Brisbane Junior Theatre: A new theatre paradigm

Jack Bradford

Full text | PDF

Abstract

In Australia, there is currently a need to strengthen young people’s involvement in theatre. Therefore, there is not only a cultural need for new ways of providing regular performance opportunities, but also a need to inspire young theatrical performers. This paper proposes that a week intensive youth theatre production, such as those performed by Brisbane Junior Theatre (BJT), is a viable way of meeting this demand. The paper is a practitioner led account on how to create sustainable, endurable and consistent theatre that draws upon BJT’s 18-year experience as an Australian youth theatre. The author, Jack Bradford is the founder and artistic director of BJT. By using BJT as an example, this paper proposes that these practises can be utilised with great effect by any theatre practitioner. In particular this paper will take a detailed look at BJT’s methodologies, and intensive process and examine how it is able to succeed against the accepted theatrical norms of time and focus. It will also examine Newport’s “Deep Work” principles to provide evidence for BJT’s success. Ultimately this paper will not only demonstrate the reasons for BJT’s success and longevity, but also provide a possible model for future companies to emulate in order to answer the call for strengthening theatre in Australia.

Keywords

Intensive Theatre; Youth Theatre; Endurability; Deep Work; Theatre Methodologies

To cite this article

Bradford, Jack. “Brisbane Junior Theatre: A new theatre paradigm.” Fusion Journal, no. 15, 2019, pp. 27-46. http://www.fusion-journal.com/brisbane-junior-theatre-a-new-theatre-paradigm/

First published online: March 2019