making theatre "mainstream"...

1. Big Brother exists/succeeds in the vacuum created when we don't engage with real people. (and of course because of the boobs and willys!) 2. We don't have 'some' responsibility as artists Abbz, we have ALL the responsibility. noone else should be expected to make it happen for us. It is way to easy to blame others for our predicaments in life, but artists of all people should never allow ourselves to have paradigms dictated to us. We are in the business of shifting paradigms. 3. I actually think that most govt on the whole are actually quite supportive of theatre and other arts, but as I've stated earlier- it must get votes for them to create policy and increase money. It's actually their job in a democracy. votes=people's will 4. Yes, you can build audiences with a lot of work- anything worth doing in life takes an enormous amount of effort and a lot of 'free' work in the beginning. It's no different for big business or sporting teams either. If you want the world to look how you want it, be willing to make a stand and cause it! 5. Now ideas- The WA Opera have done something that I think highlights one of the key ingredients for building audiences when they performed Richard Mills' 'Batavia'. It was a huge work, very expensive, very modern musically, and quite a challenge for an audience. However, it was a story I could relate to, because it was part of my history, my story. and it was very successful for an opera, especially a new one, at the box office. Tell our stories. Not stories of Berlin pre WW2, not the communist block in the 60's, tell Australian stories to Australian audiences. They are out there! Maybe this is why Williamson is so successful. whether we like it or not, Big Brother in a way is giving us a clearer insight into modern Australian culture than most of the theatre out there. (am I going to get hit for that or what?!) cheers Nev It's the simple things stupid...