“You can’t break the rules if you don’t know what they are”

Geoffrey Williams talks with Peta Hanrahan, the Artistic Director of The Dog Theatre, about the company’s reincarnation in Gippsland, and bringing the award-winning Born In A Taxi to the upcoming East Gippsland Winter Festival for performances of their acclaimed The Waiting Room and a series of improvisation workshops.

SW: It might be perceived by some of our readers that it’s a long way from Footscray to the heartland of Gippsland. How did this relocation occur? What were the primary motivations?

PH: (Chuckling) Thank you for asking this question. It’s the same question I was asked back in 2008 when I opened The Dog Theatre in Footscray, with Footscray being perceived as a long way from the traditional Independent Theatre hot spots of Melbourne.

When The Dog opened in Footscray, everyone thought I was mad establishing an Independent Theatre venue in the ‘middle of nowhere’ – the western suburbs of Melbourne. Like, who the hell would go to scary old Footscray, not only to watch theatre, but make theatre? Theatre makers and the public could not get their head around it to start with.

But it didn’t take long for all those Independent Theatre makers to arrive at The Dog Theatre’s door for brilliant things to happen, and over the following three years we went on to deliver more than 70 works, winning the Green Room Award for Best Venue 2010 (before Producers were a thing), and the Melbourne Fringe Festival Best New Venue Award 2010.

So, I guess in answer to your question, ‘long way’ is a state of mind, and yes there are more kilometres to travel, but good theatre – as has been proven – is worth it. And we have now seen in the western suburbs of Melbourne that it is a thriving theatre community spurred on, even if only a little, by the success of The Dog Theatre.

SW: The Dog Theatre was in hiatus for several years. What were the catalysts for you to bring your iconic, award-winning, independent vision back to life in Gippsland?

PH: I heard a story, told to me by a friend who was visiting Gippsland a few years ago, before I moved regionally. He told me of a young woman who was locked into a life prescribed for her by years of family tradition and expectation. She was born into the very noble profession of Dairy Farming and did her duty for her family, working at the farm every day, but she needed something else.

I want to be very clear here too – Art, Theatre, Acting is another thing we can do, are compelled to do most of the time, but it is a different thing, not a better or worse thing. If you are passionate about something, be it dairy farming, flower growing, building houses, whatever it is – if you are passionate about it, then it is probably the path you should be walking.

But what of her future? She wanted to Act, but there was nothing in Gippsland that she could find that satisfied her need to learn the craft. She wanted to make film, but who is doing that here? She was cut off from any information, any through-line, any possibility, and most importantly, from any conversation. And this is why I have re-birthed The Dog Theatre in Gippsland; so I can reach her and the possible hundreds of people who dream of a different life but have absolutely no way of accessing it.

As The Dog Theatre was relevant in 2008 for an artistic culture bereft of access to its own theatre, The Dog Theatre comes to Gippsland to deliver the same relevant opportunities for a culture that needs it.

SW: How has relocating to Gippsland impacted on you as an award-winning Theatre Maker?

PH: ‘Relocating’ is a polite word for escaping. There are some immensely beautiful works being created in the big cities of Australia, there is no doubt, but for me as an artist, I needed to throw down the shackles of ‘industry’ and look again at what is at the core of my artistry. It became clear to me that I had to take myself out of the environments that clogged my vision, that harassed my intentions, and that derailed and demanded my focus. Here in regional Victoria, I feel a new sense of freedom; all the possibilities of new beginnings are reignited. I have been refreshed and see, smell, and taste a future for myself as a theatre practitioner, but primarily as just a person.

SW: The region is celebrated for its prolific and vast creative community – particularly visual art, craft, and music. How predisposed have you found the local population to independent theatre making?

PH: There are a lot of recreational community theatre companies in Gippsland and its fantastic to see such great interest in the performing arts here, but what has become very evident is that there are no learning opportunities for those wanting to experience contemporary professional acting, directing, or writing in theatre or film. The Dog Theatre wants to offer that opportunity, if a person wants a career in the form or not.

Trying something new is always a little scary, but it will be these offerings from The Dog Theatre that will change the way people approach and practice acting and theatre making. Their performance outcomes will improve because they have learned new information on how to be a better actor, writer, or theatre creative.

The Dog Theatre also wants to give people in the region the opportunity to make their own work. To build and create shows here in Gippsland – for a regional audience to find its own voice. I am very respectful of classic plays, but I am ever more excited that new Australian works can be made here and potentially tour to city audiences, turning around the concept that shows need to tour from cities to the regions – why not the other way around?

SW: What kind of responses have you had to the arrival of The Dog Theatre in the region?

PH: All amazingly positive, that’s for sure. Every conversation I have asked for I have been given. The East Gippsland Winter Festival has welcomed this project with great enthusiasm. The Bruthen Blues & Arts Festival and Bruthen Mechanics Hall administration are elated that they can support this new idea of professional grade contemporary theatre in East Gippsland too. And something that is very rare, but I would love to grow, is the relationship between Art, Theatre, and business. The Comfort Inn & Suites Emmanuel Motel in Lakes Entrance has also sponsored this project, a first for Independent Theatre in Regional Victoria. I’m absolutely overwhelmed at the support, and deeply confident that over time The Dog Theatre will become a permanent fixture in the Gippsland arts community.

SW: What are the differences between how The Dog will function in Gippsland compared to Footscray?

PH: The Dog Theatre in Footscray was disguised as just a venue at first look. But our artists soon learned that to maintain a relationship with The Dog, the artist had to learn how to self-produce their work properly. I sat with people over several weeks and coached them on the finer points of self-producing. We had many great successes, giving birth to some amazing companies that still work today, nearly 15 years later, receiving funding, awards and touring nationally.

The Dog Theatre had, and still has today, a rule book about self-determining your artistic future. We don’t have a singular venue these days but look toward a relationship with many traditional and site-specific venues in Gippsland. The Dog Theatre Company will move through the regional landscape and arrive in places that will serve its community best.

SW: Let’s talk about Born in a Taxi – and their award-winning The Waiting Room, that was performed at The Dog in Footscray. You must have witnessed a tremendous number of works in your theatre space over the years, so what is it about this company and this production, that has endured to see you bring it to Gippsland?

PH: Oh, my Lord, I could speak to this question for pages and pages, but I shall try to be succinct.

The Born In A Taxi company is pure, unadulterated joy. This company, this show The Waiting Room, asks me to answer the questions I ask myself in the best possible way; it is simply the best time I’ve had in the theatre for over 20 years, and I am coming up to my 40-year anniversary as a professional theatre practitioner.

But it’s not ‘the best time’ because all my intellectual synapses are pinging at the same time; that’s happening, but it’s not the reason. It’s not because I’m witnessing incredible talent and articulate performance execution; again that’s happening, but it’s not the reason. It’s because I am seen for who I am, a treasured member of humanity, a participant in this time and space. The Waiting Room is wholly conscious of my presence and every individual in the audience, but I am not threatened; I am invited to have fun, to play, to step out of my adulting life, its pressures and responsibilities and share this experience with my fellow human beings.

If you have never been to the theatre before – come and see. If you are jaded by a life watching theatre that never quite hit the mark for you – come and see. If you are curious – come and see.

SW: Can you introduce us to the venue, Iceworks 3909? How did you discover it? How responsive have they been to the idea? Is there a history of theatre being made in the space?

PH: ICEWORKS 3909 was an old ice factory that has recently been converted into a gallery/studio in Lakes Entrance by the amazing visual artist Gary Yelen and his astonishing wife Andrea Lane. It has a gorgeous warm and inviting atmosphere that reminds me of a number of venues in the city actually; one could be in Fitzroy or St Kilda, with blasted brick walls and a roller-door opening up to a long laneway, with a green social area and firepits, and a two-minute walk to the waterways of Lakes Entrance.

I was very fortunate to be introduced to Andrea and Gary not long after I arrived in East Gippsland by a mutual friend Cherie Turner, when I accepted an invitation to go kayaking (crazy I know) to see the FLOAT 3909 project, a floating artist residency on Lake Tyers that Andrea and Gary and quite a number of other professional local visual artists have created.

I was stunned by the vision of this collective, its ‘can do’ energy and commitment, and so instantly I became a huge fan, got myself connected via social media and turned up. It was on one specific visual art exhibition opening at Iceworks Studio (between lock-down five and six I believe), that I had a wave of excitement at the possibilities of Born In A Taxi playing this extraordinary venue. I could see The Waiting Room there in my mind’s eye.

And now, thanks to Regional Arts Victoria and Creative Victoria and the spirit of adventure that both Gary and Andrea prescribe to, Iceworks Studio – Lakes Entrance will, for the first time, be hosting professional contemporary Australian theatre. We are thrilled at the possibilities.

SW: What can the Improvisation Workshop participants expect from the experience?

PH: The improvisation workshops run by Penny Baron and Carolyn Hanna, core members of the Born In A Taxi Company - on the 25th and 26th June - will re-connect the actor with their imagination and play, enriching their process and giving the participant the chance to drop technique and just experiment. We all need an inspirational reboot after years in the COVID wilderness, so this workshop is right on time.

These workshops are an opportunity to learn more about yourself as a performer, to learn new skills and enhance your knowledge of the fundamentals of acting so you can not only improve your acting outcomes but also control them.

And for the first timer, who is probably frightened to death of stepping into a life-long dream of performing, who needs a safe space to dip their toe in the water and receive a meaningful learning experience, these workshops are also for them because that happens when we are relaxed and in a state of play and experimentation.

What makes this workshop unique and incredibly exciting is that it is formulated and delivered around our humanity. So, everyone who participates, regardless of theatre or performance experience, is already qualified to be there.

Physical and fun with a focus on creating work from the body and with others, skills that people will gain in this workshop will feed into many aspects of their work and life, developing confidence, insights into collaboration, working in a team and acquiring a new comfortability when in front of others.

We are also running a very special improvisation workshop with Nick Papas, another member of the Born In A Taxi Company, specifically for people living with a disability on 29 June, and we are very excited about this workshop too.

SW: What are your hopes for the season of The Waiting Room and the improvisation workshops?

PH: My greatest hope for both the season of The Waiting Room and the improvisation workshops is pretty simple – that the community for which they have been designed and produced will find them and embrace them.

My greatest dream in this space is that the young woman and man, confined to the traditions of their circumstances, but who dream of another path, will find us. That is why The Dog Theatre exists – to change the prescription of one’s life and make sense of the feelings that have not, as yet, had space for expression.

For more information, contact The Dog Theatre through their Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/TheDogTheatre/

Booking links

The Dog Theatre presents

The Waiting Room by Born In A Taxi – The Show

@ Iceworks Studio – Lakes Entrance for the East Gippsland Winter Festival

1 and 2 July 2022 @ 7:30pm

https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/868958

Improvisation Workshop by Born In A Taxi

@ The Bruthen Mechanics Hall – Bruthen for the East Gippsland Winter Festival

Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 June 2022

https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/865639

Improvisation Workshop for people living with a disability with Nick Papas

@ The Bruthen Mechanics Hall – Bruthen for the East Gippsland Winter Festival

Wednesday 29 June 2022

https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/898043

Images

Born In A Taxi performing The Waiting Room; Artistic Director of The Dog Theatre, Peta Hanrahan; and Planning the season at Iceworks 3909.