As Artistic Director of the Brisbane Arts Theatre, John Boyce is in a unique position.
“I’ve directed plays, but I also choose the plays that we put on. By being both Artistic Director, and the Director of a production, I have a wonderful opportunity to research what I want to put on, but I must, above all else, take into consideration what the company needs and what the audience needs, before I even think of anything from the artistic side of things.” And for the theatre’s 80th anniversary, John has selected an impeccable range of plays to entrance and delight audiences of all kinds.
“We’ve got quite a diverse season ahead this year... We’ve got a couple of classic literary greats, like ‘Sense & Sensibility’ and ‘Equus’, the 1970’s masterpiece by Peter Schafer. ‘Are You Being Served’, which is quite the opposite, the '70s television show that still enjoys quite a following, young and old. We also have ‘Guards, Guards’. We’re committed to Pratchett plays now, I think we’ve done one every year since 1998.”
'Baby With The Bathwater'
The 2016 season also includes ‘Baby With The Bathwater’, which John praises for its “wonderful absurdity”. Plus the “uniquely Australian” ‘Boy From Oz', and Christmas-themed dark comedy ‘The Reindeer Monologues’.
John will also be sitting in the director’s chair for ‘When The Rain Stops Falling'. “It’s a play which I’ve been wanting to do for years. It’s a relatively modern play. This is a play I think I can try to get a little bit philosophical about. It’s all about self-fulfilled prophecies, loss and abandonment. I can’t wait to get my teeth into it. I approach any project with a great deal of enthusiasm. I live for theatre, it’s my life’s work, it’s all I’ve ever really done. I’ve been on the stage since I was very young.”
John believes that the intimacy of the Brisbane Arts Theatre is a strong selling point. “People want to engage with characters who they can almost reach out and touch, which you can only get from a live experience. And that’s one of the beautiful things about the Brisbane Arts Theatre, because it’s 150 seats in the auditorium, the sense of intimacy is one of our greatest strengths. If you go and sit at a large auditorium, you go and sit with hundreds and hundreds of people. Whereas here, there’s no seats any further than 12 metres from stage. So every seat’s a good one, and if we do it right, we’re bringing people up on stage with us.”
L-R: Natalie Miller, John Boyce, Kelsie McDonald and Ruby Tuesday
But the Theatre company isn’t just limited to the theatre itself, it also funds the College of Theatre Practice, which offers acting workshops for both adults and children. “There are two shows in our programme which are devoted to our acting workshops, ‘Baby With The Bathwater’ at the beginning of the year, and ‘Reindeer Monologues’ will be performed at the end of the year.
“So part of the training for our performers is to actually get onstage. They do the classwork, we develop the classwork into the rehearsal process, and they learn some more by jumping on the stage. We’re really quite happy that we’re able to offer these workshops, and they’re quite affordable too. That’s all part of my vision for the future, to integrate more of our college with the actual company itself.”
‘Reindeer Monologues’
BAT has had its share of ups and downs over the years, but John is strongly optimistic about the future. “This place gives me the opportunity to continue exploring and learn more. I like to think of this as a bit of a dream factory. It’s been 20 years since I first got here. I’ve seen it go through some high and low times, and I’m really happy to report that we are doing well now. We are really working together cohesively, and we’re turning a profit. We’re keeping people happy, engaged, and helping to educate them, and I couldn’t be happier. We’re all trying to make this place last for many years to come.”
