NORPA, Media Release, 10 March 2023
NORPA is creating a pop-up theatre making space and creative studio in a pavilion at Lismore Showgrounds that will be at the centre of the theatre company’s activity for 2023. Homeless since the 2022 floods, NORPA has had to shift focus from presenting work in an established venue to a more mobile model, with the NORPA Makers Hub providing a much-needed space for NORPA to create original work again and for local practitioners to engage with each other, the company and visiting artists.
“It is important for the NORPA Makers Hub to be in Lismore. NORPA has a 30-year history here and we perform a vital role in our region’s creative ecology. Being back in Lismore we can get a deeper understanding of the role of the arts in recovery,” said NORPA’s Artistic Director Julian Louis. “The NORPA Makers Hub is a space for artists to connect, fuel their creative practice and spark ideas for new Australian work that speak to our experiences here, at the forefront of a radically changing world.”
The NORPA Makers Hub offers a series of free workshops and intimate events focusing on local creatives, First Nations artists and young people. The Makers Hub will also be the incubator for research and development of major new NORPA works to be presented in 2024 and 2025.
Later in the year NORPA will stage a large scale, free outdoor performance of Mitch King’s powerful Yaegl and Bundjalung work, Flow, and will present the second edition of Bundjalung Nghari – Indigenise, readings of new writing by Bundjalung writers and creatives.
The first project at the NORPA Makers Hub, LIFT, is a free workshop program in April for young people in partnership with Strings Attached physical theatre company who specialise in aerial performance. LIFT will give young people skills in aerial choreography and will explore the question: ‘What lifts you up?’ The LIFT workshop will run from 17 – 21 April at the NORPA Makers Hub in Lismore Showgrounds. Applications are now open for young people aged 14 to 21 at norpa.org.au or by calling 1300 066 772.
In May and June the NORPA Makers Hub will host a program of free workshops by leading local and national practitioners in their areas of diverse expertise. The facilitators include Kaz Therese, Jenni Large, Emma Saunders, Nigel Poulton and Thomas ES Kelly.
“By inviting guest artists we aim to build new collaborations for future projects and, most importantly, offer stimulus and fuel for our performing arts community,” said Julian.
The NORPA Makers Hub will also host a fun ‘Creative Speed Dating’ evening event on Thursday 25 May for all local creatives working in any discipline to gather, connect, share their practice and find out more about each other in an entertaining, informal way.
Bookings for the LIFT youth workshop are open now at norpa.org.au. Bookings the Creative Speed Dating night and the other workshops will open Monday 20 March. All workshops are free but numbers are limited so please book in. To be kept in the loop of all things NORPA, sign up to their e-news at norpa.org.au.
