On a local level, the project is open to 15 – 20 year old people from the Murray-Mallee region but will be centred around SHYTE, a youth theatre ensemble based in Swan Hill. Swan Hill Youth Theatre Ensemble (SHYTE) was formed in 2009 by a group of young people who met as part of the Fairfax Festival, a youth festival of theatre creation which is held annually in Swan Hill. Their wish was to provide an alternative to the sports culture which pervades this region and provide an alternative form of recreation and skill development to the young people of Swan Hill.
Membership numbers and ages have varied over the years as young people leave school and pursue higher education, but SHYTE currently has 8 active members aged between 14 and 19 years old. Since its inception SHYTE participants have travelled to Melbourne to participate in workshops at the Malthouse Theatre and Next Wave, travelled to the Adelaide Fringe Festival, written and performed new work under the guidance of the Swan Hill Performing Arts department and performed twice for the community and as part of the Fairfax Festival.
The exchange program will also be open to other young people who are not yet active members of SHYTE. With suitable funding we hope to invite young people from the Aboriginal Health Services who just recently had over 60 young people of various ages perform in the Marruk-Marruk project, a theatre piece written and performed by the members of the local aboriginal community which ran concurrently with the 2011 Fairfax Festival and Go North Arts Festival, as well as other young people from outlying regions of the Murray-Mallee region.
WHO WILL BE INVOLVED ON AN INTERNATIONAL LEVEL:
Mala Scena – Zlín, Czech Republic.
www.malascenaZlin.cz
Mala scena was established in 1969 by Antonin Navratil who set up an amateur theatre group at a drama section of the Art school in Zlín. Since 1978 it has actively collaborated with theatre companies in Germany and England – even during the Communist era it was involved in travelling to these countries and developing collaborative works between these very different cultures.
G.L.Y.P.T. – Greenwich & Lewisham Young People’s Theatre.
www.glypt.co.uk
G.L.Y.P.T. has been creating theatre with & for young people, throughout London, for over 40 years. It has been involved in working with Mala Scena on numerous occasions throughout its history both hosting artists and sending artists to Zlín to work together.
Swan Hill Performing Arts is a program of the Swan Hill Rural City Council and is supported by the Victorian Government |
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