{"id":3737,"date":"2014-05-02T18:04:43","date_gmt":"2014-05-02T18:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/?p=3737"},"modified":"2014-05-03T13:30:33","modified_gmt":"2014-05-03T13:30:33","slug":"australian-theatre-company-launches-in-la","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/australian-theatre-company-launches-in-la\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to Aussiewood"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Australian Theatre Company Launches in L.A.
\n<\/strong><\/h1>\n

By Pauline Adamek<\/h2>\n

\"Sydney_Australia_tourism_travels_tourist_attractions\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger, Nicole Kidman. Phil Noyce, George Miller, Baz Luhrmann . . .<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ever since the swashbuckling days of Errol Flynn, people have been marveling at the wealth of talent that emerges from Australia, sometimes even complaining about the \u201cAussie invasion\u201d of US screens.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Well, hang on to yer hats, mate, because the Gum Leaf Mafia is about to storm Hollywood\u2019s theater stages as well \u2014 welcome to Aussiewood!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Intent on sharing Australian stories, voices, culture and talent \u2014 as well as collaborating with topnotch American practitioners \u2014 co-producers Nick Hardcastle and Nate Jones have formed the U.S.A.\u2019s very first Australian stage troupe — Australian Theatre Company. Following initial discussions late last year, by mid-March the company had raised over $50,000 via a Kickstarter crowdsourcing campaign in order to get going. The ATC will mark its debut with the Los Angeles <\/b>premiere of Holding the Man<\/i>, adapted by Tommy Murphy from the best-selling memoir by writer, actor and activist Timothy Conigrave. Featuring an all-Australian cast and directed by Hollywood acting coach Larry Moss, opening night is set for May 10 <\/b>at the Matrix Theatre.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Initially set at Xavier College, an all-boys Jesuit Catholic school in Melbourne during the 1970s, \u00a0Holding the Man <\/i>tracks the 15-year-long love story between two young men. The title refers to a term used in Australian football rules, referring to a transgression that incurs a penalty.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The original stage version of this emotional memoir remains one of the most successful Australian theater productions of recent times. The play premiered in 2006, enjoying a critically endorsed, sold-out season at Sydney\u2019s Griffin Theatre Company (one of Australia\u2019s leading theaters dedicated to new-writing), and became the troupe\u2019s highest-grossing production in its 30-year history. After multiple productions around Australia, the play transferred to London\u2019s West End in 2010.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Nick<\/a>
Nick Hardcastle with Karen Lanyon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the Australian Consul General\u2019s home in Brentwood, Stage Raw<\/i> spoke with the company\u2019s co-founders Nick Hardcastle and Nate Jones about their launch, <\/i>and asked them why form an Aussie theater company here in L.A. Why now?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Nate<\/a>
Nate Jones (left), with Adam J. Yeend<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hardcastle expressed amazement that nobody had done this before. \u201cWe only started talking about this last November, and we are launching it in April, with our first full-scale production opening in May. When I met Nate it felt like \u2014 \u2018yes!\u2019 \u2014 two people who shared the same enthusiasm, the same vision.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very exciting,\u201d added Jones. \u201c. . . a bit of a whirlwind!\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hardcastle mentioned the breadth and quality of Australian talent here, \u201cbut also L.A. has so many theaters and different spaces . . . We can turn over many projects and tell more stories and involve people \u2014 but really, the first thing for me was the range of talent here.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hardastle and Jones are really plugging into the ethos of the 99-Seat Theater plan in L.A., and why it has generated such a burst of activity.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Harcastle explains: \u201cWe\u2019re all desperate to be busy and be creative. \u2018Oh my gosh \u2014 I\u2019ve had 17 television auditions this week, maybe two call backs, but I haven\u2019t booked anything for six months. I\u2019m an actor \u2014 I wanna work. I\u2019m a director \u2014 I wanna direct. I\u2019m a writer \u2014 I want to see my words come to life.\u2019<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cSo we just want to harness that talent, as well as provide an opportunity for us all to develop and take advantage of the American practitioners that we have access to here, who are so amazing at what they do and are willing to shepherd us and help us grow us as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"ATC's<\/a>
ATC’s cast of “Holding the Man”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Why Holding the Man<\/i> <\/i>for ATC\u2019s launch? First, they\u2019d worked on it before. <\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI had been involved with it for a really long time,\u201d Jones said. \u201cMost of our cast members, as well as Nick, have some attachment to this amazing story.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hardcastle said he\u2019d use The Matrix as the company\u2019s home base, if possible. But he\u2019s looking outside those walls.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to develop a broad range of theater, and theater isn\u2019t just plays. We\u2019re hoping to stage all sorts of independently produced live entertainment, cabaret, musicals, romance \u2014 we\u2019re very open. We\u2019ll stage rehearsed readings that we can do in pubs, that kind of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Holding the Man opens on May 10 and continues through June 29, with performances on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Previews Thursday, May 8 and Friday, May 9, 8 p.m. General admission is $34.99. The Matrix Theatre is located at 7657 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90046 (west of Stanley Ave., between Fairfax and La Brea). For reservations and information, call 323-960-7735 or go to <\/i>www.holdingtheman.us<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Show\u00a0 Info;\u00a0 <\/a>ATC\u2019s Facebook Page<\/a><\/p>\n

Connect to Matrix Theatre Company<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Australian Theater Company — the first Aussie stage troupe in the U.S. — launches in L.A. after a successful Kickstarter campaign with its production of “Holding the Man” at the Matrix. Stage Raw’s own Aussie delegate, Pauline Adamek, spoke with co-founders Nick Hardcastle and Nate Jones at a bash hosted by the Australian consulate. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_custom_body_class":"","_custom_post_class":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-column","entry","has-media"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3737"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3737\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3773,"href":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3737\/revisions\/3773"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stageraw.com\/oldStageRaw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}