News and Blog

Photo by Andy Hollingworth

Hi! This is Tim talking here. Hope you’re all still paddlin’. Funny old river, this one.

I wanna tell you about the charities we’re supporting, in Australia and New Zealand, this year through our BACK encore tour.

Some of you know that ever since I started touring again in early 2019, I’ve sold 50 premium-priced “VIP” seats per night and donated that money to charity (all of it, thanks to cooperation from venues and promoters and ticketing companies).

It generally comes to about $AU10K a night… and if we manage to (finally!) get through this “encore” tour, then BACK will have raised around a million bucks. Which, if you’ll forgive me, makes me pretty fucking proud. And grateful, too, that my audience members are so keen to snap those tickets up. They are, after all, very bloody overpriced. Mwahahaaa.

In 2019, the charities were varied, and you can find out all about them here.

In the aborted 2020 tour, and its current reboot, I have decided to focus on independent theatre and dance. It has been a terrible time for that sector, with funding cuts and covid both playing their role in threatening the survival of really fantastic companies. So in every city we play, my completely awesome management team have helped me find wonderful organisations to gift some dosh to.

Find out all about the recipients below. (And thank you again, so much, for helping us with this project.)

*Oh, btw, while I’m virtue-signaling… we’re also making this tour as GREEN as possible. In fact, we’re going for carbon neutral. Find out more about that project here.*

xx

Australia and New Zealand 2021

Adelaide

Restless Dance Theatre

Restless is Australia’s leading dance theatre company working with artists with and without disability. Their artistic voice is loud, strong and original. Restless creates innovative, award winning works that have featured in 3 recent Adelaide Festivals. Touring nationally and internationally their works celebrate diversity on stage.

Wellington

Tawata Productions

Tawata Productions is a Māori and Kuki ‘Āirani creative company based in Te Ūpoko-o-te-ika-a-Maui – Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. Specialising in the rigorous development and presentation of theatre, Tawata blurs the lines between text, movement and image presenting a dynamic performance experience from Aotearoa to the world beyond.

Auckland

Auckland Live Storytellers Fund

A new initiative in conjunction with Auckland Live which commissions storytelling through music.

Christchurch

Little Andromeda

Little Andromeda is an indie theatre in the heart of Christchurch’s CBD. We are a space for original, innovative and emerging work.

Newcastle

Tantrum Youth Arts

As the leading youth arts organisation in the Hunter Region, Tantrum has been making noise for over 40 years. Utilising performance, storytelling and so much more, we offer meaningful creative workshops, projects and opportunities for young people aged 5 to 26 that build confidence, connections and compassion.

Melbourne

La Mama Theatre

With a rich history spanning over 50 years and a national profile, La Mama is Australia’s home of independent theatre. It plays a critical role in the Australian cultural landscape, as a place for responsive, new, risk-taking work to occur. La Mama has a distinct artist focus, and provides a unique audience experience.

Fortyfive Downstairs
fortyfivedownstairs is an unfunded artspace in the heart of Melbourne that’s grown from humble beginnings to great renown. Presenting exceptional exhibitions and award-winning theatre, it is not for profit and exists to make money for artists, not from them. With modest means, fortyfivedownstairs still contributes immeasurably to Melbourne’s cultural life!

Brisbane

Metro Arts
Metro Arts is developing the future of Australian contemporary arts practice now, by positioning creative innovation at the centre of all we do.  Metro Arts supports and mentors artists to create new work, present their work to audiences and help build their career pathways.  There are thousands of artists, producers,  and arts leaders on and behind stages and in galleries, diverse communities and workplaces across the world who had their start at Metro Arts.

Sydney

Redline Productions at The Old Fitz
In 5 years, Red Line Productions have presented over 100 productions, including 21 sold-out seasons, 22 exclusively commissioned brand new Australian plays, five return seasons for subsidised companies, headlined Sydney Festival and won 21 Sydney Theatre and GLUGS Awards – including the Hayes Gordon Memorial Award for Outstanding  Contribution to Australian Theatre.

Griffin Theatre
Griffin is the only theatre company in the country entirely devoted to producing new Australian work. We help ambitious, bold and urgent Australian plays get from page to stage. We tell the stories that will help us know who we are as a nation, and who we want to become.

Australia 2020

Perth

The Last Great Hunt
“At a time of great uncertainty in the arts, Tim’s generous $20,000 donation helped The Last Great Hunt continue to employ freelance artists across cancelled projects, and gave us the breathing space to reconsider our place in the future of the arts. Working with multiple partners in 2020, we engaged a range of digital audiences across Australia by opening up the doors to our usually private creative development process, and were ready for face-to-face rehearsals when lockdowns ended. At The Last Great Hunt we give our artists ‘permission to play’, and the Perth Festival premiere of WHISTLEBLOWER was able to go ahead earlier this year, allowing audience members to play along too, in this large-scale interactive work.” Sian Roberts – Exec Producer The Last Great Hunt

Hobart

Tasmania Performs
Tim donated $30,000 to Tasmania Performs in 2020 who amongst other activities:
– Leveraged a 600K project from the Major Festivals Initiative to create the pakana/Maori cross-cultural children’s work Hide The Dog.
– Enabled independent artist Anna Kidd to make her first Music Theatre Comedy work with Director Maude Davey – an excerpt of the show will preview at the Festival of the Voices in Hobart in 2021.
– Allowed young Aboriginal artist Jordy Gregg’s first play to be further developed with a professional cast reading at Youth Arc in Hobart and bolstered their annual residency at Tarraleah in Oct 2020 doubling the usual number of applicants to 50 artists together for a weekend of creativity.