The content on this page and other DCITA document archive pages is provided to assist research and may contain references to activities or policies that have no current application. See the full archive disclaimer.
Playing now around Australia
The latest round of grants under the Commonwealth's Playing Australia program will assist 26 Australian touring productions maintain the great tradition of the merry band of strolling players, entertaining audiences and visiting towns outside the metropolitan area.
This round of grants will see productions tour to regional centres throughout the country from Alice Springs to Broken Hill, and from Toowoomba to Karratha, and will showcase the quality and diversity of Australian music, opera, theatre and dance. It includes performances from The Australian Ballet, the Bangarra Dance Theatre, the Hottentots, Tigramuna and the Perth Theatre Company.
The Bell Shakespeare Company is one of Australia's most recognised touring companies, taking performances beyond the metropolitan area, just like the theatre groups of William Shakespeare's day. In 2003 the Company 's production of The Servant of Two Masters will tour to 25 venues across all states and the Northern Territory, including Townsville, Ararat, Whyalla, Darwin and Port Hedland.
Reserved Seating Only by Boxing Day Productions (Victoria) is a comedy about an unlikely pair who meet at a football match and the subsequent evolution of their relationship. This production will be touring to 72 venues across every state, including Tumby Bay, Kadina, Naracoorte, Mildura, Nhill, Mansfield, Bendigo, Zeehan, New Norfolk, Esk, Childers, Gayndah, Goondiwindi, Derby, Exmouth, Broome, Mingenew, Albany, Denmark, Pinjarra, Hamilton, Knox and Warburton.
Proving humour knows no bounds, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival will tour the country in 2003.The Comedy Festival Roadshow is a two-and-a-half hour showcase that reflects the range, diversity and quality that the best of the 2003 Comedy Festival has to offer. The artists perform extracts from their Festival shows with work ranging from stand-up comedy to musical and sketch comedy. Tour venues include Horsham, Rockhampton, Townsville, Alice Springs, Whyalla, Tanunda, Broken Hill, Taree, Canberra, Kyneton, Wangaratta, Echuca, Carnarvon, Darwin and Perth.
Playing Australia is a performing arts touring program that aims to give all Australians better access to some of the country's best performing arts. Since it began in 1992,the program has assisted a very diverse range of productions-from ballet to Indigenous dance, jazz to classical music, Shakespeare to bilingual theatre. The program provides two rounds of funding each year, which are advertised nationally.
A full list of the successful grantees for the program is available online from the 'arts and culture' home page on the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts' website: www.dcita.gov.au.
Contact:
Playing Australia program guidelines and application forms are available on the Department's website or by phoning free call 1800 819 461 to leave a message. All documents are also available by email to playing.australia@dcita.gov.au.