Black Swan State Theatre Company among recipients of WA Theatre Development Initiative funding

Two local theatre productions have received $243,009 in funding through the 2022-23 round of the WA Theatre Development Initiative (WATDI) to produce works which will be staged at the State Theatre Centre of Western Australia - a theatre complex located within the Perth Cultural Centre.

The WATDI encourages a vibrant and sustainable theatre sector by supporting the public presentation of high-quality professional productions in the mid-tier sector in Western Australia.

It also aims to create employment opportunities within the theatre sector, share Western Australian stories, contribute to activation of an Arts and Culture Trust venue, develop audiences and offer the potential to tour regionally and/or nationally.

Up to $150,000 was available to community organisations, groups and individuals in support of production and performances of outstanding professional theatre and non-traditional theatre in Western Australia.

The first recipient in this round is arts producer Alexander Egloff for SIT! (Or I’ll Make You Sit!), a theatre production by All Things Considered. To be hosted at the State Theatre Centre from February-August 2023, the project is a text-based independent theatre production created with a team of emerging interdisciplinary artists. The project will receive $93,012.

Black Swan State Theatre Company will receive $149,997 towards a season of Angus Cerini’s award-winning play The Bleeding Tree staged at the State Theatre’s Studio Underground in April and May 2023.

WA Culture and the Arts Minister David Templeman advised “Western Australia has a vibrant arts scene but we want to encourage more opportunities and bring different voices and perspectives to our stages.

“These grants will not only provide work for all those people involved in a theatre production but will hopefully also draw different audiences to these shows.

“Both productions will be staged in local Arts and Culture Trust Venues – in this case the performance spaces of the State Theatre Centre – which will activate these areas and add two more events to our arts calendar.”

Image: Black Swan Theatre Company’s The Bleeding Tree. Credit: Tashi Hall