The full program for this year's Festival of Australian Student Theatre (FAST) has been announced.
The Festival, now in it's fourth consecutive year, will be held at La Boite and will feature 11 shows created and performed by some of Australia's finest emerging acting talent. FAST 2013 will also hold interactive forums and workshops, as well as the 48-Hour Play Project, in which groups of artists get together to produce and perform a piece of theatre in the space of two days. Festival Director Nuala Furtado says that the aim of the festival is to give the cream of Australia's young acting crop the opportunity to meet and network with prospective future collaborators.
“The Festival of Australian Student Theatre is a wonderful opportunity for students who have recently graduated to showcase their work on a national platform alongside their peers who are also studying or have studied in a similar circumstance in the past four years. What FAST allows them to do is meet and mingle with people who are in the exact same place in their career in a semi-professional atmosphere.
“It gives them an opportunity to see the kinds of works that other universities are creating from all across Australia. In our universities we encourage students to go and see works in Brisbane, and whilst these aren't necessarily all the same or at a student level, what we are doing is putting them all together. It gives all these young professionals the opportunity to see each other, mingle and get to know each other and liaise and talk about their experiences. We hope we're providing them with the tools to enter the industry with a confident approach. We know it can sometimes be quite daunting when you graduate and you haven't necessarily been given the opportunity to present a show or present work outside of the university context.”
This year's festival will be held in the La Boite Roundhouse theatre and the La Boite Rehearsal room. Nuala says that this means that shows can take place in spaces appropriate to the nature of the individual performance.
“There will be a more focused live art experiential work within the La Boite rehearsal room and the Roundhouse will feature the bigger pieces with larger casts. In the rehearsal room we've got a number of solo shows, and the program in there is a lot more intimate than what you would get if you were to go to one of the shows at the Roundhouse.”
Nuala hopes that FAST will help to dispel any perceptions of student theatre as amateur or unprofessional, and says that audiences can expect a high level of quality from this year's performances.
“I think one of the best things about FAST is it's ability to shock and push the boundaries. There are sometimes negative connotations that come with the idea of student theatre; I think people often associate it with the idea that its unfinished or unpolished. FAST programs some of the best works from around Australia and it's really about showcasing the best talent from several universities across Australia. People can expect to see a large variety of work and I hope that it will dismantle the idea that student theatre isn't the same standard of quality as the rest of the industry … I think that a lot of artists can trace their practice and their passion for their practice back to their university days and I think this is such a worthy venture.
This year's Festival of Australian Student Theatre will run from May 30 to June 1. Tickets can be purchased here
