In partnership with the Helpmann Academy, the Adelaide Festival are providing an exclusive, free masterclass for emerging actors, performers, directors and producers.
Join artists from Pony Cam, an innovative indie theatre company based in Melbourne, for this masterclass when they come to Adelaide to perform Grand Theft Theatre.
Co-created by acclaimed theatre-maker David Williams and members of Pony Cam, Grand Theft Theatre is an irreverent autobiographical work that recreates life-changing theatrical experiences from the creators’ lives.
The session will be facilitated by Claire Bird, Dominic Weintraub, Hugo Williams and William Strom.
This masterclass is free for final year students and graduates (up to five years from final year of study) from our partner institutions. Check your eligibility here.
BOOKINGS ESSENTIAL. PLACES STRICTLY LIMITED.
ABOUT PONY CAM
Pony Cam is a collective of five artists from around Australia. Together, we create theatrical experiences that reinforce community and challenge audiences to receive performance in new and unexpected ways. Pony Cam was founded in 2019, after the collective graduated from the BFA (Theatre) course at the Victorian College of the Arts. While studying we travelled to Berlin, where we trained with a number of international artists. During this exchange, we were deeply inspired by Gob Squad’s collaborative practice, and their formally innovative work.
Since 2019, Pony Cam has made theatre for a number of social & cultural contexts. They have made commissions for the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Melbourne Fringe Festival, and the FUSE Festival. They have created digital artworks using live video streaming, live sound recordings, and Microsoft PowerPoint. And they have created community-engaged works, which bring together groups of non-artists in order to create innovative and communal live performances.
ABOUT THE FACILITATORS
Claire Bird – Creator / Performer
Claire Bird is a Naarm based multidisciplinary artist, maker and performer with dual education at the VCA (theatre) and UNSW (theatre and performance studies; dance). Their work is based in contemporary performance, dance and collaborative practice and swims inside a Frankenstein of queer, clown, provocative deconstruction of form and the downright silly.
Claire is the co-founder of award-winning experimental theatre collective Pony Cam and works highly physically and playfully to create bold new experiences for audiences and community alike. Pony Cam’s practice challenges traditional models of hierarchical performance making, instead seeking to engage in the mess of half-baked ideas, finding harmony in head-butting and bodily modes of making. They seek a provocative edge through humour, theatrical thievery and the breaking down of form.
Dominic Weintraub – Creator / Performer / Associate Producer
Dominic Weintraub is a theatre maker, creative producer, and arts facilitator based in Narm/Melbourne. In all facets of his work, Dominic tries to cultivate the meaningful exchange of ideas between artists and non-artists. Creating spaces where diverse communities can come together to build collective identities, challenge themselves, and imagine possible futures.
Alongside his work as co-founder & producer for Pony Cam, Dominic is the General Manager of the Centre of Jewish Artists, and a freelance artist working with companies including Back to Back, Punctum Inc, and Playable Streets. Dominic is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts (Bachelor of Fine Arts) and the University of Melbourne (Bachelor of Arts).
Hugo Williams – Creator / Performer / Associate Producer
Hugo Williams (he/they) works across contemporary performance and socially-engaged art as a performance artist, creative producer and facilitator. With background in history, sociology and languages from UOM, Hugo borrows from ancient texts, historiographies, social theories, poets, senior citizens and young people to create subversive, informal and physically provocative performances.
Graduating from the VCA as the recipient of the Orloff Family and Richard Pratt scholarship, Hugo is a co-founder and creative producer of Pony Cam. Professionally they have created new-work for curated, found and public spaces working with organizations such as Punctum Inc, Testing Grounds and artists Roslyn Oades and Nathan McGlynn.
William Strom – Creator / Performer
William Strom is a theatre maker. His practice is deeply physical, highly improvisational, and usually playful, with at least a passing interest in music. His investigations are often directed towards the intersection of his own practice and the practices of others – whether they be artists or non-artists – and these collaborations are a constant source of interest and inspiration. Through this work, William aims to forefront and connect with community. He has extensive training in both circus and dance, and a degree in Theatre, all of which he uses with great abandon.
PRESENTING PARTNER
Image: Grant Theft Theatre by Wild Hardt
ABOUT US
Helpmann Academy is proud to run professional development opportunities for emerging creatives. Our 2024 series of talks, workshops and masterclasses aims to empower emerging visual and performing artists with practical knowledge to help build and sustain a successful creative career. The Helpmann Academy present guest artists, specialists and panels covering a range of topics such as grant writing, brand and social media management, photography, finance skills and more.