The 2023 Theatre Board Grant Application is now open.
Funding applications will need to be submitted via SmartyGrants at least 10 days prior to a scheduled meeting. The Board meets up to eight times a year and the first meeting for 2023 is on 10th March. Other meeting dates are noted below:
- 10 March
- 21 April
- 19 May
- 21 July
- 8 September
- 6 October
- 3 November
- 1 December
Before submitting an application, touch base with Union House Theatre’s Artistic Director, Xanthe Beesley, to discuss the application – email artistic@union.unimelb.edu.au.
Grants:
2023 Theatre Board Grant Application Form
The Board oversees the management of the Hannah Barry Memorial Award, Murray Sutherland, and Louise Homfrey Trust prizes:
Hannah Barry Memorial Trust Award
This is a single award open to all current undergraduate University of Melbourne students to develop creative work in the performing arts.
Applications are now closed for the Hannah Barry Memorial Award.
The value of the award in 2022 was $780.
Hannah Barry Memorial Award – Guidelines 2022
Past Recipients
Luke Macaronas ~ This is my Body (2021)
‘This is my Body’ is a participatory queer ritual that traces the history of the Eucharist in order to uncover the erotic, subversive and sacred meanings of breaking bread and drinking flesh and blood. The first development showing of this work was staged on Holy Thursday night, 14 April 2022. Drawing on the director’s own experience growing up queer in both the Catholic and Greek Orthodox church, this show was simultaneously a lament and a celebration of the bizarre, cruel, and sublime impact that food has in our lives.
Performer: Luke Macaronas
Writer: Sar Fegan
Project Mentor: Joel Bray
Photo Credits: Sodi Murphy-Shrives
Laura Collins and Freya McGrath ~ A Dog Called Monkey (2020)
This piece, drawn from the true experiences, explored how language can be manipulated and agency over truth ripped away. The intention of the piece was to challenge that injustice, and to explore the complexities surrounding sexual assault, the silences and damaging rhetorics.
Tedious Theatre ~ Shadow Piece (2019)
Shadow Piece was a 45-minute film shown during Digital Fringe in 2020
We wanted to merge the mediums of film and theatre, so the film had long takes which required lots of rehearsal and planning. We explored shadow and lighting, as well as music, particularly how these elements can express dynamics and relationships just as well as speaking. The film had minimal dialogue, as we wanted the audience to be able to project their own ideas onto what was happening, with the film providing merely suggestions of situations.
Tedious Theatre is Antoinette Tracey and September Barker – the recipients of the Award and creative team for the work. The film was shot in September’s living room during Covid-19 restrictions in 2020.
Murray Sutherland Trust Prizes
Two prizes are awarded for outstanding performances in a student theatre production. The prizes are announced at the UHT Awards Night in October.
Louise Homfrey Trust Prizes
Book vouchers are awarded to two students who have performed in student theatre productions. The prizes are announced at the UHT Awards Night in October.
The Theatre Board offers Accessibility Grants to Student Theatre Groups to assist students with making their work accessible and inclusive for everyone.
You may apply to fund access provisions including general access, blind and low vision, deaf and hard of hearing, captioning, and relaxed performances.
Before completing the application form, please read more about UMSU Access Resources here.