Kasha Kaczmarek

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Thank you so much to everyone for getting us over the line, but it's not over yet!

DID YOU KNOW that most of the 52 artists working on these projects is doing so on an in-kind basis? With the extra money we raise:
- TBC, 15 Minutes From Anywhere & Man With a Plan will be able to allocate additional funds to these artists, AND
- Fire Curtain Co. will be able to pay for the full license for the rights to The One (the full license fee is $1800 - our $5000 target covers $1425 of this)

Those are pretty compelling reasons for us to keep raising money!

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TBC Theatre , 15 Minutes From Anywhere, Man With A Plan, Fire Curtain Co. What do these four companies have in common? We're all presenting works as part of the inaugural Poppy Seed Festival this year. 

Four bold and vibrant emerging independent theatre companies, comprising 52 artists, joining forces to give Melbourne a festival experience it will never forget.

Collectively, our four works are extremely diverse: a new text inspired by an 1895 Australian novel, rare texts by canonical playwright Tennessee Williams, a devised text based on Chekhov’s famous sisters, and an award-winning international text adapted for an Australian audience.



For independent theatre companies, gaining access to financial support from government bodies is incredibly difficult.  Poppy Seed, Melbourne’s newest grass roots theatre festival, offers an alternative by giving independent theatre companies partial financial and logistical support to produce their dream project.

For us this is invaluable. By taking away some of the financial risk it has given our emerging companies the freedom to produce the kind of high-quality work we could otherwise not afford to make, allowing us to gain experience as artists and contribute to Melbourne's rich independent theatre scene; arguably one of the most vibrant in the world.

However, we don't just want to make good theatre, we want to make great theatre and reaching our Pozible target will allow us to fully realise our artistic visions.

The Shows

REWARDS: Magnet Options

REWARDS: Open Rehearsal Dates

The Poppy Seed Theatre Festival is unique in that it provides companies with a performance venue, marketing and artistic support, and a small allocation of funds to contribute to production costs. While we’ve been pretty savvy in stretching our allocated funds, we need $5000 to put towards a few final necessities which will allow us to produce our shows and give Melbourne audiences the best independent theatre festival experience possible.

The funds pledged will go towards the following individual show expenses (more detailed info below):

Project: Hysteria - $850 for an AUSLAN interpreted performance
The Yellow Wave - $500 for a couch
Gin Sister - $1425 for set materials
The One - $1425 to put towards licensing fees for the play text
Pozible fees & reward expenses - $800

PROJECT: HYSTERIA

For TBC Theatre, one of our main aims in moving forward as a company is providing access to our work to a wide variety of people. The Trades Hall Ballroom has disabled access, but we would also like to take it a step further and provide an Auslan interpreted performance of our show. The money pledged will go towards paying for the talent of two dedicated Auslan interpreters from the organisation Auslan Stage Left, covering their preparation, rehearsal and performance time.

THE YELLOW WAVE

The Yellow Wave is a show of genuinely epic proportions. It has over 20 characters, locations ranging from the Arabian Sea to Northern Queensland, a vast array of accents, 1 narrator and 2 actors playing every role. That’s right 2 actors playing over 20 roles in 70 minutes. It’s tough work but someone has to do it. We need your help to buy them somewhere to sit. A sofa. A couch. In this show, a vital set design element as well as a place for a couple of weary actors to find some respite for their weary legs. That's true value for money and greatly appreciated.

GIN SISTER

Gin Sister is a visual feast and Man With A Plan’s first completely devised work. While we don't want to give too much away, our visual feast includes haze machines, large quantities of glass wear, various liquids, microphones, a green fairy, and one of the most impressive tables seen on an independent stage. Being a new work, these are just the elements which we know, with every spark of genius taking us in new and exciting directions. So help us realise this shows full aesthetic potential, and allow us to give you the theatrical experience you so richly deserve.

THE ONE

Fire Curtain Co. are passionate about supporting the work of emerging writers, both local and international. Our creative team for The One includes the young playwright and Green Room Award nominee Rachel Perks, giving her the opportunity to work in collaboration with UK playwright Vicky Jones on her award-winning text, adapting it for an Australia audience. To make this possible, we have to pay a licensing fee to Vicky Jones, which sits outside of our funding allocation from the festival.

The festival is built around an ensemble model, giving the companies the rare opportunity to work in partnership with each other, sharing ideas, resources, and support. With 52 artists involved, that's a lot of friends to call on!

However, our biggest challenge is the newness of the festival and the lack of knowledge of its existence, which means we have to work extra hard to spread the word about our shows and ensure we're reaching as wide an audience as possible with our marketing. 

We're doing this through the usual avenues of printed promo material and radio and print interviews, but we've also added targeted social media campaigns and a bit of guerilla marketing in to the mix. And with so many of us working together to spread awareness of the shows, we're pretty confident Melbourne will be well aware of our existence in time for the first Opening Night.