Museum Theatre: Access All Areas

www.imtal2011.
org

DRAFT

IMTAL 2011 Handbook

Printed copies of the handbook will be available to delegates at the conference.

The program remains subject to change.

www.imtal2011.org

Committee
Cindy Thomas, Bethany Leong, Jo Clyne, Diane Gardiner, Diane Hilyear, Rachel Morrison,
Patrick Watt, Chris Krishna-Pillay, Michelle Sanders, Lauren Bartlett, Jody Kingston,
Kimberley Moulton, Anthony Balla, Bernard Caleo, Lyn Beasley, Nadya Tkachenko, Margaret
Griffith, Barry Kay

IMTAL 7
th
Biennial International Conference
Museum Theatre: Access All Areas
Melbourne, Australia
16 20 October 2011

Sunday 16 October

BMW Edge, Federation Square
3.30 - 5.00 Conference Registration

Old Treasury Building, Spring Street
6.00 7.30 Official welcome, drinks and canaps

Monday 17 October

BMW Edge, Federation Square
8.30 - 9.15 Registration
9.30 Welcome from Cindy Thomas, Fed Ed, Federation Square
Welcome from IMTALAP President: Barry Kay
9.35 Welcome to Country
9.45 Welcome from Laura Miles, Executive Director, Museums Australia (Victoria)
10.00 Keynote Address: William McInnes. Actor, author and patron of Museum of
Democracy, Old Parliament House, Canberra.
William McInnes is here through the kind support of the Museum of Democracy,
Old Parliament House, Canberra.
Introduced by Greg Lissaman, Museum of Democracy, Old Parliament House.
10.45 Morning Tea (Supplied)
11.15 Performance: Sharing our Land and our Country
Fed Ed Program, Federation Square.
11.45 Plenary Session: Panel Discussion
Global Perspectives. The state of museums and museum theatre around the
world.
Chair: Michael Mills, South Australia; Mark Wallis, England; S. Xavier Carnegie,
USA; Jenny Wake, New Zealand, Sue Atkinson, Tasmania.
12.30 Lunch (Get your own as you make your way to Melbourne Museum) Travel via
foot, Bike Share, City Circle Tram.
Lunchtime suggestions: Laneways near the Block Arcade, Brunetti, Swanston
Street.

Melbourne Museum, Carlton Gardens

2.00 Parallel Session 1.1
Lyn Beasley, Peter
Wilkins. National
Museum of Australia,
Canberra.
Come Alive A
Student Festival of
Museum Theatre.
Parallel Session 1.2
Dr Margaret Zeegers,
University of Ballarat,
& Michael Ward,
Sovereign Hill.
A Pedagogy of
Affective Learning:
Sovereign Hill
Museum School

Dr Ricci-Jane Adams & Dr
Christine Sinclair: University of
Melbourne:
Accessing the Cultural
Conversation: Youth Culture
and Receptive Theatre
Participation.
Meg Upton and
Daniel Betty. Drama
Victoria.
Footprints
Aesthetic
experiences,
performative
adventures.
Scott Wright. Erth
theatre company.
A work in progress.
Jade Erikssen, Teina Moetara,
Heather Timms of Toi Whakaari:
New Zealand Drama School.:
Tatou: Maori frameworks of
encounter in development of
performance grown from
artefact.
4.00 Explore Melbourne Museum
5.00 Meet in Bunjilaka (TBC)
5.30 Performance in Milari gardens (TBC)
6.30 Wrap from Lauren Bartlett with reminder about buses for Tuesday.
Pumphouse Hotel in Nicholson Street, Carlton
The Patrick Parkinson Show
Finger food provided. Drinks at bar prices.(TBC)

Tuesday 18 October

Sovereign Hill, Ballarat

8.30 Buses depart Melbourne from back of Federation Square. Russell Street and
Flinders Street
If you are running late: ring 0417 034 116
If you miss the bus which must leave on time, go to Southern Cross Station and
get train (one way) to Ballarat (times: depart 9.07 & 10.07) and then get taxi (5
minutes) to Sovereign Hill.
Meet Bethany or Patrick to have name ticked.

10.00 Welcome and Morning Tea
Tim Sullivan, Director of Museums and Deputy CEO, Sovereign Hill Museums
Association.

10.30 Keynote Address: Towards a centre of excellence in Museum Theatre
collaboration/partnership between University of Ballarat and Sovereign Hill.
Victoria Theatre

11.30 Performance: Chris Krishna-Pillay, Bernard Caleo. CSIRO
Faradays Candle

12.30 Lunch (Get your own) and have time to explore Sovereign Hill.

S. Xavier Carnegie,
Smithsonian
Institution: National
Museum of American
History.
The Time Trial of
John Brown:
Evocative Theatre
Maryanne Hyde,
Kelly Clifford & Gail
Frost. Geelong
Regional Libraries.
Windows to the
World Geelongs
cultural precincts
cross-curricular
experience.

Michael Mills. Heapsgood
Productions, Adelaide.
Beyond the glass case: taking
museum theatre on the road.
Stephanie Rosestone
10 museum-theatre-
related-things I learnt
on my trip

Janice Haynes. Cape
Otway Lightstation
and Royal Historical
Society of Victoria.
Characters of the
Lady of History.
Alaine Beek. Essence Food
Studio and Werribee Park.
Things that go bump in the
night!
4.00 Afternoon Tea

4.30 Performance followed by discussion: Anti-Chinese League

6.00 Pre-dinner drinks: United States Hotel

6.30 Dinner and Theatre Restaurant. Victoria Theatre
An Evening with Lola Montez

9.30
11.00
Return to Melbourne. Arriving Federation Square

Wednesday 19 October

National Gallery of Victoria (NGV International) St Kilda Road, Southbank

9.15 Welcome to NGV. Di Hilyear and Gina Panebianco
Pecha Kucha #1
1. Circus Solarus
2. Sandra Earle (Tocal Homestead)
3. Two Friends productions

9.30 Keynote Address: Nigel Sutton

10.30 Morning Tea

Robert Bunzli.
Questacon,
Canberra.
The Virtual Stage a
backstage pass into
classrooms across
Australia.

Emma Cox. National
Gallery of Victoria.
From string quartet to
24 hour Dali: the rise
and rise of art after
dark at NGV.
Simone Mortan. Monterey Bay
Aquarium. California. Frame
Your Story for Success.
Michael Van Tiel.
Powerhouse
Museum, Sydney.
Is the last
performance really
the end?
Jo Clyne. History
Teachers
Association of
Victoria.
Museum Theatre in
Virtual Museums?

Jo Henwood, Australian
Storytelling Guild. Sydney.
Ears to hear and otherwise:
communicating for disabilities
and modalities.
1.00 Lunch in Great Hall and Performance
Performance: The Memorandium. Written specifically for International Museums
Day.
Penelope Bartlau
Barking Spider Theatre

2.00 5.00 Outcursion: Visits to choice of Immigration Museum, Scienceworks, Polly
Woodside, National Sports Museum, National Gallery of Victoria

6.30 Conference Dinner: Queens Hall, State Library of Victoria

Thursday 20 October

State Library of Victoria, Entry 3. Village Roadshow Theatrette. La Trobe Street, City

9.30 Pecha Kucha #2
1. Michael Van Tiel (Powerhouse Museum)
2. Stephanie Rosestone (Sovereign Hill)
3. Patrick Helean & David Cannell (Questacon)

10.00 Plenary Session: Performance
Jade Thomson & Amanda Pearce. Two Friends Theatre Company.
For the love of Becker.
The State Library of Victoria travelling program

11.00 Morning Tea

11.30-
12.45
Plenary Session: Panel Discussion. Adrienne Leith, Bernard Caleo & David
Perkins, Melbourne Museum. The future of Museum Theatrical Presentations
on-line.

12.45 Conference reflection and Final remarks
1.00 Conference Close

Descri pti on of Sessi ons

Monday 17 October

Keynote Speakers
William McInnes
After a recurring role on A Country Practice in 1990, McInnes appeared in series such as
Bligh, Ocean Girl, and Snowy before making his name as Senior Constable Nick Schultz on
Blue Heelers in 1994. In 1999, he joined the cast of Sea Change as Max Connors, the new
love interest of neurotic main character Laura Gibson (Sigrid Thornton ) He also had a
recurring role as Colin in 2003's Crash Burn; and a noted comic turn as Sandy Freckle in two
episodes of Kath & Kim, under the pseudonym "Rock Hampton".
McInnes lent his voice for the Nine Network factual series The Code: Crime and Justice also
known as Crime and Justice.
In late 2007, he had the lead role in SBS's East West 101. In 2008, he also appeared in
Network Ten's telemovie The Informant.
Early film roles include My Brother Jack (2001), Do Or Die (2001), Dirty Deeds (2002) and the
TV Movie The Shark Net (2003).
McInnes featured in the lead role in Look Both Ways (2005), directed by his wife Sarah Watt.
Subsequent film roles include in 2006 Irresistible, with Susan Sarandon, and Kokoda, the
lead role in the romantic drama Unfinished Sky in 2007, and in 2009 Prime Mover, and Sarah
Watt's follow-up film My Year Without Sex.

William released his first book A Man's Got to Have a Hobby on 1 August 2005. His second
book Cricket Kings was released in 2006 and his third, That'd Be Right, in August 2008. His
fourth book, The Making of Modern Australia, was released in 2010; it was accompanied by a
television documentary series of the same name on the ABC that McInnes narrated.

Importantly to IMTAL
On 16 February 2009, John Faulkner, then Special Minister of State and Cabinet Secretary,
appointed McInnes as the new Chair of the Advisory Council of the Museum of Australian
Democracy at Old Parliament House. McInnes has spoken in many of his media appearances
about the museum and its work and the importance of democratic values and civics
education.
William McInnes appears courtesy of the support of the Museum of Democracy, Old
Parliament House, Canberra.

McInnes has won:
2002 Most Outstanding Actor at the Logie Awards, for My Brother Jack
2008 Most Outstanding Actor at the Logie Awards, for East West 101
2008 Best Actor in a Leading Role at the 50th Australian Film Institute Awards for
Unfinished

Nigel Sutton
Nigel has worked as a professional performer, writer and creative consultant for over twenty
years in theatre, film, television and corporate education. His work has taken him across the
globe and it was in London that Nigel did his first work as a museum performer with the highly
awarded, Museum of the Moving Image Actors Company (MOMI).
Nigel returned to Australia in the early 90s and after touring the country with childrens
theatre and innovative improvised education shows, he began pursuing his passion for
performing in museums and cultural institutions.
In 1996 Nigel formed his company NDS Productions in response to the demand for his work
in museum theatre and his expertise in using performance as an interpretive method to
engage audiences. His extensive work in this field includes performances and creative
consulting for over 50 major museum exhibitions and arts festivals, the development of tour
products for conservation organisations, as well as touring outreach performance based
programs for cultural institutions.
Nigel was lead consultant for the National Museum of Australia in the development and
delivery of the first National Forum on Performance in Cultural Institutions, Raising The
Curtain, held in Canberra 2002, the second National Forum on Performance in Cultural
Institutions, Spotlight on Performance, held in Canberra 2003 and the Fourth Biennial
International Museum Theatre Alliance Conference, Extending our Reach, held in Canberra
Australia 2005.
Nigel runs specialised training workshops for guides, educators and interpretation staff in
museums, art galleries, historic sites, cultural centres, zoos and conservation parks. Nigel is
recognised as an innovator in the field of live interpretation and is currently delivering skills
based master classes to cultural institutions across Australia.
Nigel is a professional actor and writer working in Corporate Entertainment, Television, Film
and Theatre. His comedic talents are well known in Sydney from his involvement with
Theatresports as a player and popular host.
Nigels credits include, Celebrity Sydney Comedy Festival (actor/writer). Gods Day Off,
Parramatta Riverside Theatre (actor/writer) The K-Way show, Sydney Design Festival
(actor/writer) and 15 years of improvised comedy shows at Belvoir Street Theatre with
Sydney Theatresports
Television credits include: Joker poker, The Big Question, The Election Chaser, The
Cameraa Trap, The Variety Show at the end of the World and host of TV1s the SCI-FILES.
Nigels recent credits include, Getting away with Murder, Sydney Observatory (actor/writer).
Krispin K Ornament is Crime, Sydney Design Festival (actor/Writer). PULP, Factory Theatre
Sydney (actor). The 2009 Canberra Impro Theatre Challenge (Host).The Dora Fay Davenport
Show, NSW Seniors Week 2009 (actor/writer). Cogs and the Dragon, Power House Museum,
Sydney (Director).

Performance: Sharing our Land and our Country
Fed Ed Program, Federation Square.
Sharing our Land and Country
To explore aspects of the settlement of Melbourne and Australia, and the
development of a multicultural nation.
This fun and experiential workshop will allow students to explore the idea of sharing
their community with other people and cultures, through costume role play and
characterisation. Drama educators will lead students through scenes from Australian
History, from the settlement of Melbourne to Federation.
This program is managed by IMTAL 2011 committee representative Cindy Thomas.
Cindy is a teacher, musician and manager of education for the Fed Ed program at
Federation Square.


Lyn Beasley, Peter Wilkins. National Museum of Australia, Canberra.
Come Alive A Student Festival of Museum Theatre.

Presentation Description
This presentation outlines how engaging students with Museum Theatre can provide
museums with a wonderful avenue of interpreting their collections in a new and fresh way. It
also emphasises how fully engaging students with the content of the museum can provide the
best kind of learning experience.
Over the last ten years Lyn Beasley and Peter Wilkins have spent many hours discussing the
advantages of engaging students with history through the medium of performance. Through
drama, the past can come alive and students can take a journey of discovery as they relate
the experiences of people in the past to their own lives today. For several years Peters
drama students at Narrabundah College validated this belief through productions such as
Stranded, Exiled and Miss Australia The Musical. For each of the productions students
began with almost no knowledge and even less interest in the subject matter. But during the
process of researching the time, the events and the characters, students became intrigued
and enthused as they confronted events and attitudes at once removed and yet surprisingly
resonant with their own lives.
Talking to the students after each production it became apparent that they had learnt a lot
about an historical event which previously they had no interest in. They had not only learnt a
lot but had found that learning fascinating. Eager to involve more students with the stories
contained within the collection of the National Museum the Come Alive student festival of
museum theatre was conceived.
The inaugural festival was held in the Visions Theatre at the National Museum of Australia
between the 3
rd
and the 6
th
of November 2010. Eight schools and over 100 students
participated in performing ten pieces of theatre over four days. Each piece was performed
twice at either a matinee or evening performance. Each piece was based on an exhibit at the
Museum and students researched and created their own pieces. Students who participated in
the Come Alive Festival constructed a bridge of understanding between the study of history
and the practice of theatre.
This paper will detail the procedure followed by Peter and Lyn is setting up this first festival. It
will explore the difficulties and the benefits from the perspective of the schools involved and
from the perspective of the Museum. It is a warts and all look at a process which can be time
consuming and frustrating but the benefits of which, in terms of a fulfilling educational
experience, far outweigh all other considerations and allow the Museum to fulfill its mandate
as an exceptional place of learning.

Biography
Between them Peter Wilkins and Lyn Beasley have almost 50 years experience in Museum
Education and Museum Theatre. They have used this experience and a fierce commitment to
museum theatre to develop a program which enthuses and engages students and gives
museums a unique method of interpreting their content. In 2010 the first full student festival
of museum theatre Come Alive! was presented at the National Museum of Australia


Dr Margaret Zeegers, University of Ballarat, & Michael Ward, Sovereign Hill.
A Pedagogy of Affective Learning: Sovereign Hill Museum School

Biography
Dr Margaret Zeegers is Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of
Ballarat. Majoring in History in her Bachelor of Arts degree, she taught Australian History and
English and English Literature in Victorian state secondary schools before turning to primary
teaching and teacher education in her graduate, postgraduate and academic work. She
coordinates the English and Literacy courses in the Bachelor Education (P-10)
and supervises a number of PhD students at the University of Ballarat. She has written and
researched extensively on various topics in Education, Literacy and History.

Michael Ward is Principal of the Sovereign Hill School, a Department of Education and Early
Childhood Development school in Victoria.
He has taught for 41 years in many types of school such as rural schools, large primary and
special schools. Michael has served as Principal in The Ewing House School for Deaf
Children and mainstream schools. Six years ago he was appointed as Principal of the
Sovereign Hill School, a truly unique school within the education world


Dr Ricci-Jane Adams & Dr Christine Sinclair: University of Melbourne:

Accessing the Cultural Conversation: Youth Culture and Receptive Theatre Participation.

For many young people, the significance of going to the theatre is social rather than cultural,
while for some young people - self-confessed theatre nerds - going to the theatre is an
opportunity to mingle with their people the theatre community. For others, going to the
theatre is not on their radar.

This presentation proposes exploring issues of inclusion and exclusion for young people
attending mainstream theatre in Australia. It considers the significance of educators, theatre
producers and other gatekeepers who facilitate a young persons access to theatre events,
the mediation of meaning and the development of theatre literacy. It considers how the
experience of belonging or not belonging impacts on their access to the cultural conversation
(Myers, 2004).

The panel draws on emerging findings and key literature from a major Australian research
project TheatreSpace: Accessing the Cultural Conversation designed to investigate the
responses of young people to mainstream theatre in three Australian states over four years.
In addition to academics from the University of Melbourne, this panel will bring together
industry partners from Melbourne Theatre Company, the Arts Centre, Malthouse Theatre and
Arena Theatre to contribute to the discussion around existing strategies for attracting young
audiences, and exploration of the emerging data from the TheatreSpace project.

The presentation will consider the perspective of artists, educators and industry professionals,
to some of the key issues that have informed the TheatreSpace project. These include: are
assumptions about young peoples attendance being met or challenged through the emergent
research? Does youth culture benefit from being categorised as a discreet audience? What
do we understand about young people, about young audiences and their motivations to
attend theatre (and possibly other cultural events)? What are the practices and assumptions
that inform cultural providers such as theatre companies and major venues, with respect to
young audiences? Who are the gatekeepers to attendance and what is their role? How do
young people experience theatre when they do attend and how can this be supported through
education? What are young people responding to in the theatre? How can academic findings
support theatre companies practically? What is measurable in understanding young peoples
engagement? When does engagement begin and what factors sustain attendance?

This presentation will consist of:
Dr Christine Sinclair University of Melbourne
Dr Ricci-Jane Adams University of Melbourne
Dr Ricci-Jane Adams is the senior research coordinator for TheatreSpace: Accessing the
Cultural Conversation, a large-scale Australian Research Council study into young peoples
attendance at mainstream theatre, hosted by the University of Melbourne. Ricci-Jane is an
evaluator and researcher for Polyglot Theatre, a company specialising in collaborative and
interactive performance for young people under the age of 12.

Dr Christine Sinclair co-ordinates Drama Education at the University of Melbourne. She has
been a lecturer in drama education, theatre production, community arts practices and creative
writing over many years. Christine is also a freelance community artist and has written
extensively on reflective practitioner research and other arts based research methodologies
and is currently Director of Publications for Drama Australia. Christine is a Chief investigator
on the ARC study TheatreSpace: Accessing the Cultural Conversation, a large-scale
longitudinal study into young peoples attendance at mainstream theatre.


Meg Upton and Daniel Betty. Drama Victoria.
Footprints Aesthetic experiences, performative adventures.

This presentation will focus on the Drama Victoria initiative, Footprints, a project that brings
together cultural institutions, teachers and students in a collaborative enterprise engaging
young people in the creation of a performative response to exhibitions and cultural spaces.
Piloted in 2009 at the Drama Australian Conference in Melbourne, Footprints has become a
model for developing ongoing relationships between the collaborative partners and for young
people to use drama and performance to respond in new ways to exhibitions and cultural
spaces.

The school of the future will, perhaps, not be a school as we understand it with benches,
blackboards, and a teachers platform it may be a theatre, a library, a museum, or a
conversation Leo Tolstoy

Footprints: Aesthetic Experiences, Performative Adventures presents an overview of a series
of eight smaller projects that were born out of the Drama Australia Conference hosted in
Melbourne in 2009. Early in 2009, Drama Victoria invited drama teachers and their students
to work collaboratively with a cultural institution using drama and theatre within or in relation
to a visit to that cultural institution. Teachers and students could respond to the space, an
exhibition or other real or imagined world. A key aspect of the project was that young people
were able to make work to be performed in situ, in the spaces and places of the exhibitions
themselves. The eight cultural institutions that came on board as cultural partners were: The
National Sports Museum, The Melbourne Museum, The Aquarium, The Immigration Museum,
The Ian Potter Gallery NGV, The Victorian College of the Arts, the Old Melbourne Gaol Crime
and Justice Experience, and The Melbourne Zoo. The presentation will briefly outline the
individual projects and provide an overview of the future for the project that Drama Victoria
envisages.

Footprints addresses the notion of access in an exciting and innovative way. When young
people had the opportunity to devise and perform work in exhibition and gallery spaces to
conference delegates and in some instances to members of the general public, the impact
was profound. They had in effect, gained access in a physical, creative and aesthetic way.

The project called for a spirit of adventure for all stakeholders; drama teachers, their students,
and the partner institutions, as well as the conference delegates who attended. The
presentation aims to give voice to these stakeholders and to highlight the powerful learning
that occurs through young people being empowered to endow spaces with their own
understandings and meanings. Finally, the presentation will address how it has adapted from
the 2009 Drama Australia conference into a workable product partnering Drama Victoria with
cultural institutions, schools, teachers and students and the wider drama community through
online resources and professional learning events.

Biography

Daniel Betty is an actor, director, musician and writer. He has a Bachelor of Performing and
Screen Arts from Unitec Auckland and a Post Graduate Diploma in Secondary Teaching from
Massey University, New Zealand.

He has worked as an actor for a number of years and focused on the development of the
individual through the exploration of acting techniques. Daniel has also worked as a
secondary teacher, with his major disciplines being English and drama. He ran workshops in
acting technique for 5 years at NYDS (National Youth Drama School) and worked closely with
HaBYT (Hawkes Bay Youth Theatre) in devising theatre for youth by youth. He was the
founder of TeENZ (Theatre Education New Zealand), which ran workshops for secondary,
tertiary and community organisations.

Daniel utilised his skills in developing New Zealand's sTAgE (Theatre Arts Education), a
professional independent theatre company with an educational unit. He has been on the
executive for Drama New Zealand as the Massey University representative and provided
workshops and resources for teachers throughout Australia and New Zealand. He has
published articles in academic journals with a particular focus on acting technique and is an
accomplished scriptwriter.

Daniel currently splits his time as the Artistic Director for Daniel Ryan Productions and as the
Director of Programs for Drama Victoria. In these roles he provides professional development
for drama educators, teachers and students.

Meg Upton is a member of Drama Victoria and is the Project Officer for Drama Australias
Acting Green, a guideline document for sustainable drama teaching and sustainable theatre
making. She lectures in drama education at Deakin University and works as an arts education
consultant with theatre companies such as Melbourne Theatre Company, Malthouse, Real
TV, and Arena Theatre. Meg is the education board member for Platform Youth Arts. Meg
was facilitator / co-ordinator for the Melbourne Museum Wild Things! Footprints project in
2009 and regularly presents at conferences in Australia in the fields of drama and theatre
education. She has written for a range of publications including NJ, Mask, and Lowdown. She
is currently completing a PhD at the University of Melbourne in Arts Education


Scott Wright. Erth theatre company.

Cultural insight and retrieval or ( the fear of getting it wrong )

Erth are a company well known within the museum industry, both nationally and
internationally for their forays into natural history, producing amazing dinosaur puppets and
designing shows that engage and inspire with theatrical innovation and integrity by the
bucket loads. For the past 4 years , the company have been turning their attention to
indigenous folklore, Artistic Director Scott Wright has traveled to, and spent time in numerous
communities around Australia learning stories and working with elders and artists to explore
new concepts for the use of puppetry and performance with folklore and cultural practise.

A conversation about these experiences, warts and all about how fear has been the driving
force of this investigation.

Biography

Scott Wright - Artistic Director
Scott is the Artistic Director and co-founder of Erth-Visual and Physical Inc since 1990.
Having trained as a dancer and choreographer in Victoria, Scott is a multi-skilled artist
incorporating puppetry (one of his greatest loves), movement, acting, aerial, stilts and
pyrotechnics. Scott has directed most of Erths successful touring shows to date
including Dinosaur Petting Zoo, Garden, Gargoyles, various Museum projects around the
world and most recently, I,Bunyip as part of the Sydney Childrens Festival 2011.


Tatou- Maori frameworks of encounter in development of performance grown from artefact.

Jade Eriksen, Teina Moetara, Heather Timms
Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School.

A practical exploration of collaboration through historical object in the building of
contemporary performance.

Objects are regarded not only as archive but also as catalyst for dynamic relationships with
history, revealing our contemporary experience of difference. Participants will engage in
creative processes and be directed toward questions of translation, adaption and innovation
through cultural and historical example.

In the workshop the ritual ceremony of encounter powhiri is used as a frame for developing
performance potential and group culture through an exploration of object - po-whiri - weave
whiri, the unknown po. The process is an immersion into wananga, a form of learning that
builds through the distinct differences of participants, space and place.

Through the workshop participants will gain knowledge of the nature of Maori frameworks of
wananga, powhiri and pepeha, developing understanding of the value and potential of
working with and transposing indigenous knowledge to encourage a live relationship with
history. In so doing participants will experience a specific approach to creating performance
that works with place, artefact and history.

This workshop challenges static notions of culture, identity and history offering a dynamic
approach to Museum Theatre.

At Waitangi on 6 February 1840....Lieutenant- Governor Hobson said to each rangatira who signed the
Treaty: He iwi tahi tatou. Presumably he was coached by somebody, probably Henry Williams.
Colenso translated this into English as We are now one people. In doing so, he overlooked three
subtle points. First, the word iwi means nation as well as people. Secondly, if Hobson meant one
(unified) people he should have said he iwi kotahi; tahi without the prefix ko means together. Thirdly,
the last word, tatou, certainly means the first person plural we/us, but it is a special form, one without an
equivalent in English. Use of tatou signals the fact that the we in question comprises two or more
distinct groups, which are and remain distinct within the unity.This succinct Maori sentence is incredibly
difficult to translate into English in a way that does it justice... Perhaps it would be good strategy to leave
the saying in Maori, untranslated, while all of us- old New Zealanders, young New Zealanders and new
New Zealanders- continue to debate and work out how to relate to each other, with the Treaty as our
guide.

Dame Joan Metge He taura whiri: The Treaty Our Guide, Tuamaka: The Challenge of
Difference in Aotearoa New Zealand, Auckland University Press, Auckland, 2010, p 27

Workshop Leaders
Jade Eriksen, Teina Moetara and Heather Timms are practicing artists and senior tutors at
Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School. They have developed and teach an innovative new
curriculum and performance models that teach principles of contemporary performance
practice through investigating and making overt the purpose and function of frameworks of
engagement within Te Ao Maori.

Jade Eriksen
Jade grew up in Gisborne, Tairawhiti, New Zealand; of Greek, Irish, Scottish and Danish
descent. Since completing a Master of Theatre Arts - Directing from Toi Whakaari/Victoria
University, New Zealand, her interest in the area of intercultural politics, identity and
composition have led her to work mainly within the devised theatrical form. Jade has directed
and devised award winning collaborative works including Playing the Archive- with the
Tairawhiti Museum, Yatra with The Untouchable Collective- a NZ South Asian theatre
company, Stamping Grounds with TALKBACK Collective- refugee and migrant youth theatre
group, Migrant Nation, Pakiwaitara- with the Museum of Wellington, arcane and Auckland
festival work Penumbra as well as leading and directing several seasons of the Toi Whakaari:
New Zealand Drama School: Go Solo project.

She is a Senior Tutor in Context and Practice at Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School
and also teaches and mentors within the Masters of Theatre Arts and Performance Design
degrees.

Teina Moetara
Born and bred in the world of Maori Performing Arts, Teina hails from Manutuke, Gisborne,
New Zealand. Having been a performing member of the internationally recognized Waihirere
Maori Club for over 20 years, many of them as a core composer, Teina has since become co-
founder and co-director of Te Manawa Maurea Kapa Haka based directly out of Manutuke.
Trained as a primary school teacher, Teina was assistant principal and head of the Te Reo
Maori total immersion unit at Manutuke Primary School before joining the cast of the Disney
Theatrical Production of The Lion King Sydney, Melbourne and Shanghai.

He is currently Head of Context & Practice at Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School. He has
worked on a number of collaborative theatre projects investigating frameworks from the Maori
world view as ways of making, including Pakiwaitara, with the Museum of Wellington. He is
also interested in scriptwriting, capturing Maori stories and values, and retelling them across
different performance mediums.

Heather Timms
Heather, an Australian of Welsh, English & Dutch decent, was born in Malaysia and grew up
in Hong Kong. Her particular interest in intercultural politics and socially engaged arts practice
has led her to build and direct work with diverse communities in Australia, UK, India, Africa
and now New Zealand. Heather has directed award winning projects including Face-Off, The
Cockburn Performance Project Cockburn Aboriginal community, Spin, with the WA Ministry
of Justice, her adaptation of Arundhati Roys the God of Small Things, Memory An
Intangible Map, with the Museum of Wellington, Manawa Po, Atamira & TakuRua- urban
historic site and community collaborations, Southern Corridor Project with Eko Theatre - a
long term inter-arts project within the Wellington Maori, Somali and Arts communities and
performed and toured The Battalion, with Te Rakau Hua a Maori theatre for change
company. She has a Masters in socially engaged arts practice from Edith Cowan University,
Western Australia and a strong commitment to questions of education, learning and teaching.

Heather is a Senior Tutor in Context and Practice at Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama
School, teaching across the Acting, Performance Design and Arts Technology and
Management degrees.

Performance: Chris Krishna-Pillay, Bernard Caleo. CSIRO
Faradays Candle

An illuminating one-man show which brings Michael Faraday and his candles to life.
"There is no better, there is no more open door by which you can enter into the study of
natural philosophy than by considering the physical phenomena of a candle." Michael
Faraday

Biography

Chris Krishna-Pillay has performance experience in a wide range of genres, including
cabaret, drama, radio, rock music and comedy.
His writing and performance credits include Howard Florey - a Tale of TallPoppies, Pre-
Coital, Somnium, Great Big Science Gig and Dante's Laboratory. Chris is also the
Victorian Manager of CSIRO Education and has performed across Australia, as well as in the
US, the UK, South Africa and New Zealand, as well as in Japan where he was one of six
Australian representatives at the Japan-Australia Science Performers Exchange in 2009.

Biography

Bernard Caleo makes theatre and comic books, often at the same time. He has been writing
for and performing in museums and cultural places since 1995. He has worked part time in
Public Programs at Melbourne Museum since 2002. Since discovering kamishibai, a
Japanese form of storytelling, in 2010, he has been experimenting with it and developing a
style of performance which he calls Paper Theatre. He writes about all of this stuff at
www.anislandart.blogspot.com

Tuesday 18 October


S. Xavier Carnegie, Smithsonian Institution: National Museum of American History.
The Time Trial of John Brown: Evocative Theatre

With the expanding role of museums in society, how can Theatre be used evoke, and foster
dialogue about controversial, but relevant, issues? S. Xavier Carnegie, Creative Director at
the Smithsonians National Museum of American History, explores the relationship between
museum and audience, and how the Smithsonians Theatre Program, The Time Trial of John
Brown, bridges the gap. Participants will also be invited to weigh in on the conversation in
participatory discussion during the session.

Time Trial of John Brown is a new theatre program by the Smithsonians National
Museum of American History. It is part of a series that puts figures in American history on
trial, and the audience becomes the jury, deliberating the historical legacy of the figure in
question. The Time Trial of John Brown focuses on the famous abolitionist whose raid on a
Federal Armory plotted to destroy American slavery. John Brown and his followers used
violence to further the cause of emancipation leaving a complicated legacy. How should
history remember a man who used violent means for a just end result?
Evocative Theatre is a lecture that explores the role of Theatre in provoking
discussion, even on difficult issues. The lecturer, S. Xavier Carnegie, Creative Director of
Theatre Programs at the National Museum of American History, challenges his audience to
debate these issues in a forum, and to contemplate the importance of Museum Theatre in
evoking emotional and rational response to controversial but relevant issues. In keeping with
the Access All Areas theme of the IMTAL International Conference 2011, this 45 minute
seminar gives a behind the scenes look at developing theatre programs for the purpose of
inciting feelings and thoughts, their expression, and their examination using good scholarship,
theatre technique, and constant reevaluation.

Introduction
How can a story evoke response in the audience? The lecturer begins with current events,
inviting debate and discussion from the audience about controversial issues, and how these
issues can spark dialogue and close examination of the individual and of society. The
lecturer then introduces the objectives of the session: To highlight the use of theatre arts to
promote self-reflection, open dialogue on important issues, and individual and societal
change, and encourage evocative examination among the Lecture Audience through
conversation and interactivity.

Time Trial of John Brown
The Lecturer gives an overview of the life of John Brown, and then introduces the program
using video clips and pictures. The big idea of Getting People Talking About History is
explored, as is the program format, which allows its sections to be delivered via the internet,
and in a public forum via video media.

Scholarship
Education can often spark Evocation. The lecturer discusses the role of scholarship in an
interactive theatre piece, and its challenges. The scholarly influence on societys pre-
conceived notions of issues is also explored through researched writings and pictures.

Theatre Program
Here the format is discussed in detail, as is the artistic process from inception, preparation,
rehearsal, and performance. Audience responses are also highlighted.

Evocation
Using information on John Brown, the audience is invited to discuss his place history, and
how that history related to his legacy and our shared memory of his actions. The lecturer
invites all sides of the issue to be presented, and interjects with research, short stories, or
examples. The session ends with an exploration of the many issues the subject speaks to,
and encourages the audience to continue to evaluate their opinions and feelings, and to
challenge their own audiences to do the same.

Biography
Samuel Xavier Carnegie is the Creative Director for Theatre Programs at the Smithsonians
National Museum of American History. He is a nine year museum theatre veteran, having
performed for the Louisiana Childrens Museum, the National Museum of American History,
The Smithsonian Associates, and Discovery Theatre. Xavier is the original actor of the award
winning museum theatre production Join The Student Sit-Ins, and has since written and
directed several shows, including Sing Out, a theatrical exploration of the 1961 Freedom
Rides, The Time Trial of Benedict Arnold, and The Time Trial of John Brown. Upcoming
projects include Pirates and Privateers On the Water (working title), and a characterization
of Joseph Henry, the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution


Maryanne Hyde. Geelong Regional Libraries.
Windows to the World Geelongs cultural precincts cross-curricular experience.
In 2011 a unique cross-curricular program focusing on visual arts, performing arts and
literature and language, was launched for schools in the Geelong region as a co-operative
partnership between Geelong Gallery, Geelong Performing Arts Centre and Geelong
Regional Libraries.
The first program in the Windows to the World series was based on Sidney Nolans Gallipoli
series and explored the themes of this unique exhibition that constitute both a personal and
public lament for a campaign that lost so many Australian lives.

The presentation aims to recreate the experience of the students who attended the Gallipoli
series program. Images from the exhibition will be displayed to initiate discussion, a
performance piece will be outlined and an investigation of the letters, poems and songs
written in and around the time of the events of Gallipoli will be undertaken, with participants
being asked to create a piece of writing that explored their reaction to the themes of war and
peace and Nolans powerful images.
At the conclusion of the overview of the program, the outcomes for the students and teacher
involved will be presented, together with a discussion about the collaborative partnership and
future planned activities and events for the Geelong cultural precinct partners.
Biography
Maryanne Hyde is the Coordinator, Childrens and Youth Services for Geelong Regional
Libraries.
Kelly Clifford is Kelly Clifford is the Youth and Education Program Coordinator for Geelong
Performing Arts Centre.
Gail Frost is the Gallery Educator at Geelong Gallery.
All three presenters have education qualifications and are experienced presenters and
teachers. They are passionate about bringing unique and engaging education experiences to
students across a range of arts and cultural venues.


Michael Mills. Heapsgood Productions, Adelaide.
Beyond the glass case: taking museum theatre on the road.
Practitioners of Museum Theatre ought not be restricted to producing theatre within the walls
of a Museum. Indeed, its the artefacts that really matter, and the stories they reveal, not the
walls that surround them. Taking the artefacts, and their stories, to where the people are,
though, has unique challenges, when the people are living in Australias most remote
communities. What are these challenges? What are the solutions? And what are the
tremendous benefits to both the Museum, and the community when the show goes on the
road?
Through a wide range of on the road experiences, including involvement with the award
winning South Australian Museum Roadshows to the remote Aboriginal communities of the
APY Lands, this paper will discuss how and why Museums need to spend more time taking
their stuff, and their performances beyond the walls of the Museum. A Museum without walls
is a Museum that is relevant to not just a local community, but to an entire state. A Museum
without walls has its challenges, but taking the show on the road, can give access to
communities and groups who might otherwise never get an opportunity to walk amongst the
amazing artefacts and stories we have to share.

Taking Museum Theatre on the road has a number of challenges from co-ordinating the tour,
and linking to the particular communities. How do you bring the artefacts of a Museum to life
whilst on the road? This, of course, depends on many things including the selection of the
artefacts, and the nature of the theatrical experience that goes with them. Doing so can
provide an opportunity to rewrite existing work, or produce new and innovative theatre. It can
provide an opportunity to think outside the walls.

One of the most rewarding outcomes revealed during the APY Lands experiences has been
the concept of Ngapartji Ngapartji: I give something to you you give something to me. The
experience became one in which many of the communities would also share something with
the people of the Museum.

In looking at the issue of audience development, we need to ask how we reach the people
that dont come? How do we overcome the sometimes overwhelming geographical barriers?
Or the socio-economic barriers that prevent people from experiencing the magic of Museum
Theatre? In taking Museum Theatre on the road, do we enhance the likelihood of future visits
from those remote communities, when those communities are in town. The evidence seems
to say yes.

The content of this paper will include various examples of personal experiences, as well as
analyses of what other people are doing. It will canvas various options and ideas for taking
the show on the road, and how it might be relevant to any institution from Sovereign Hill to the
National Maritime Museum, to the Adelaide Botanic Garden.

Ultimately, this papers main focus will be on how people in a remote community can get
access to Museum artefacts, and Museum Theatre. And the answer is simple you take the
artefacts and the theatre to their community! The devil, of course, is in the detail of how you
make this possible. More than anything, though, Museums are about the stuff, and the
stories that come from the stuff. As performers our role is to interpret and tell those stories.
That being said, we ought not be restricted to telling those stories within the confines of the
Museum itself.

Biography
Michael Mills has written, directed, produced and appeared in many shows as a variety of
characters, as well as himself, during the Australian Festival for Young People, the Adelaide
Fringe Festival, at Adelaide and Melbourne Zoos, the Adelaide Botanic Garden, the S.A.
Museum, the S.A. Maritime Museum, Sydney Botanic Garden, and at hundreds of schools
and kindergartens. He has established himself as a prolific and innovative song writer,
producer and performer with a capacity to both educate and entertain.

Through Heaps Good Productions, Michael has developed a particular niche for site specific
performance and multi-media experiences at cultural institutions. Be it works of musical
theatre, interpretive walks, or audio tours, Michaels penchant is for revealing the stories in
the stuff! Of particular interest in recent years, has been his involvement in programmes to
take the stuff beyond the walls of Museums, and in so doing, take the show on the road!


10 museum-theatre-related-things I learnt on my trip
Stephanie Rosestone

Abstract/Overview:
For two months this year Stephanie travelled around the US, UK and Europe, visiting a range
of museums on the way. Unable to be a regular visitor, she took notice of things only
museum theatre folk see.
Take a journey and see ten engaging, innovative or funny museum theatre practises
Stephanie witnessed while travelling. These examples can show us how different types of
theatre can suit different places, and how enthusiasm and enjoyment ultimately lead to the
best experiences.

Presentation Description/Rationale:
The aim of the presentation is to highlight relevant ideas I gathered while visiting overseas
institutions. The presentation will give an insight as to what visitors may take from an
institution and highlight some examples of entertaining, innovative or funny practises I witness
while travelling.
The focus theme is access and participation: how visitors engage with a museum and
participate, particular when theatre is involved. By taking the role of a visitor (with a museum
professionals prior knowledge) I aim to show what simple ideas can provide our visitors to
access all areas.
Following the Pecha Kucha limitations, and using humour and shared knowledge to engage
the audience, I will provide a brief pictorial snapshot of 10 different strategies I witnessed that
encouraged participation and engagement in museums.

Biography
Stephanie Rosestone
Bachelor of Education (Honours)
Currently an Education Officer at Sovereign Hill, previous worked as an Education Officer at
the State Library of Victoria and as a teacher in schools.


Janice Haynes. Cape Otway Lightstation and Royal Historical Society of Victoria.
Characters of the Lady of History.
The Lady of History presents engaging, accurately researched theatrical characterisations of
real life people from history adding a lively sense of the past to todays world. Performer
Janice Haynes presents some of her current suite of characters developed for the Cape
Otway Lightstation and the Royal Historical Society of Victoria and explains how she interacts
with audiences of all ages. My mind enquiring is in tone and all its sparkles are my own
Jessie Webb.

The Characters of the Lady of History presentation will demonstrate how the stories of real
life people from history have been researched, scripted and effectively prepared into theatrical
presentations designed to engage with audiences and invite their participation and learning.
A skilled performer, Janice Haynes has a lively and authentic performance style that clearly
shows her passion and interest in the past and social history. This presentation shows the
power of story-telling as an outreach, communication and education mechanism.
The Lady of History characters link to the overall conference theme of access, and the
presentation concentrates on the process of performance practice along with the capacity of
performance to address participation barriers through the medium of a live performer.
The objective of the presentation is to demonstrate how live performance can engage
audiences and create opportunities for quality interaction, and as a means of imparting
knowledge in a quick and charming way.

In this presentation Janice Haynes explains how her current suite of characters developed and
evolved for the Cape Otway Lightstation the oldest lightstation on Australias mainland built in
1848 - the convict shipwreck survivor Rose Ann Hyland; Mary Ann Ford, wife of the Lighthouse
Superintendent; Catherine Evans, whose two children died on Cape Otway; and The Lady in
Grey, who became insane, and in her presentations as the Academic Jessie Webb, one of the
founding members of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria.

Content themes include stories of the early settlement of Victoria, pioneering spirit and remote
living for families, and maritime history. The characters of the Lady of History presentation
covers the following school curriculum History themes: Year 4 world history and the
movement of peoples and migration; Year 5 colonial Australia in the 1900s, the founding of a
colony and the history of the British colonies; Year 6 the development of the country as a
nation; and Year 7 Ancient cultures, as well as Victorian Education Learning Standards in
communication, technology, geography and thinking processes.

In this presentation Janice will present several characters in performance mode in costume
with the aid of computer visuals, and explain some of the engagement strategies she uses to
encourage participation. She will be happy to answer questions from the floor and is
particularly interested in meeting the needs of conference participants in terms of imparting
skill and knowledge.

Biography
Janice Haynes has more than 20 years experience in theatre performance including a career
as a dancer, as an arts administrator and tour presenter, and as a venue manager (Sir Robert
Helpmann Theatre, Her Majestys Theatre - Ballarat and the Esso BHP Billiton Wellington
Entertainment Centre). She was the Co-ordinator of the Art Deco 2008 Regional Festival and
is currently an independent theatre producer and the Tour consultant for HIT Productions.
At the Cape Otway Lightstation Janice presents historic re-enactment performances including
the convict shipwreck survivor Rose Ann Hyland; Mary Ann Ford, wife of the Lighthouse
Superintendent; Catherine Evans, whose two children died on Cape Otway; and The Lady in
Grey, who became insane. For the Royal Historical Society of Victoria Janice performs as early
founding member and female Academic Jessie Webb and in 2012 the play Velvet Rebel will
tour in Melbourne and to Performing Arts Centres across Victoria.


Alaine Beek. Essence Food Studio and Werribee Park.
Things that go bump in the night!
Bringing Victorias pastoral history to the general public through entertaining theatrical
productions that combine old fashioned scary effects and comedy at Werribee Park.

Alaine Beek
Alaine Beek has been involved in amateur and professional theatre for over 30 years
covering all aspects including script writing, behind the scenes production, acting and
directing. She was involved as an actor and director with the Mt Gambier Theatre Group, as
a director for the Castle Hill Players in NSW and now as a director for the Werribee Theatre
Company. She has worked with Werribee Park Grade 6 students to assist in researching and
writing (and eventually performing) a short historical play Point of No Return based on
history of Point Puer Boys Prison in Tasmania. Scottish born and bred, Alaine has a passion
for history and was employed as a tour guide at Werribee Park for a number of years. During
that time, she was given the opportunity to combine her love of history with theatre.
Alaine runs her own multi award winning business, Essence Food Studio, Melbourne, with
her husband Bart Beek (chef on Escape with ET, Channel 10) and as an independent
business, wrote and produced What Was That? in 2003. This production has been
performed at night in the Werribee Park Historic Mansion every weekend since then and now
runs twice weekly. She then wrote and produced a second play Down to Earth in 2009
which is performed at the Werribee Park Historic Farm. Alaine is now working with secondary
schools drama and history students who experience these plays and have follow up
workshops and discussion groups.
Alaine also has a love of mystery and anything scary and believes old houses and venues
lend themselves perfectly to creepy atmospheres. And so her aim is not only to teach an
audience about the history of Werribee Park but also to entertain them through comedy and
scary effects which are cleverly interwoven into the stories.

Things that go bump in the Night
In line with the conferences theme access all areas Alaine shows that moving away from
static displays or even guided tours, live theatrical performance can give a much greater
opportunity for visitors to focus and deeply engage with the history and stories at Werribee
Park. The play What Was That? is set in 1908 and focuses on the true story of the
Chirnside family who lived in the Mansion. To further enhance the experience guests can be
part of The Ghostly Gourmet Adventure which involves a three course old style dinner in the
Mansion kitchen, cooked and presented by celebrity chef, Bart Beek. The evening ends with
a performance of What Was That?
Down to Earth is set in 1862 and focuses on farm life at Werribee Park with the evil hag
Black Anny terrorising the farm. Alaine will explain through photographs, video and live
performance, some of the specific steps and challenges in creating these two plays. These
challenges include
! As in independent operator being allowed to set up a resident play at Werribee Park
! Creating an experience where visitors become part of the plays (performed
promenade style) and are allowed to access areas not normally accessible to the
public during the day.
! Finding the fine balance of creating special access to the mansion or farm (with the
actors performing in restricted areas) and ensuring the conservation of the mansion
or farm and all the precious artefacts
! Making the plays financially viable with a small audience and high costs
! Cooking and serving a high quality three course dinner using the wonderful but
temperamental old stove in the historic kitchen of the Mansion with minimal facilities.
! Actually creating the scary effects and designing them so they are workable, effective
and keep to the integrity of the stories.

Wednesday 19 October

Pecha Kucha #1

1. Circus Solarus

Circus Solarus
Circus Solarus has over 2 decades of experience working with people to tell their stories
through costumed performance, large images, visual arts workshops and commissioned
shows.
In museums we bring exhibitions to life through engaging performances and activities, such
as tours in character followed by children's craft workshops on the exhibition theme,
interactive performances to highlight parts of the museum or exhibition.
For the Pecha Kucha we will highlight 2 examples - the Dinosaur Dig: children join our
'archeological team' to unearth the bones of a new species hidden beneath the sand. Plus we
will show footage of a shadow puppet activity - children making puppets and using them in a
show. This could be developed with different historical or cultural themes animating exhibition
stories for younger visitors

2. Sandra Earle (Tocal Homestead)

Tales of Tocal was first devised to tell the story of Tocal Homestead heritage precinct to a
new audience, with next to no budget. What resulted was an intimate theatre concept which
has been flexible enough to build on. The 'show' has been a real audience winner, has
turned a modest profit and has subsequently brought a whole range of side benefits (and a
some challenges). Using the features of the historic site and a large crew of volunteers, the
audience eavesdrop their way through the story, before enjoying dinner in the old hayshed.

Sandy Earle has now produced three seasons of Tales of Tocal for Tocal Homestead and is
working on a fourth. She currently manages the operations at Tocal Homestead heritage
precinct, located in the Hunter Valley of NSW, two hours north of Sydney. She has a long
standing interest in period clothing and has been wardrobe mistress for a number of local
theatre productions. She wrote and produced ' A Century of Defence of Torres Strait' for
Thursday Island Historical Society in 1994. She was also a presenter at National Museum of
Australia (Yarramundi) for the 'Snugglepot and Cuddlepie' school holiday program, part of the
May Gibbs exhibition 1997/8.

3. Two Friends Productions

Chemistry is a subject many children (and adults, for that matter!) find daunting. This year -to
celebrate the Year of Chemistry- Two Friends Productions, alongside Sovereign Hill Museum,
decided to bridge the gap and introduced students to the history of chemistry, the chemical
elements, and the invention of the periodic table. They set to work researching; sifting
through masses of information to find a play structure that included not only the most
important facts but was accessible and interesting to children. The result was Elementally
Speaking, a highly comedic 40 minute play filled with heightened characters; including
Aristotle, Mendeleyev (accredited as the inventor of the modern periodic table) and many of
the chemical elements who were brought to life through masks and physical comedy. This
pucha kucha presentation will explore how Two Friends Productions took an intimidating
subject and made it accessible to young audiences at Sovereign Hill. .
Biography
Amanda Pearce and Jade Thomson are Two Friends Productions, a theatre company that
creates and performs educational comedies for children.
Each play explores themes such as the worlds natural history, the lives of historical figures or
scientific concepts, while also incorporating important messages of self-esteem, confidence
and following your dreams.
Amanda and Jade met whilst studying a Bachelor of Arts (Acting) at the University of Ballarat
Arts Academy which they graduated from in 2009.
Two Friends Productions was formed following the overwhelming positive response received
from the childrens educational comedy they wrote about Charles Darwin during their final
year at the Arts Academy. Titled Happy Darwin Day the play was produced by Sovereign Hill
in affiliation with The University of Ballarat Arts Academy.
They have since enjoyed creating new plays and working with various schools and museums
including Sovereign Hill, Narmbool Environmental Camps, The National Sports Museum and
The State Library of Victoria. They are excited to see what scientific adventures come next.


Robert Bunzli. Questacon, Canberra.
The Virtual Stage a backstage pass into classrooms across Australia.
Australian schools are rapidly tooling up to engage with a digital world. Cultural institutions
are increasingly offering educational access to their collections and education programs
through digital means.
Questacon delivers two streams of video conference (VC) activity - one-on-one highly
interactive science education sessions to schools, and larger scale events with multiple
schools. Our challenge is to develop methods to engage interactively with multiple endpoints
to deliver high impact sessions designed to inspire and engage students.
This session looks at how institutions and museum theatre practitioners can digitally extend
their footprint to schools and communities across Australia.

Aim/s of the presentation
This session explores how institutions, performers and presenters can use digital
technologies to more widely distribute cultural and educational programs.
The session will attempt to dispel the artificial mental boundary that divides live performance
for a live and present audience in an institutional setting and live performance for a live but
remote audience. Similar performance techniques can be used in each medium, including
narrative, character, emotion, and general interactive engagement.

How does it link in with our theme and your chosen focus area
Using VC and other digital technologies, Questacon performers can virtually access all areas
of Australia every State and territory, each school system, pre-school, primary, secondary
and university students.

Objectives and expected participant outcomes i.e. knowledge, skill, attitude
Participants will gain an understanding of:
how digital delivery of educational content is rapidly increasing with the uptake of
video conferencing in schools;
which state education departments have appropriate infrastructure; and
what the future holds with the rollout of the National Broadband network.
Performers will gain an understanding of how their skills and experience can be used
in interactive video links.
Institutions will learn how various museums and organisations in Australia are facing
this challenge, how Australian developments sit in a global context, and most
importantly how to start exploring a foray into remote classrooms via video
conference and other digital delivery mechanisms.

Content to be presented
With 3700 Victorian and NSW schools already connected to video conference (VC)
equipment and the NBN being rolled out progressively, Australian cultural institutions have a
ready made market of schools wanting digital content delivered to their schools in real time.
How do you start to engage with this market?
This session will survey the field of existing content providers and the rapidly increasing level
of penetration of video conferencing into educational markets in USA, UK, NZ and Australia.
Reference will be made to a Working Group of NSW and national institutions which has been
meeting all year to collaboratively share their experiences and plan sector-wide strategies
and activities. The enthusiastic atmosphere reminds me of the momentum in cultural
institutions that led to the national museum theatre forums and conferences from 2002 and
the acceptance of performance as a legitimate medium for engaging with visitors.
Two examples of uptake: the NSW Department of Education has the largest number of VC
cameras in the world on one network. Last year DET delivered 5000 endpoint hours of
content to schools and can be considered a global leader in this field.
In Victoria all 1500 public schools are currently being equipped with HD video conferencing.
Other States are in varying stages of VC development.
The digital future is almost upon us, and institutions need to prepare for an increase in
demand from regional, remote and metropolitan schools.

The session will specifically address:
The advantages to an institution of digital delivery of content, programs and
collections.
Common institutional pitfalls when preparing to use video conferencing as a delivery
medium.
Cutting edge developments in engaging with remote audiences either through
technology solutions (green screen, autocue, multiple cameras etc) or by
performance technique (interactive performance techniques, narrative, character,
emotion).

The session will also address the issue of ubiquitous access how to cope with the
technology access gap:
Access issues arise with digital media as there are many schools not equipped to participate
in digital programs, either through lack of technology or because of lack of bandwidth in
regional areas. One step Questacon has taken towards ubiquitous access is to stream our
events live to the internet so that schools can view our sessions live and participate by
sending questions by email which we endeavour to answer during the session.

What interactive strategies will you use to ensure participation
The presenter will use some of the interactive techniques developed specifically for video
conferencing to engage with the conference audience (including use of volunteers), and to
illustrate the commonalities between live performance and video link presentation.
Depending on the A/V setup, I would also like to organise a live video link to Questacons
Digital Studio for an interactive in-character science demonstration with high speed camera
footage to replay the live action in super slow motion while the performer talks the audience
through what is happening. I would also like to link to another institution eg. Historic Houses
Trust of NSW, to showcase how a history-centric cultural organisation currently uses
performers to deliver in-character digital content to schools.
I am able to facilitate discussions about how these links can be achieved.

Biography
After an initial career as a theatre director and video producer, Robert Bunzli has specialised
in Science Communication across various Commonwealth portfolios. In the 1990s he was
Production Manager for a range of external theatre productions at Questacon. In 2000 he
founded Questacons performance troupe The Excited Particles and was the manager and
director until 2005. He was on the organising committee for the first two National Forums on
Museum Theatre and the IMTAL conference 2005. He then managed Questacons Public
programs before moving into educational video conferencing and the new Centre for Digital
Communication in 2008 as Production Manager and Content Producer.


Emma Cox. National Gallery of Victoria.
From string quartet to 24 hour Dali: the rise and rise of art after dark at NGV.
Since the first late night openings in 2004 in the newly refurbished museum, the art after dark
program at NGV International has grown into a brand synonymous with the Melbourne Winter
Masterpieces exhibition series, bringing record crowds to the gallery. With a themed music
and performance program developed by the public programs team in consultation with
exhibition curators and the music and performance community, the program has been a
major force in audience development and increasing access and participation for the NGV.
This presentation will trace the evolution of the art after dark program at the NGV, from the
first handful of late night openings in 2004, presented in association with the blockbuster
exhibition The Impressionists: Masterpieces from the Muse dOrsay, to the phenomenal 24-
Hour Dali, which attracted record crowds throughout one 24 hour period on the closing
weekend of that exhibition.
Through the art after dark program, the NGV has sought to broaden audiences and increase
access and participation in a literal way through extending the hours the gallery is open but
also, through the accompanying music and performance program, in providing a particular
way for audiences to engage with the NGV and its exhibitions. The art after dark
programming provides and creates an environment that is welcoming, atmospheric,
recreational, fun (and free) a space where you can talk, eat, drink, dance and be merry, as
well as look at art. With attendances steadily increasing since the beginning of the program, it
is clearly one way that audiences want to engage with the museum.
Changing exhibitions provide rich material from which to develop a themed music and
performance program. From the highly polished production that is the art deco inspired Cairo
Club Orchestra to the rough and tumble Parisian flavoured bohemia of the Dali-esque
Rapskallion, performers are selected according to who may best connect with the theme or
spirit of the relevant exhibition. Through commissioning and often collaborating with
performers in the development of the program, a feeling of ownership of the museum for a
broad range of artists and communities is enhanced - an important element in the process of
audience development that occurs through the program.
The objectives of this presentation are for participants to gain knowledge of the current
practices of Australias oldest art museum in music and performance programming for the art
after dark series, and to address the conference theme of Access and Participation. The
presentation will be highly illustrated with examples of performances across the duration of
the art after dark program and will be followed with an opportunity for discussion and
questions.
Biography
Emma is a qualified and experienced museum professional with expertise in cultural
programming, interpretation, audience development and project management. Since joining
the Public Programs team at the NGV in 2003, Emma has developed the public programs for
over 30 exhibitions, including four Melbourne Winter Masterpieces shows, and has played a
central role in the development and delivery of the art after dark and the Late Night Thursdays
@ NGV Australia programs. Emma has extensive experience in public speaking and has
presented lectures on numerous NGV exhibitions, particularly the Melbourne Winter
Masterpieces series. Emma holds a BA with first class honours and postgraduate
qualifications in Museum Studies from Deakin University.


Simone Mortan. Monterey Bay Aquarium. California. Frame Your Story for Success.
Museums and cultural institutions are definitely stepping up to the bar when it comes to
presenting programs that stimulate debate about social topics. Museum Theatre has provided
access into the emotions of our visitors, and now learning more about cognition and how
people approach new information about topics that affect society is giving us a new way to
evaluate the messages in our theatrical programs so that we can improve the effectiveness of
our messages.
Goal: To provide museum theatre professionals with a new way of looking at theatre
productions through the lens of framing so they can develop scripts that will make content
accessible.
Theme: Access all AreasImproved understanding about cognition and how people access
new information can help us to frame our messages in ways that make the content more
understandable, providing us better access into the minds of our audience. This
understanding of cognition and framing is giving us new ways to evaluate the effectiveness of
messages in our theatrical programs.
Objectives: In this session participants will learn about the process of framing and will have
the opportunity to apply the ideas of framing to the evaluation of one script and to brainstorm
with colleagues about ways to approach one or two topics provided by participants.
Content: In this workshop we will look at how framing using universal values, causal chains,
and metaphors helps present the information in ways that can make new information more
accessible and change how people view a topic. We will discuss how people approach new
information and will discuss ways to avoid the pitfalls of miscommunicationYou said this,
they thought that We will use universal values to connect the message to the audience and
causal chains and metaphor to make that content more easily understood.
Interactive Strategies: With this understanding of framing we will take on the role as theatre
critics and examine a script from the Monterey Bay Aquarium that deals with the topic of
climate change and see if the framing in the program is effective in delivering the message,
promoting understanding of the issue and prompting behavioral change. After the
introduction to framing and this exercise, we will choose one or two topics from the group
where an institution wants to address a complex or controversial subject and we will
brainstorm ideas about how we would frame these topics in the context of a museum theatre
production that would make the content more accessible to our audience and through the use
of values, causal chains, and metaphors we can help the audience to understand their
relationship to the issue and how they might take action that moves toward a solution.

Biography
Simone Mortan is the past president of IMTAL-Americas. She has been involved in two
federally funded grants in the U.S. to work on how aquariums can effectively message about
the topic of climate change. Through those two grants she has participated in workshops
developed by Frameworks Institute, a think tank that works specifically with non-profit
organizations about communication strategies that change the public conversation about
social problems. Simone is now looking at ways to use these strategies as tools to improve
the script development for museum theatre productions that address the topic of climate
change. Simone chaired the 2009, 6
th
Biennial conference of IMTAL held in Monterey. She
has worked with Kinan Valdez and El Teatro Campesino to develop two mission driven
theatre productions at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. She manages the volunteer program and
continues to act in an advisory capacity about the theatre programs at the aquarium

Session 6.1

Michael Van Tiel. Powerhouse Museum, Sydney.
Is the last performance really the end?
The curtain has fallen on the last performance, but is this really the end? In this presentation
we look at how the Powerhouse Museum is attempting to repurpose its live school holiday
stage performances for a new education audience via Connected Classrooms. Through a
motive of self-preservation we also look at the how such a strategy reaches audiences that
may not be able to afford to visit the Museum to attend a physical performance.

The aim of this presentation is to give an overview on the how the Powerhouse Museum is
adapting its large scale school holiday performances to be reused in alternative formats. It
will also be a stimulus for other participants to think about the life that their performances
could potentially have via the internet and other means.

This presentation bridges two of the main focus areas. Access and Participation in that it is
deliberately targeting school audiences who cannot attend a physical performance at the
Museum due to either cost, distance, timing or the restrictions of organising an excursion.
Innovation and technology is covered in that the Museum is embracing Connected
Classrooms which is now available in NSW Government Schools.

The case study that will be presented is Cogs Chemistry Show a show that especially
developed for the International Year of Chemistry but due to budget cutbacks further school
performances were cut. The development of repurposing it for Connected Classrooms is a
current work in progress. Hopefully it will be at a stage where we will actually be able to run a
session as if we were a classroom and participate in part of the program. Thus internet
access will be required.

Opportunities will also be given for the audience to think about performances that they have
done and how they too could also have a potential life.

Biography
Michael Van Tiel is a Producer in the Family and Community Experiences Department at the
Powerhouse Museum, Sydney. In this role he has the unique opportunity of creating
memorable experiences for the family audience that engage them with the collecting fields of
the Museum. He is currently working on creating a performance for XXX: the exhibition. He
works collaboratively with some of Australias top youth theatre companies including
Australian Theatre for Young People, Kim Carpenters Theatre of Image and Zeal Theatre.
The latter collaboration involved an adaption of The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch.
Michael takes a strong interest in the way in which mascots can be used by a cultural
institutions as an effective communication tool. This interest has led to the production of six
stage performances starring the Powerhouse Museum mascots Zoe & Cogs. Michael is
currently treasurer of IMTALAP.

Ali Gordon is a museum professional, arts manager, teacher, theatre director and actor. Her
creative work includes: Co-devisor and performer, The Magic Hat Drop Bear
Theatre; Director, Aleksander and the Robot Maid Drop Bear Theatre/Seymour Centre;
Associate director Brundibar Windmill Performing Arts (Director Nigel Jamieson, Conductor
Richard Gill); Associate Artist Emily Loves to Bounce Patch Theatre Company (Director Dave
Brown); Assistant Director Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge Windmill Performing
Arts (Director Neill Gladwinn, Puppetry director Peter Wilson); Assistant Director Proof State
Theatre Company of South Australia. Ali has worked as Marketing Manager at Belvoir St
Theatre and Higher Ground Multidisciplinary Arts Space and Marketing Services Manager at
the Australian National Maritime Museum. She has taught Year 12 Drama at Scotch College
in Adelaide, facilitated countless workshops for and with young people and founded her own
touring children's theatre company. Ali trained with honours as a director and actor at Flinders
University Drama Centre and in Arts Management at the University of South Australia. She is
currently Creative Director of Drop Bear Theatre and an Education Officer at the Powerhouse
Museum. At the Powerhouse Museum, Ali is thrilled to be finding ways to interpret museum
collections and concepts using theatrical techniques.


Jo Clyne. History Teachers Association of Victoria.
Museum Theatre in Virtual Museums?

Many cultural institutions have created an online presence by replicating their collections in
virtual environments. In this session Jo will demonstrate the potential for museum theatre to
exist in a virtual environment through the development of scripts for avatars and virtual
objects. Participants will be introduced to virtual museums and heritage sites such as the
Virtual Quarantine Station, a FUSE funded collaboration between the History Teachers
Association of Victoria, The State Library of Victoria and the Public Records Office of Victoria.

Biography
Jo Clyne is a History Education Consultant for the History Teachers Association of Victoria.
She is a member of the IMTALAP committee and currently completing a PhD in Museum
Theatre. Jo is a professional part-time magician and tutors The Secret Life of Things at the
University of Melbourne.


Jo Henwood, Australian Storytelling Guild. Sydney.
Ears to hear and otherwise: communicating for disabilities and modalities.

Nobody is perfect - we all have strengths and weaknesses, from vision or hearing or cognitive
functioning, to our preferred modality within the Multiple Intelligences, and it all influences our
world view.

So for everyone to varying degrees we need to supplement the words we use with a range of
other communicative techniques. We can use visual, tactile, and auditory props to adapt well
known stories for audiences with particular needs.

To explore methods of communicating stories to people with visual or auditory impairments,
intellectual disabilities and to a range of modalities

How does it link in with our theme and your chosen focus area

Access for people with disabilities
Accessing a range of strategies to use with a broad range of audiences

Objectives and expected participant outcomes i.e. knowledge, skill, attitude

Knowledge
Different modalities (Multiple Intelligences)
Features of different disabilities: visual, auditory, intellectual

Skills
Telling stories
Using a variety of communication techniques and props
Adapting plots for performance with different audiences

Affect
appreciation of diversity of needs in potential audiences
confidence in having an enriched repertoire of communication techniques

Outcomes
At the conclusion of the workshop participants will be able to:
discuss some needs of people with visual, auditory or intellectual disabilities
identify their own preferred modality
name seven modalities
select appropriate resources to enhance communication to particular audiences
choose language, body language and participative techniques as appropriate to a
particular audience
choose and adapt a story for a particular audience
have an enriched repertoire of techniques to use with different audiences
perform a story for a particular audience

Content to be presented

1) features of various disabilities
2) needs of people who have those disabilities
3) communication techniques which can be used with people with disabilities
4) Multiple Intelligences: definitions and applications
5) communication needs of people with different modalities in language, body language and
props
6) participative storytelling techniques
7) telling a story : traditional, historic or environmental for a particular audience
8) creating a program for a particular audience

What interactive strategies will you use to ensure participation

complete brief test identifying Multiple Intelligences
adapt an existing story to to suit a different audience
perform a participative story
use props
VISUAL drawing, signing, signs
AUDITORY instruments, sound effects
TACTILE fabric, clay, objects
choose an audience (including general audiences, such as choirs or preschoolers
which involves predicting what their preferred modality might be)
choose a story
choose props, techniques and enhancements
perform the story in a small group

Biography
Jo Henwood is a Storyteller, Guide and Education Officer, currently working with the Royal
Botanic Gardens Sydney and Historic Houses Trust of NSW. She has also worked in special
education, gifted education, out of school hours centres, preschools, as a massage therapist
for people living with AIDS, with volunteers and as a children's librarian.

THE MEMORANDIUM
Memory is the cabinet of imagination, the treasury of reason, the registry of conscience and
the council-chamber of thought.
Giambattista Basile

The Memorandium is a theatrical exploration of our memories - the stories, feelings, thoughts
and impressions that reside within us all.
Hiding in old post-office pigeon-holes are a number of parcels and packages - abandoned,
lost, forgotten or perhaps never delivered. In The Memorandium, these parcels are
unwrapped and passed around and shared with the audience. Together we then create a
story, formed and inspired from a collection of memories aroused from the sensation of these
old or forgotten objects. Puppets emerge from the pigeon-holes - as breathtaking as our
shared memories and stories.
Biography
Penelope Bartlau (Barking Spider Visual Theatre)
I am the current Producer and Artistic Director of Barking Spider Visual Theatre (BSVT). I
write, direct, dramaturge and perform for puppetry and visual theatre for our company and
with other companies and institutions.
Education: Master of Puppetry, Victorian College of the Arts (2007); Professional
Screenwriting, RMIT (01); Commedia DellArte, Antonio Fava, Italy; Lee Strasberg Institute,
New York City; New York University, 20th Century American Fine Art and Design, (with
Harold Jaffy) (95-96); Bachelor of Arts, Monash University, Politics and English Literature
Majors (1989). Singing training (1986-89) with Loris Synan & Graham Clarke.
I completed a two-month intensive workshop and performance, Landscapes Within with
Philippe Genty and Mary Underwood in 2006. I have also trained with a number of
international master puppeteers, including Ronnie Burkett (Canada), Peter Schumann (Bread
and Puppet Theatre, USA), Petr Matasek (Czech Republic) and Kazunori Watanabe/Miyako
Kurotani (Japan). I took part in a two-week collaboration with students from the DAMU Art
College in Prague, culminating in a performance at the Prague Quadrennial 07.
With Barking Spider Visual Theatre (BSVT) founded in September 2006, I have created in
excess of 16 original works. These have been for children, for young adults and adult
audiences. Five shows have toured nationally and one internationally. Two works were
created for the Immigration Museum on specific cultural themes. Our April 11 show Thats
My Turf, created for Scienceworks, was based on bugs in the backyard, with giant bug
puppets. I have been strategic in diversifying BSVTs work, moving into realms of visual arts,
working specifically to collaborate with galleries, museums and other institutions to develop
and present visual theatre and visual art in new ways theatrical interactivity with visual art.
In 2010 I worked at Heide Gallery, the National Gallery of Victoria, Hawthorn Art Gallery, and
Albury City Library-Museum and Art Gallery. In 2010 I toured shows to South Australia, New
South Wales, Tasmania and in regional Victoria, as well as presenting works in Melbourne.
In the past 3 years I have collaborated with a number of other companies, businesses and
institutions. I was director of Signet Bureaus theatre-inspired fashion parade for Melbourne
International Fashion Festival. I worked as puppetry director on Hoa Phams Silence, which I
re-directed for a remount/second season at the Carlton Courthouse and short Victorian tour in
May-June 10. I also worked with New York based company Phantom Limb, on a
development of a work 69 South, about the life of explorer Ernest Shackelton. In 10 I worked
a with a Tokyo theatre company (in Tokyo), creating bilingual work for children. I helped
develop object puppetry techniques in preparation for a work they were creating. Last year I
collaborated with Melbourne Workers Theatre in the production of a TV Pilot, which I also
directed. In 07 I directed puppetry for White Whales production Melburnia.
I work as a stable puppeteer for the Melbourne Museum and I also work with Polyglot
presenting roving puppets at festivals and events and puppet workshops. I presented
workshops in puppetry in Japan, in Itoigawa, Nigata Prefecture and in Aomori. Other
workshops I have generated & present through BSVT include Object Theatre, Bunraku
Puppetry and How to Make a Piece of Theatre from Scratch. I have taught at Monash UnI
Student Theatre, Melbourne Uni Student Theatre, Gearstick Theatre Company (Wagga
Wagga), Theatre Works and for other theatre companies/groups both regionally and within
Melbourne.
I am an Artistic Associate of Melbourne Workers Theatre, part of the Kew Courthouse Arts
Reference Group, and a member of YPAA, AWDA, Theatre Network Victoria and UNIMA
Australia. I regularly write articles and reviews for the UNIMA Australia magazine. I am also a
member of Museums Australia, and I delivered an abstract at the September 2010 Museums
Australia conference on the use of the theatre in a museums and gallery context. I will speak
on the same topic at a symposium at the National Sports Museum in November this year.
With the company, BSVT, I am developing a slate of new works this year: Talking Head - A
travelling carnival-style, interactive story-telling machine with shadow puppetry for which in
May we completed a two-week intensive creative development at Arts House, including a
day-long Master class with Master Shadow Puppeteer Richard Bradshaw. The Memorandium
- interactive story telling with puppetry performance for adults; After Dark site-specific,
storytelling through puppetry based on the history and local area of City of Brimbank; A Big
Hand For Big West A large-scale community-based puppetry project for the opening night
of Big West Festival in November. Heide 30
th
Birthday Celebration Weekend I am directing
and designing the event entertainment spots, around celebration themes Art, Architecture &
Landscape; and If Walls Could Talk an Arts Victoria residency at Preshil Primary School,
creating art installations and puppetry works with the children, based on the schools history.
Finally, this year I have launched one of our shows, The Biscuit Readings Online. Over the
past 6 months I have been developing the project, as an experiment in using social
networking media as both a performance and publicity platform.
You can view my work at:
Barking Spider Visual Theatre Website: http://www.barkingspidertheatre.com.au
You Tube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/barkingspidertheatre

The Biscuit Readings Website: http://www.thebiscuitreadings.com
You Tube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/thebiscuitreadings

Thursday 20 October

Plenary Session: Performance.
Jade Thomson & Amanda Pearce. Two Friends Theatre Company.
For the love of Becker.

Synopsis: This performance has been included in the State Library of Victoria's regional
touring program 'Travelling Treasures' for 2011-12. The program focuses on the ill-fated
Burke and Wills expedition of 186061, and takes collection items from the Library to schools
and public libraries across the state. The performance is based on the life of expedition artist
Ludwig Becker, whose sketches and paintings recorded expedition conditions and the
landscapes and creatures encountered by the explorers. The items toured with the program
will be on display after the performance for conference delegates to view.

Biography
Amanda Pearce and Jade Thomson are Two Friends Productions, a theatre company that
creates and performs educational comedies for children.
Each play explores themes such as the worlds natural history, the lives of historical figures or
scientific concepts, while also incorporating important messages of self-esteem, confidence
and following your dreams.
Amanda and Jade met whilst studying a Bachelor of Arts (Acting) at the University of Ballarat
Arts Academy which they graduated from in 2009.
Two Friends Productions was formed following the overwhelming positive response received
from the childrens educational comedy they wrote about Charles Darwin during their final
year at the Arts Academy. Titled Happy Darwin Day the play was produced by Sovereign Hill
in affiliation with The University of Ballarat Arts Academy.
They have since enjoyed creating new plays and working with various schools and museums
including Sovereign Hill, Narmbool Environmental Camps, The National Sports Museum and
The State Library of Victoria. They are excited to see what scientific adventures come next.

Plenary Session: Panel Discussion. Adrienne Leith, Bernard Caleo & David Perkins, and
invitees. Melbourne Museum. The future of Museum Theatrical Presentations on-line.

Museums are successfully bringing theatrical presentations to live audiences using a variety
of media and stages. Museums are also engaging with on-line audiences. How are the two
related? Is it possible for live museum theatrical presentations have a life on-line? If so then
who is the audience? And what forms have been explored already/are they successful? What
might the future bring?

To facilitate a forum exploring the current and future on-line developments in relation to
museum theatrical presentations. The conference provides a unique opportunity to exchange
ideas and stories of success with other industry professionals. We hope this panel will lead to
an ongoing discussion of ideas about online presence as we approach the rollout of the
National Broadband Network. The Internet is no longer a new or scary place but the approach
to online programs and presentation is still in its infancy within the museum context. We aim
to discuss initiatives that have or have not worked and determine a best practice for the
future.

We hope to provide people with an overview of current practice in this area by commencing
the panel discussion with a 10 minute presentation on whats being used around the world in
museums. Panel members will be chosen who have some expertise in this area to augment
this information. Some blue sky discussion about possibilities for future developments and
what philosophies would underpin these ideas would be an outcome for the group discussion
part of the forum. Attitudes may change and be expanded from theatre should be live and in
front of an audiences to an open consideration of new possibilities for the on-line life of
theatrical presentations.

A 10 minute overview of online applications from museums around the world. The panel will
then each present a 10 minute discussion each. The forum will then be open to group
participation. People in the audience will firstly be asked to contribute their own success
stories then the group discussion will be moved by the facilitator to discuss the pros, cons
and direction of museum theatrical presentations online.

Biography
David Perkins, Adrienne Leith and Bernard Caleo work at Melbourne Museum in the
development of public programs and theatrical performances. All arts graduates but with a
wide diversity of experiences and skills, they bring together fifty years of experience in
museum programming and theatrical development.

Pecha Kucha # 2
David Cannell Questacon

Reactions

At Questacon we are tasked with presenting up to date science and technology concepts and
thusly like to react to current events around the world. We have tried creating shows
specifically around current events such as the Mars rover landings, moon landing anniversary
and the Bird and Swine Flu outbreaks. Some shows are updated daily with breaking news
regarding dinosaur discoveries or NASA findings which can give shows a fresh feel. The
main part of this session however is the massive changes that have affected our poor Natural
Disaster Show which has been totally revamped several times in response to inconvenient
global disasters. We impart some nuggets of wisdom in responding and reacting to current
affairs and their incorporation into daily presentations.

Biography
David Cannell has a long history of science communication and performance around the
Canberra region. With degrees in Zoology, Molecular Biology and a Graduate Diploma in
Science Communication and a theatrical pedigree as long as the Winter of Discontent he runs
the daily operations of Questacons Excited Particles performance team where he has been
operating for the last eleven years. Amongst the myriad of sciences he immerses himself in
regularly he is a keen amateur palaeontologist and has a great love of hurting small children
with theatrical makeup. He has been part of IMTAL for the last decade and is always
intrigued by the buffet of ideas and personalities one discovers each conference

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