City of Sydney pilots pop-up theatre

Performing arts will be seen in some unlikely places this spring with a new initiative by the City of Sydney making it easier for artists to transform spaces into temporary performance venues.

The City has given $24,800 to the Sydney Fringe to support five temporary ‘pop-up’ theatres in vacant shopfronts around Newtown and Erskineville during the festival.

On top of financial support, the City will use the pilot to develop an easier approvals process for temporary performance venues. Similar to the model used at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the process will allow vacant shopfronts, existing cafes and retail businesses to be temporarily transformed into theatres.

Introducing the concept, Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore explained “this project will reduce red tape and make it cheaper for people applying to run small temporary venues, without compromising public health and building standards.

“Fringe theatre enhances the city’s vibrant performance and live music scene, and streamlining the approvals process for temporary fringe venues will increase creative opportunities for Sydneysiders.

“Pop-up theatres will create a new, non-alcohol focused evening economy in our city villages – it’s good for local businesses, resident and visiting culture lovers and the artists themselves.”

The Sydney Fringe grant will help fund development applications for the five proposed unlicensed temporary venues. It will help pay for expert consultants in building compliance and cover related planning costs like acoustic reports.

The cost of applying to run a pop-up performance venue in Sydney is estimated between $800 and $2,000. A Temporary Theatre Licence for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe costs around $289. Most of the difference in costs arises from a requirement for applicants to submit a full development application to the City to change the building’s use.

Welcoming the move, Sydney Fringe Festival Director, Kerri Glasscock added “this pilot project will enable us to explore out-of-the box spaces to house artists, offer a wider choice of cultural experiences to audiences and engage with the local community.

“This initiative with the City of Sydney will make it easier for artists and Fringe producers to showcase new work in Sydney and shape a new vision for where performance can be presented. It will help make the sixth year of the Sydney Fringe our most exciting and vibrant festival yet.”

Before the start of the pop-up pilot project, the City will run a Creative Spaces and Built Environment Forum to discuss new approaches to streamlining the planning system to deal with emerging creative spaces.

The forum will bring together cultural and creative sector workers with representatives from planning and regulatory bodies to investigate ways of meeting the needs of Sydney’s creative community without sacrificing safety and building standards.

The City is inviting people from both the creative, building and planning industries to attend the all-day event at the University of Sydney today – Friday 12th June.

Attendance is free, and those wishing to register should contact the City’s Strategy Advisor – Culture, Ianto Ware on 02 9246 7391 or email iware@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au

Both the pop-up theatre pilot program and the Creative Spaces and Built Environment Forum are actions from the City’s Creative City Cultural Policy and Action Plan, which identified a substantial need for new performance space and temporary venues in central Sydney.

The Sydney Fringe Festival runs form 1st to 30th September 2015.

For more information go to www.sydneyfringe.com

Top image shows (from left) Sydney Fringe 2015 artists Katherine Shearer (Bitch Boxer), Julia Dray and Danielle Stamoulos (Eight), Josipa Draisma (Ljubičica – Wild Violet), Imogen Gardam and Saro Lusty-Cavallari (All About Medea).

5th April 2014 - FESTIVALS SUPPORT PUTS SYDNEY ON CENTRE STAGE