The work of two renowned international theatre makers behind The Centre for Australasian Theatre will be showcased for the first time in November during JUTE Theatre Company’s annual Indie Season.

The JUTE Indie Season program was established in 2008 to foster the development of emerging producers.  Since then, each year a different producer benefits from JUTE’s support to bring new theatre to life.

The 2012 Indie season, supported by the Centre of Contemporary Arts, starts next month with the ground-breaking play The Colony, produced by The Centre for Australasian Theatre.

For JUTE’s Artistic Director/CEO Suellen Maunder it was only fitting to have such a visionary company behind this year’s Indie Season. She believes the show will be a great addition to JUTE’s 20th year celebrations.

“With such a fantastically large vision, The Centre for Australasian Theatre was a stand-out applicant for Indie Season. It will expose audiences to the diversity of this world with the work inhabited by so many mature artists.”  Suellen added.

As the curtain is raised on the theatre company’s inaugural performance of The Colony, for founders Australian Catherine Hassall and Dutch Willem Brugman, it couldn’t have come at better time.

“We have been ready for this for sometime and now as the performance draws closer we are excited to offer this unique experience to Cairns audiences,” Willem said.

The production will run from November 16 to 23 at JUTE Theatre, Centre of Contemporary Arts.

Describing The Colony as “breathtakingly beautiful” with a heartfelt appeal for life, human dignity and freedom, Willem who is also the show’s director, believes The Colony will move audiences as it explores and showcases the power and ingenuity of inter-cultural performance on the live stage.

“We are very excited to be bringing together a talented intercultural ensemble and artistic team to co-create a visceral experience for audiences by combining dance, theatre, song, film, cultural rituals and visual art” he added.

Written for the stage by Graham Henderson from his published novella, The Colony explores the universal themes of the interconnectedness of our shared humanity.

Attracting high calibre artists, Willem said well-known names such as Linda Jackson, Nigel Pegrum, Guy and Gina Allain would join locals Warren Clements, Piers Freeman, Srianjali Gunasena, Sue Hayes, Jeremiah Johnson, Miyako Masaki and Kara Ross to provide depth to the cast and crew.

Catherine will be both one of the producers of the show and a performer on stage. She has over 20 years experience as performer, dancer, writer and choreographer and has studied and worked in many regions of Australia as well as Europe, Japan, Mexico and India.

Willem has been a theatre practitioner his entire career and has 40 years international experience in the practice and theory of contemporary performing arts and has worked in major cities across the world including Amsterdam, Rome, New York and Sydney.

Willem and Catherine both believe that Cairns is the ideal base for their new centre.

“The city itself has both an extraordinarily rich cultural diversity and influential natural ecology from which we draw inspiration. The close proximity of the international airport gives us the opportunity to share our work with the rest of the world.” Willem said.

“Our primary objective is to produce a work that will go out to the rest of the nation as well as appeal to a global audience and we believe this is achievable with The Colony,” Willem added.
 
FAST FACTS    
The Colony by Graham Henderson
DATES: November 16-17, 20-23 November
VENUE: JUTE Theatre, Centre of Contemporary Arts, 96 Abbott St. Cairns
TIMES: 7.30pm
TICKETS: $20-$25 - on sale from the website
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