Crack is a national festival and forum devoted to experimental, fringe, cross-artform theatre and performance. Crack takes place in Newcastle, Australia, as part of the This Is Not Art media arts festival.

This Is Not Art is an umbrella event which includes five different festivals: the National Young Writers Festival, Electrofringe (electronic and new media arts), Sound Summit (independent music), Critical Animals (creative research symposium) and the Crack Theatre Festival. TINA takes place annually in Newcastle over the October long weekend.

The Crack Theatre festival is a launching pad for emerging artists who wish to journey into the festival scene. Crack provides a platform for artists working in new, experimental and fringe areas of performance to showcase their work, to share skills and to invigorate their practice at the nation’s largest artistic party.

In 2010, the Crackhouse will be located at Cielo’s, 102 King Street, Newcastle.

HISTORY

In 2007, National Young Writers Festival co-director Nic Low commissioned the original CRACK performance program as a component of the NYWF. Four anarchic, twisted and disconcerting performance collectives were paired with emerging writers to fulfil a highly dubious mission: disrupt the National Young Writers’ Festival from the 27th of September to the 1st October 2007. Built roughly around the theme of ‘cracks’, performers and writers were invited to respond to the NYWF program and explore the idea that it’s in the weird in-between spaces, in life’s pauses and breakdowns, that the most fertile and productive collisions occur.

Though still contained as a project within the National Young Writers’ Festival, Crack expanded in 2008 to feature a performance showcase and the collaborative ‘Table for 2’ performance event. At the end of 2008, Crack emerged from the NYWF to form the Crack Theatre Festival, an independent performing arts festival within This Is Not Art. David Finnigan and Gillian Schwab were appointed as inaugural directors for the new festival, which took place for the first time in October 2009.

THE CRACK TEAM

David Finnigan, Co-Director

David Finnigan is a pharmacy assistant, writer and theatre-maker. Since co-founding theatre-collective Bohemian in 2001, David has written, performed, directed and produced performance events and festivals with companies in Australia, the USA and the Philippines. David dwells online at blind-dragonfly.com

Gillian Schwab, Co-Director

Gillian grew up in Portland, Oregon swaddled by the anarchic and mysterious local arts scene. After returning to Australia, Gillian studied Design for Theatre and Television at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga. During her time in Wagga, Gillian developed a taste for cheap beer and an aversion to plays about agriculture. Gillian now lives in Canberra where she works as a Technical Coordinator and Production Designer.

Ben Packer, Co-Director

Ben runs the independent theatre company ‘little death productions’. Most recently, he directed Strangers in Between by Tommy Murphy (Store Room, 2009), Motortown by Simon Stephens (Griffin Stablemates, 2008) and Mercury Fur by Philip Ridley (Theatreworks & Griffin Stablemates, 2007).
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Anthony Arblaster, Technical Coordinator

Anthony is an independent lighting designer, production and stage manager from Canberra and works as a casual technician and technical manager in the ACT. Anthony is completing a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Law at the Australian National University.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Crack wants to thank the Canberra Youth Theatre, the Street Theatre, PACT, Accessible Arts, Tantrum Theatre, QL2, Boho Interactive. To our awesome volunteers: Hadley, Pete Butz, Max Barker, Nickamc, Holly Orkin, Simon Binns, Shasta Sutherland, Michaela Dabson, Kerri Dibben, Jeff McCann, Pat Gordon, David Clapham and Na Milthorpe. Also let us be real: this whole festival would be a fever-dream if not for Anthony Arblaster. And finally, to the artists: all our artists: they’re not getting paid, they’re not getting housed, they’re not getting supported in any real way, they’re just MAKING IT HAPPEN and we are grateful.

The Masters of Space and Time’s Up to your Arse in Alligators has been commissioned by the Crack Theatre Festival in partnership with the Australian Museum, and supported through the Coalition of Australian Museum Directors.

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.