Tech boost lets performance group shine

ZOOM STAR: Josh Ewen gets to grips with online rehearsals (photo: supplied)

AN INVERELL performance project that puts artists living with a disability centre stage has taken its platform online as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and with the help of a micro grant from Arts North West, the group has found the virtual rehearsal room has expanded its horizons.

Stephanie Marshall is the creative director of Unstop-Ability, described as “a celebration of ability and inclusion”. She spoke with Arts North West about the collaborative nature of a venture that brings artists and audiences together, those who identify as living with a disability, and those who don’t.

“The restrictions brought about by Covid-19 have meant that I can’t meet with my participants in person,” she said. “I applied for a micro grant to roll out the Zoom app as a platform to allow my collaborating artists to still engage with each other and work towards our next performance”.

“I have been working with my participants now for around three months on the Zoom platform. Many live with a disability and are among the most economically challenged groups in our community.

“We have found that it is an effective tool to allow for collaboration and connection, but there have been technical challenges,” she said.

Overcoming hurdles

Featuring the performances of around 60 youth and adults of all abilities from the Inverell area, Unstop-Ability asks audiences and participants to focus on ability.

“On what we can do, not what we can’t,” the group’s Facebook description states. “It is inclusion turned on its head, because we invite people into somebody else’s world to widen our perspectives on creativity.”

The group has been thrilling audiences since 2018, with dance, sound and light, but according to Stephanie, having fast and reliable internet is the group’s “biggest concern” when faced with not being able to meet in person.

“Many of the participants need to access public Wi-Fi, which during the strictest Covid restrictions found places like McDonald’s restaurants and public libraries closed,” she said.

“However, despite the limitations, it’s been an overwhelmingly positive experience, with a lot of potential for continued use beyond Covid restrictions.

“Many of my participants are in remote rural communities, and it’s not always possible for them to get into Inverell to attend live rehearsals. Zoom allows them to still be connected and contributors despite the distance and their disability.

“It’s been a surprising thing to see how open the participants are to trying this new technology, and how easy the Zoom meeting lends itself to a rehearsal scenario.”

Find and follow Unstop-Ability on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unstopability/

Drawing the Isolation Away

KNEAD FOR ART: Armidale artist Fiona McDonald is experimenting with malleable graphite for a new series of works. (photo: supplied)

INVITING audiences into her creative process is the plan for an Armidale-based creative to combat the common feelings of uncertainty that come with widespread COVID-19 closures of galleries and cultural institutions. 

Artist, author and educator Fiona McDonald works at home in what she describes as her “very messy living room” and a “beautifully clean and organised studio in the Mall”, but with the help of a micro grant from Arts North West she is breaking down the barriers between creator and audience during the pandemic.

“My project aims to rejuvenate my usual feelings of creativity and optimism through drawing,” she told Arts North West this week.

“By creating immersive drawings and posting their progress on social media I hope to dissipate the fear and discomfort of a reduced income, which further exacerbates feelings of isolation and hopelessness.

“My work focuses on inviting viewer participation in the interpretation and meaning of the narrative I produce. The project will move from initial drawings rendered in black and white, expressing loneliness and isolation, and move onto coloured images representing a renewal of creativity and energy for both artist and audience and the inner strength found in that creative process.”

Kneadable graphite 

In addition to reaching out to online audiences, Fiona, a graduate of Sydney’s Julian Ashton Art School, plans to develop fresh techniques and use unfamiliar materials while producing this experimental range of works.

“I have been experimenting with some of the new media I have purchased and am planning the finished pieces,” she said.

“I am still working on making some mini videos showing what I am using and how it can be used. The drawings are not as big as I had hoped because I was limited by the paper size available locally, but this is not a problem.

“The pieces I am working on are much looser than my normal work and some of them are abstract. This is liberating, although I feel I am not as in control as I am with known media, such as my usual black pen.

“I have really enjoyed using kneadable graphite and then working into it with an electric eraser.”

Viewers can follow Fiona’s unfolding experiment on her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/123fionadolls and Instagram: @atholglen. Finished work can be viewed on her website: www.fionamcdonaldart.com

Make Haste for Online Shakespearean Workshops

A SERIES of free online workshops will give New England North West Year 11 and 12 students, and their university counterparts, the chance to pick up Shakespearean performance techniques, historical context and language tips, and participants are encouraged to sign up fast.

Actor, facilitator and University of New England Theatre Studies graduate Alex Robson of Inverell is the force behind this skill-sharing program, which was made possible by a micro grant from Arts North West. The focus will be William Shakespeare’s enduring romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet.

Three Sydney-based actors will assist in the delivery of this unique learning opportunity for aspiring performing artists, which will culminate in a rehearsed reading of the play on the Zoom online chat service.

“Parts of the workshops will be recorded and made available to the public,” Alex told Arts North West. “It is also hoped that these workshops will lead to a season of live performances – featuring some of the workshop participants – across the region once the lockdown has ended.”

An actor, director and writer, Alex won an international scholarship to study the works of Shakespeare at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. He subsequently devised two plays about the Bard and his work: A Short Guide to Shakespeare and Shakespeare's Villains: Everyone But Iago, the former appearing in the 2014 Sydney Fringe then touring the state.

After recently winning another scholarship to study at Shakespeare’s Globe in London, he was forced to change tack when COVID-19 ruined his plans.

Actors Jade Fuda, Reilly O’Byrne-Inglis and Nicholas Foustellis round out the wealth of experience of offer for online workshop participants in this unique learning experience.

Places are limited and students wishing to participate will need to complete and return an expression of interest form by 5pm Monday June 22, 2020. A media release form is also required (signed by a parent or guardian for underage participants) for all those signing up, and all four workshops must be attended.

For more information, see The Two Sticks website (https://twostickstheatre.wordpress.com/) and Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/TwoSticksTheatre/), or email alexkendallrobson@gmail.com.

Sarah Streams for her Supper

TECH-SAVVY SONGSTRESS: Baan Baa singer-songwriter Sarah Leete (photo: supplied)

A ONE-HOUR live performance distributed on social media by a Narrabri Shire-based singer-songwriter has added to the array of artists reaching out to new audiences as part of an initiative funded by Arts North West.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Baan Baa musician Sarah Leete toured her special blend of country music locally and interstate, but like so many other recording artists, she was faced with the sudden closure of performing arts venues in March.

“I have now been forced to take it solely online,” the singer told Arts North West this week.

While online performances might seem an easy task, as Sarah explained they’re no mean feat considering the expectation of high quality sound and lighting in online arts offerings, and working with limited or no access to technical support.

“I received a micro grant so I could perform on a high-quality live stream broadcast to my fans on social media,” Sarah said. “The grant helped me to purchase the equipment to use my DSLR camera to stream the project, as well as lighting and sound gear to make it look and sound professional.”

According to Sarah the project is going well, with her first video (assisted ably by family members) attracting close to 1000 views across the country and a huge response from fans on social media, many of whom generously donated to the singer’s PayPal account in exchange for her gutsy performance.

“The learning experience has been very steep though, and I have found it quite challenging,” she said.

“I would consider myself to be somewhat tech-savvy, but this project required a lot more time, effort, learning and understanding than I anticipated.

“Ultimately the live broadcast of my performance went off without a hitch, but there will be things I can improve on for next time.”

Unexpected obstacle

Performing a blend of originals and cover songs, Sarah spent the hour-long broadcast taking requests and delivering shout-outs to her fans, but she also dealt with unexpected phone calls, had to moderate comments while on air, and as she told Arts North West, an unexpected obstacle nearly threw the whole idea on its head.

“The main surprises in this project were technical,” she said, “but I also struggled to purchase the equipment necessary to complete the task, as a lot of musicians around the world are trying to do the same thing!”

Follow Sarah’s journey and live streams on her Facebook page www.facebook.com/sarahleetemusic and Instagram www.instagram.com/sarahleetemusic