Matt Crook

Hi there. This is Van Badham. I'm a writer and you may have read my articles on political subjects in the GuardianAus, The Hoopla, The Drum, Women's Agenda, The Telegraph (UK) or Daily Life.

I'm also a theatremaker, and this year I have the great good fortune to me working with my regular collaborators, Adelaide theatre company five.point.one, on the creation of a new work for the Adelaide Fringe Festival 2014.

The show is called Notoriously Yours, and it's about the surveillance state.

Like many people, I was greatly alarmed by revelations into government surveillance and spying that were exposed by the whistleblowing US information analyst Edward Snowden. Snowden spoke out to warn citizens that - in our technological age of near-ubiquitous internet use - the meta data of private phone calls, emails, FaceBook and even internet dating can be accessed by our governments. His revelations have terrifying implications for freedom and the future of democracy.

Notoriously Yours is a work of fiction that considers the implication of government spying on private citizens. Whereas good journalism must communicate only the facts as they are known, theatre has the freedom to imaginatively speculate on future scenarios suggested by the known facts. Five.point.one and I are making Notoriously Yours because we are concerned about privacy and freedom in the age of the internet and we want to contribute to a broader cultural and artistic conversation about what Snowden has revealed.

As an independent theatre company making radical political work, you can imagine that our resources are limited to very little financial capital and enormous amounts of human enthusiasm. We are working as a collective and sacrificing paid jobs in order to make work we believe is an important and articulate contribution to the community conversation about freedom and privacy.

But we need your help - while we are as strong as our human resources, we are also vulnerable to our human experience: on the very first day of rehearsal, one of our core team of five learned of the death of a parent. While "the show must go on", we are now seeking help to make things easier for our colleague's mourning by raising money to resource the show while he takes necessary time out from the production process to grieve.

If you could help us with just a $5 donation, you'll be giving us a very appreciated hand to build a set, hire equipment, get posters put up, have costumes constructed, pay labourers, rig lights and provide transport to our creatives and crew. If we make more than the budget we've costed for this campaign, we'll use the money to seek touring opportunities for show beyond the Adelaide Fringe, so that Notoriously Yours can keep the conversation about privacy and democracy going intercity, interstate, nationally and internationally.

We've put together a video to introduce you to the team and talk about the project. There are further details below. We have some unusual and hilarious rewards for those who can donate to us, and more information about the show appears below.

We'd also be very grateful if you'd please help us spread the word about what we're doing to those who are interested in the issues of freedom and privacy, as well as those in Adelaide who might want to come along and see the show.

Thanks for reading!

- Van Badham





NOTORIOUSLY YOURS

Not ones to catch their breath, award winning Adelaide based theatre company five.point.one, (with the support of AJZ productions), is proud to kick of 2014 with the world premiere of Notoriously Yours during The Adelaide Fringe.
Notoriously Yours (written by Van Badham for the five.point.one team) is a darkly romantic exploration of the intimate territory of internet hookups and the infinite intrusions of a surveillance state. Borrowing the tropes and traditions from noir cinema, Notoriously Yours interrogates political identity and sexual privacy in the era of Edward Snowdon, AnonOps and the phenomenon of internet cruising.

The production will be hosted by the exciting new Adelaide Hub of fringe entertainment, “Live From Channel 9: The Chapel of Love & Kevin Crease Studios” on Tynte Street in North Adelaide.
Playwright Van Badham last collaborated with Adelaide ensemble company five.point.one in 2013 with the critically-acclaimed black comedy Muff. Notoriously Yours reunites Badham with Muff performers Brad Williams and Claire Glenn within a scorching hour of sex, love and intrigue in the darkest borderlands of the geopolitical mind.Our team is thrilled to unleash this piece of provocative, exciting new Australian writing; a MUST SEE production this fringe.

Unfortunately theatre making isn’t cheap, even when the cast and creatives donate their time to the production. Luckily we’ve secured our rehearsal space and performance venue but we still need to complete our payments for the performance duration. We also need help raising money for our design, props, costumes and tech. Any monies raised will go directly towards the production budget of Notoriously Yours, by Van Badham. All of your support will have a direct and tangible impact on what you see on stage.

Taking on an Adelaide Fringe Theatre production is not without its challenges. It’s sometimes hard to get bums on seats in a sea of 966 events (112 theatre productions) spread across the city. However, we've secured our passionate production team, an excellent, supportive venue hub (that everyone is talking about), our rehearsal and performance space. The production is certain. New work is often risky, but Van Badham and five.point.one have a history of successful collaboration and critical acclaim.