Fairfax Festival – 15 years on

For 15 years, the Fairfax Festival in Swan Hill has given young people from regional and remote Victoria the opportunity to create their own performances and theatre. Festival director Claire Glenn tells AussieTheatre.com about this event that gives young and disadvantaged people the opportunity to create theatre that matters to them.

 For 15 years, the Fairfax Festival in Swan Hill has given young people from regional and remote Victoria the opportunity to create their own performances and theatre. Festival director Claire Glenn tells AussieTheatre.com about this event that gives young and disadvantaged people the opportunity to create theatre that matters to them From 25 to 28 October 2011, Swan Hill hosts the fifteenth Fairfax Festival. “It’s seeing, first had, the positive impact performing arts is having on disadvantaged young people that makes me love it so much,” says Claire Glenn, who is involved in her fourth festival and directing her second.

Origins of the Festival

The Fairfax Festival began in 1997 to give disadvantaged young people from regional and remote Victoria the chance to be involved in creating new theatre.  
With no cost passed onto the participants, this annual event is open to anyone who wants to have a go. For most of the schools or communities that come to the festival this is their first or only opportunity to experience the interaction and education that a Performing Arts program can offer.
Always valuing what young people have to say, the festival is named in memory of Victorian theatre legend George Fairfax, who had a gift for bringing creative artists together to produce performances that has as much meaning for their creators as they did for their audience.

Workshops and Performance

With workshops and performances, the festival gives young people the opportunity to explore their creative abilities by creating the space to for them to develop a original pieces of theatre with the guidance of industry professionals.  
Claire explains how during the workshops some discover a talent that they didn’t know they had and they realise they want to pursue that further and have a career in the Performing Arts.  She says, “Some, who have trouble socializing. for varying reasons, start to feel that it’s ok to be themselves and they begin to make friends and to find their voice.” 
They then perform to an audience of their peers, friends, families and the public at the Swan Hill Town Hall PACC.   

The Festival’s Aims

Everything the festival does starts with its three aims:
To encourage young people to be creative, imaginative, inventive, adventurous, collaborative and skilful in the creation of original devised or scripted short theatre performance.To develop theatre skills and the appreciation of the creative arts amongst young people.To engage young people in the festival spirit, and to encourage the mutual appreciation and positive regard of each other’s work.

How does the Festival work?

Since 2009, students from all around Victoria and southern New South Wales travel to Swan Hill for three days where they participate in workshops with nationally and internationally renowned artists before performing in the beautiful Swan Hill Town Hall PACC on the final night. In 2011, the festival was extended to four days and this year welcomes thirteen groups including secondary schools, youth theatre groups, multicultural groups and a special needs group from as far as Mildura in north-west Victoria, to Mount Eliza on the Mornington Peninsula and New South Wales.The workshop artists Some of the professional artists working with the festival this year are Don Bridges, Kaarin Fairfax, Penelope Bartlau, Petra Kalive, Ryan McRobb, Douglas Bair, Beth Child, Maryanne Lynch and Janette Vallance.   Some of the workshops students will enjoy are performance creation, Bunraku puppetry, playwriting, music and rhythm in performance, monologue preparation and performance, sound creation and circus skills. In addition, they will rehearse their prepared ten-minute performance pieces and develop their stagecraft and technical skills. Claire tells a story from last year’s festival when actor Don Bridges ran a Shakespeare workshop. “One boy who is illiterate took part and, despite not being able to read most of the words, got up and performed in front of 20 other participants. He just wanted to have a go.  He substituted ‘blah blah blah for words he didn’t know and in the context of the performance was still clear. His teacher came up to Don and me later and thanked us for giving this student the confidence to feel ok to do that.  He is returning in 2011.” 

Aboriginal Culture Programs

 In 2011, the Festival is also involved with two satellite programs in collaboration with the Swan Hill Aboriginal Health Service and Swan Hill College ESL Program. These programs are The Arts Centre’s Dig Deep Sound Project, and the Murak Murak Project – a traditional creation story based on local Aboriginal history and culture.

2011 Fairfax Festival (the George Fairfax Memorial Regional Youth Theatre Festival)25–28 October 2011Swan Hill Town Hall Performing Arts and Conference CentreTickets on sale now for Gala Performance!Visit www.fairfaxfestival.com.au for more information and to book tickets.