Well, what a year 2023 has been!! We can’t say it was the easiest year, but by far the busiest
and most rewarding.
We have been busy laying the foundation and sowing the seeds and this year the endurance
has paid off, seeds are sprouting, we have picked and nurtured many buds and feeding them to flourish and grow. We are so incredibly proud of what we are creating, and the array of varied and wonderfully diverse flowers, a bed of opportunities lay waiting before us. We are smelling the roses and life smells pretty good right now!
It gives us great pleasure to recap on some successes and highlights in 2023…
FRINGE 2023
Starting with our positive Adelaide Fringe season in Feb and March! Over 5 weeks, we were able to support 172 artists, employ 15 staff and attract 20 volunteers.
We nurtured 22 productions, presented 99 performances (27 of those to a sold-out
audience), programmed 33 performances in VICTORIA LANE, created a new and successful family day event called Little VIC LANE and achieved our highest ever record with 5,839
people attending our theatre throughout thefestival, almost doubling last year’s total!
We won many weekly Fringe Awards as well as the Holden Street Award for BIMBO and Emerging Artist Award for Alix Kuijpers production of i know the end.
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
Following on from our thriving Fringe line-up, our 2023 resident company Famous Last Words produced their first show, Miss Julie After Strindberg. This production was a
massive success and following on from this, a sublime piece of theatre PROUD written by James Watson and directed by Conner Reidy with award winning performance by Henry
Cooper. Then, just to top it off, Sarah Kane’s award-winning play 4.48 Psychosis, delivered with such humility and grace.
These guys are truly unstoppable!
Special mention to co- creator of FLW, Emelia Williams who stepped in and absolutely nailed all technical elements of the season. And then to follow up with an Adelaide Critic Circle Award for James Watson, South Australian Emerging Artist of the year.
Bravo! A massive congratulations to you all, you have worked incredibly hard, and it is nice to be recognised for your efforts.
We are beyond excited to continue this partnership in 2024 (more coming on this soon).
AND THERE WAS MUCH MORE IN 2023
Successful partnerships aren’t made between organisations they’re made between people, and they find expression through a shared passion.
Our people, they care; they really do … about the arts, the artists and the community who
comprise their audiences. Our shared passion is making and presenting great work to appreciative audiences – and we’ll do whatever we can to help each other make the work the best it can be and to win the hearts and minds and support of our audiences in doing so.
This is the partnership and vision we have with ThePaperBoats lead by the godfather of children’s theatre, Dave Brown. This inspirational company have been rehearsing and developing new work, remounting old work and working with us to build important relationships with local preschools and primary schools. We love having them in our space and we are gearing up for a big season of the Ruby Award winning production SEVEN LITTLE WONDERS, which has just sold-out its School Season in February 2024 with over 1,000 children attending the season. There are still tickets available for our public shows in the 2024 Adelaide Fringe season, but you better get in quick!
We premiered a new work Shore Break by Chris Pitman, directed by Chelsea Griffith and
produced by Brink Productions. It received glowing reviews and a standing ovation and will premiere again at State Theatre Company in 2024, so if you didn’t get to see it, we suggest you do!
We were thrilled to be part of the DreamBIG Festival where we presented Madness Of Two’s delightful production Claire Della and The Moon, an outstanding production showcasing two of Adelaide’s finest performers Ellen Graham and Jamie Hornsby.
BIG Congratulations to Theatre Republic’s thought provoking production of Future:Presents. With talented and respectful artists workshopping and presenting four world premieres in one epic night of theatre and applause for Alchemy Dance Collective for bringing forward a new community platform Trilogy Film Fest showcasing work by local and interstate artists from multiple art mediums.
2023 saw us also support the Adelaide Juggling Convention, launch The Yearlings brand-new and much awaited album LUCK, support the launch of Naomi Keyte’s single Hard to Make Plans, a tribute to the women of music who have inspired and rocked us over the years QUEENS OF ROCK and bridging the gaps between the realms, psychic medium and natural healer Kaysey Mackenzie.
We were part of the SALA festival supporting two local artists Niccy Pallant (Local Bouquet) and Eric Kuhlmann (My Pet Robot) in their well-received exhibitions.
Big congratulations to Sue Webb and Mij for organising a special event, A
Very Unusual Bazaar – fundraising for Afghan Refugees and raising enough for Jamilla and her daughters to get visas and travel to Adelaide. A definite highlight for us!
This year we also created SkillShare, a monthly workshop for emerging and established artists of varied discipline to share skills, play and make valuable connections with likeminded professionals. In a warm, inclusive environment
we encourage creativity and provide a space where artists can explore concepts, ideas,
share and experiment with new techniques and methods. We hosted workshops from the Art
of Listening to Puppetry, Directing and Writing. We are currently securing our program for 2024 and look forward to sharing this with you early in the new year.
2023 has been our most successful year with 87% capacity and 2024 is looking to be even bigger with 65% capacity already secured for next year.
We are grateful to support and nurture the activation and appreciation of our artistic arts
community and elated with what we have achieved in 2023!! All the incredible artists we have supported, the high-quality productions we have delivered and the special connections we have made. It all feels pretty good right now…it really feels like we have created an inclusive and thriving home that fosters and supports emerging and professional artists to create outstanding, memorable and brave art.
THANKS TO OUR RESIDENT HIRERS
We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge all the incredible resident companies we support throughout the year. Without these unique ongoing partnerships, Goodwood Theatre & Studios would not survive. Your presence has created an exciting and vibrant buzz in our venue and we appreciate you making it your home.
Hot Sauce Productions – providing weekly burlesque workshops for 18+
GRiT Studio Collective – providing weekly performance art workshops for young people 5-18yrs
Magic Mike Workshops – weekly magic workshops for young people
Mitchel Actors Studio – weekly acting, film and television workshops with acting agency 18+
Famous Last Words – providing raw, cutting-edge theatre for young audiences 18-40yrs
The PaperBoats – providing high-quality, memorable performances for young people 4-8yrs
Adelaide Academy Theatre – presenting high-quality performances for family audiences
CAPA Performing Arts – presenting high-quality performances for family audiences
SHOUTOUT TO OUR FREQUENT SCHOOL & COLLEGE HIRERS
Throughout the year we also support many local schools and colleges. They too bring a unique energy and excitement to our venue…
Scotch College
Black Forest Primary School
Emmaus College
Mercedes College
St Spyridon
West Beach Primary School
WE APPRECIATE ALL YOUR SUPPORT
Thanks to our supportive local businesses Eggless, Pizza Pizzaz, Mezzina Hair, The
Suburban Brew, Ritt Watchmann Accountant, Capri, Gingers, Goodwood Books, Yeti
Nepalese and our warm and nurturing Goodwood community.
We feel your love! BIG THANKS to our sponsors and partners, City of Unley, Adelaide Fringe, Goodwood Road Associations, The Suburban Brew, Coriole Wines, Inventure Partners, Padan Printer, The Goody, and Grid Marketing, we couldn’t have done it without your support.
A big shout out to our tremendous volunteers and staff, you bring such energy and joy.
Thank you to every single audience member who has attended our venue and continues to
support us, we value and appreciate you immensely and hope you can come visit us again
soon.
See you in 2024!
Simi & Chris