Panopticon Collective is a brand-new Melbourne theatre and film production company founded by actor/director/writers Jeni Bezuidenhout and Sebastian Bertoli. Our focus is on creating new Australian work, exploring themes of national identity and social responsibility. We are committed to working toward paying artists.



Our first production is a beautiful new play called "Love, Sarah" by Kathryn Goldie - we're super PUMPED about it! Our venue is Scratch Warehouse, an exciting new art space in North Melbourne.
But making art in Australia is difficult. We are very lucky to live in a country in which we have the freedom to make art. However for young, independent companies there are limited funding options and applying for funding is a very long process that requires a body of work to prove yourself.

Every company has to start somewhere, and so we are raising the funds to put on our first play.

Our playwright Kathryn Goldie has had her work described as "writing that brings the audience closer to the characters’ hearts" (Anne-Marie Peard, Sometimes Melbourne). Her latest play is "Love, Sarah":

A young woman travelling around the world maintains a lifeline back home through a series of postcards written to her grandmother. Separated by 16,000km and by a generation, this is a story of the impact people can have on your life and the value of memories.

We were introduced to Constantin Pilavios' beautiful and simple short film "What is that?" (Τι είναι αυτό;) (2007) and after we saw it we got curious about exploring the relationships in our lives that span generations.
After contacting Kathryn Goldie and asking her if she'd like to write something for us, we discovered that this was also something that she was passionate about exploring. In this case, Kathryn's inspiration was her relationship with her grandmother. After a few weeks of feedback and notes, and several subsequent drafts, we find ourselves at the beginning of rehearsals this week!

We are also working with fellow Scratch Warehouse artist Cameron Silman who will be utilising his incredible talents to design our set. We are so excited to bring someone as incredibly talented as Cameron on board this project and know that his work is going to add so much unique character and really help breathe life into "Love, Sarah".

Hang on, I hear you say, what is this Scratch Warehouse that we keep talking about? Scratch is a community minded mixed art space, with a gallery, theatre, private art studios and library based in North Melbourne.
 
Scratch Crew (L-R): Timothy Christopher Ryan (Theatre and Events Manager), Xanthia Walker (Art Studios and Gallery Manager), Tash Mills (Bar, Live Music and Shop Manager) & Amelia Mulqueen (Workshops, Live Music and Shop Manager).

An important part of Panopticon Collective's mission statement is our commitment to working toward paying artists.
With your support, you will be actively participating in building a company that is dedicated to telling original Australian stories.

We have been very fortunate to have some talented artists come on board to help us create this show at reduced rates and have received some much appreciated in kind support.
However there are still upfront costs that make it tough to get a production off the ground. We are only able to pay a small number of the artists on our first project, however we are committed to working toward paying all our artists in the future.
But to do this we need to establish ourselves as a company - with your help we can raise enough money to put on this new Australian work.

FUNDING will be used for:

- Venue hire: 1st-5th July
- Rehearsal space hire (60 hours): 2-3 rehearsals a week over June
- Artist Fees
- Set Building Materials
- Lighting design and equipment
- Costume and props
- Marketing and printing promotional material

Our target amount is the basic amount needed to cover our costs. If we are lucky enough to make over our this figure, this will significantly improve the value of our production and enable us to put on the best show that we possibly can!

One of the major challenges is the limited funding options that independent companies compete for. We are therefore forced to raise the funds ourselves to get our production up. And as this is our first project, we are starting from square one. We want to make this the best experience for both the audience coming to see the show, and the artists working on the show with us.
All of the artists involved with this project work multiple part-time jobs to pay our bills so that we can do what we love. It makes it difficult and very stressful for us to get better at what we're doing. Our passion and determination keeps us going, but we are struggling financially and that what's brought us here!

Getting connected to our audiences and opening up to the fourth wall. Hello! Let’s PLAY! We really are passionate to tell stories that resonate with our community. Without the support of the community there is no reason to do what we are doing. We want to open a line of communication and support our supporters to have a voice in the work we are doing. Help create our work with us by telling us what you think, sharing your stories and experiences. We want everyone to walk away having an incredible experience and feeling like they have helped to create something magical. This will be a challenge, but we are so incredibly excited about the potential of expanding to the reason we make art - to come together as a community.