National Theatre of Parramatta Launches in Western Sydney

National Theatre of Parramatta bursts onto the theatre scene creating theatre that reflects contemporary Australia and Western Sydney in all its diversity and complexity appealing to both new and existing theatre audiences. National Theatre of Parramatta is putting the nation on stage.

It is not every day that a new Australian theatre company opens its doors, but after many years of planning, National Theatre of Parramatta will be launched today, November 19, as a major contributor to the nation's artistic landscape. As well as offering entertaining and innovative programs, National Theatre of Parramatta will champion artist development, educational opportunities and mentoring programs.

Resident at Riverside Theatres, National Theatre of Parramatta will join the existing and vibrant Western Sydney artistic community. It will be a principal arts organisation contributing to the dynamic growth of Western Sydney - the fastest growing region in Australia. In recognition of the creative capacity of Western Sydney, National Theatre of Parramatta has received financial investment from Arts NSW, Parramatta City Council and Crown Resorts Foundation.

Leading National Theatre of Parramatta is a directorate of four arts professionals with a wealth of creative and cultural experience. They are: S. Shakthidharan (currently founder and Director of CuriousWorks and Associate Artist at Carriageworks), Annette Shun Wah (currently Executive Producer of Performance 4a), Wayne Harrison AM (currently Chief Creative Officer for Spiegelworld International) and Paula Abood (community cultural development writer and creative producer). The team is joined by international producer, Joanne Kee (former Artistic Director for Sydney Improvised Music Association, Business Manager for Programming at Sydney Opera House) as Executive Producer.

"National Theatre of Parramatta aspires to create bold, contemporary works that draw their inspiration from the rich diversity and untold stories of Western Sydney and beyond, adding to our cultural landscape a company that truly reflects the nation on stage," said Annette Shun Wah.

National Theatre of Parramatta will raise the profile of performance and engage the imagination and creative ideas of Western Sydney, across the nation and ultimately internationally.

2016 SEASON:

SWALLOW - APRIL

Opening the inaugural National Theatre of Parramatta season in April will be the powerful production Swallow, by Olivier award winning playwright Stef Smith. It received rave reviews during its world premiere season at the 2015 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and National Theatre of Parramatta is delighted that Kate Champion, founder and former Artistic Director of Force Majeure, will direct this Australian premiere. Swallow will fearlessly launch the adventurous and high quality 2016 Season of National Theatre of Parramatta.

Simultaneously at the tipping point between self-destruction and self-acceptance, three strangers influence each other's lives in unforeseeable ways. Shared states of vulnerability and defiance connect their fates and influence each other's ability to re-enter the outside world. Hard hitting yet humorous, Swallow explores questions of identity, heartbreak and hope with vivid, poetic intensity.

STOLEN - JUNE

Jane Harrison's Stolen is a collection of experiences from survivors of the Stolen Generations, it tells the story of five Aboriginal children forcibly removed from their families and brought up in a repressive children's home. It will be directed by one of the nation's great performance makers, Vicki Van Hout.

Segregated from their community, the children begin their journey 'home' after their release. The poignancy, pain, and desire for a different life is seen through the children's own eyes as they struggle to make sense of a world where they have been told to forget their families, homes and culture.

TELLING TALES - OCTOBER

In October, National Theatre of Parramatta will hold the inaugural storytelling festival, Telling Tales. Using traditional and alternative spaces, Telling Tales will celebrate the glorious complexity and diversity of Western Sydney, sharing the stories of its people with yarns, anecdotes, personal stories and imaginary tales set in a performance context, and with something for all ages.

Telling Tales will include:

The Hakawati - Drink coffee and break bread with the master story teller with a thousand stories to tell, the Hakawati. Devised by Wayne Harrison and Paula Abood, and directed by Wayne Harrison.

Who Speaks For Me - a multi-lingual, multi-generational storytelling work about language - the hilarious consequences of misunderstanding it, and the nuances that are lost in translating it. Co-directed by master storyteller and photographer William Yang with writer and producer Annette Shun Wah.

A History of Maps and Squares - One hundred years ago, red and blue crayons in hand, British diplomat Mark Sykes and French counterpart François Georges-Picot met over a map and set about redrawing borders in very straight lines. The effects of the colonial carve up resonate into the present as history finds meaning in the tradition of theatre of the absurd.

An exciting new work by S. Shakthidharan. More details TBC.

DIRECTORATE AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:

Annette Shun Wah

Annette Shun Wah is a producer, writer, actor and broadcaster, best known for ABC and SBS television shows such as The Noise, Eat Carpet and Studio 22. Annette is Executive Producer of Performance 4a which brings contemporary Asian Australian performance to main stage venues and festivals including the 2014 Sydney Festival hit The Serpent's Table, the multi-artform work Yasukichi Murakami - Through A Distant Lens and the theatrical storytelling show Stories Then & Now.

Paula Abood

Paula is a writer, creative producer and community cultural development practitioner. She has written and directed for performance, radio, publications and film. Paula was awarded the 2007 Western Sydney Artists' Fellowship for the blogging project Race and the City and was the 2013 recipient of the Australia Council's Ros Bower Award for lifetime achievement in community cultural development practice. She has worked with culturally diverse communities on creative projects in Western Sydney for over two decades.

S. Shakthidharan

Shakthi is a writer/director of theatre and film; and musician and composer of original music, based in Western Sydney. His work has been shown at Sydney Film Festival, Carriageworks, Parramasala, Ten Days on the Island and Floating Land Festivals. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of CuriousWorks and Associate Artist at Carriageworks from 2013-2015. In 2011 Shakthi was awarded the Kirk Robson by Australia Council for the Arts, given to an artist for their work in relation to social justice and community cultural leadership.

Wayne Harrison AM

Wayne is a former artistic director/CEO of Sydney Theatre Company, as well as Creative Director of Sydney's New Year's Eve celebrations on Sydney Harbour and the Director of the Closing Ceremony for the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. He produced and directed one of the first productions at Riverside, Othello, and has continued his association over the years with productions such as Codgers, RU4Me?, Shellshock and the ParraMac Festival. Wayne is currently Chief Creative Officer for Spiegelworld International; productions he has directed for SW include: Absinthe, Desir, Empire (all in New York), Vegas Nocturne (in Las Vegas) and Absinthe (in Miami and LV). The production of Absinthe at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas is now in its fifth year.

Joanne Kee

Joanne was co-Artistic Director and founder of the Sydney International Women's Jazz Festival, Artistic Director at Sydney Improvised Music Association, General Manager of The Song Company, Business Manager of Programming Sydney Opera House, ran a national contemporary music touring project, Sound Travellers, set up creative development and performances residencies for artists and has also worked at the Arts Council of England and Carnivale, multicultural arts festival. As a producer she tours internationally award winning work. She is on the board of Music Australia, Sydney Fringe Festival and the Glebe Chamber of Commerce. She was Chair of Ausdance NSW and chair of the working Group that set up Critical Path.