Shakespeare Globe Centre Australia's annual national Student Festival will culminate this year at Theatre 3 in Canberra with 2 public performances of Bard-O! on December 16 and 17.
The students will be celebrating along with the Premier of NSW, Bob Carr, who told SGCA's Director Hugh O'Keefe "It is a great personal joy to me that students still find inspiration and pleasure in the works of Shakespeare almost four hundred years after his death." But O'Keefe and his Board, led by Diana Denley, founder and Director of the International Program which sends each year's winner to The Globe Theatre in London for 2 weeks' intensive theatre experience, are hoping that Bob Carr's sentiment can be turned into cash.
The problem is that their major sponsor since 1990, Mr Edward Gilly, who provided at least 80% of the $120,000 per year that SCGA costs to run, is no longer able to continue his support. Schools, of course, pay a fee to take part in the Festival, but this generates no more than $20,000 per year, each State basically only covering its immediate costs. So where will the money come from? Save Our Shakespeare is the real theme behind Bard-O!.
Putting a Pistol to the head of potential corporate sponsors has not yet produced results, but there is a proposal for a joint arrangement with Bell Shakespeare Company, Sydney Theatre Company and the Performing Arts Unit of the NSW Department of Education and Training. The dominance of Sydney on the national stage is unfortunate, and ACT Education and Arts Minister Bill Stefaniak and Canberra Tourism and Events Corporation can expect calls shortly. After all the Shakespeare Globe Festival brings the professional team and 38 students and their entourages to Canberra for 2 weeks' rehearsal leading to the December 16 - 17 performances, and schools across Canberra are heavily involved.
Teachers, of course, do most of the work - and one is chosen each year for an overseas professional development trip. Victorian coordinators organised a fundraiser this year, showing the movie Titus, but when this work is in addition to the already extra-curricular teaching for the Festival, teacher overload goes past the point of effective returns.
Contact Shakespeare Globe Centre Australia at sgca@mail.usyd.edu.au or phone (02) 9351 5231 - especially if you have $100,000 to offer!
© Frank McKone, Canberra
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