In 2025, I applied for the Artistic Director role at Malthouse Theatre with the following provocation. Note, this is an excerpt from my Candidate Statement as submitted to the Board.
The 5 vision statements were provided by the organisation in its application pack — which I chose to frame my responses around.
A vision for Malthouse
To STAND for equality and inclusion in every aspect of our practice
There is opportunity to advocate and lead a more sophisticated approach to equity and diversity – one that is grounded in justice, and centred on multiplicity, pluralism, and process. What does contemporary theatre look and sound like? Who should be in the room? How would the theatre making process be shaped? What other resources and support structures do we need to bring to the table? – if we were to truly reflect who we are as a people?
As rightly identified by the organisation – the residential developments in Southbank along with the broader demographic shifts in Melbourne’s West and Southeast, alongside our growing urgency for truth telling and First Nations sovereignty, and the exchange with the Asia Pacific region in the expanding global diaspora – I am propelled by the challenge to reconsider, grow and deepen our relationships with artist and audience communities.
To CREATE a site for communities to gather, converse and entertain
Stories, rituals and theatre reside in the active living of Culture, and not only within the institutions. In order to invite people through our doors, we must be tuned in to the conversations our communities are having – and in turn, we can curate and generate the conversations worth having. Whilst the Malthouse as a physical place can be a warm place to host; for its pulse to be felt, the doors must be kept open, and we must go to where our communities are.
How can Malthouse as an entity and identity transpose across place and community? Whilst we can and should fully utilise the building, what would meaningful programming and contemporary performance projects look like outside of the venue? How can we foster dynamic partnerships and critical friendships across and outside of the sector? And who might these partners and friends be? What role and impact can Malthouse, through its work, have in a global cultural context? These questions drive how we might deeply consider Malthouse as ‘site’ (as relevant in my site-responsive practice), to then cultivate a permeable place in which all are truly welcome.
To MAXIMISE INTERCONNECTION with independent artists and companies
Independent artists and companies are the foundations of the performing arts sector. Regardless of their trajectory, every practitioner begins there. Malthouse is well placed to support some major gaps in the sector in ways that would differentiate itself and demonstrate sector leadership. To name a few: