (although we know what you meant Oscar!), one thing we wanted to achieve was making new connections between performance groups, both professional and recreational, and support new creative alliances and friendships that would continue after the project was complete.
We were delighted to recently hear that the members of the Ballarat Synthesiser enthusiasts, independently of us, have gone into a recording studio with Pancakes Harris from the local mob to make a proper recording of the piece we made together for the show. Their intention is to create more new works and become an ensemble that plays together regularly.
As well as bringing people to the stage that never expected to be involved, there were also some incredible stalwarts of the community who were so generous with their time and stories. Stella Savy, the Ballarat Concert Band, BLOC, the Choral Society and the City of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band who have the longest continued presence in the town. Indeed, they are the second oldest brass band in the country.
We visited these groups a lot over the 5-month period. By investing in these relationships, meeting people in their spaces and on their terms and being genuinely interested in their history and stories, is how we can achieve the most impact and ongoing legacies with this work.
After we finished the whole project we got a message from Derek, the secretary of the Brass Band, thanking us and saying “at practice the other night we said, Where’s Pru? Where’s Ian?” We just loved that.
“I loved that so many local artists were given the opportunity to play. It was a really innovative approach and very well received by the Ballarat community.” Cassandra, Ballahornication
AND, WHAT ABOUT IMPACT?
It’s always difficult, when visitors to a community for a one-off project, to genuinely ascertain long-term impacts but in the short-term, positive impact and legacy is certainly evident.
“It was different to what we do normally do. Such a creative and innovative and entertaining event.” City Of Ballarat Municipal Brass Band
The stats tell us that
- 91% of the participants felt the project had “Local Impact”, and had an excellent time,
- 88% said it was well produced and presented and
- 86% felt like their contribution was valued, that the project was well organised and that it was an authentic artistic experience
This was a ‘moment-in-time’ project important to the local community. It was important to us, that local relationships were well-managed and the outcome instilled a sense of pride, enthusiasm for the future, and ignited a spirit of creativity and innovation. We’re confident that this project achieved just that, and we look forward to using the knowledge gained through this work to create new projects with music communities in other places.
“A joyous, beautifully organised creative event to celebrate her Her Majesty’s Theatre. So many of our special people and groups. Congratulations to all on a fabulous evening – I was on a high all the rest of the night.” Audience member
