Crimson Rosella Creative Adventures creative director Lindy Hume and executive producer Andrew Gray. Photo: David Rogers Photography.
Arts leaders Dr Lindy Hume AM and Andrew Gray are joining forces with Tathra Hotel owner Cliff Wallis to provide opportunities for Far South Coast theatre lovers.
Dr Hume and Mr Gray have formed a new arts company, Crimson Rosella Creative Adventures (CRCA), that will create and facilitate new works, as well as bring productions to the Far South Coast.
Mr Wallis’ new Headland Theatre will be an intimate venue for local and touring theatre performances, as well as a development space for new work.
Their first project together, Barstool Conversations, kicked off on 11 February. It aims to get people interested and talking ahead of the Headland Theatre opening around winter/spring.
Under Mr Gray’s leadership, South East Arts initiated key South Coast events including Headland Writers Festival and Giiyong Festival.
Dr Hume is an internationally recognised director of opera, theatre, and events. She is one of the country’s leading thinkers and writers on creative life in regional Australia.
Mr Gray said CRCA’s foundation was Dr Hume’s philosophy that developed from her PhD around the nature of regional creative practice and how it differed from metro-based practice.
“The key concept is you orient more towards a horizontal or landscape perspective when working and creating in a regional setting. Relationships, place, situation, and surroundings are more in play,” he said.
The community, and the nature of living regionally, with greater distances and more time, also influence creative practice.
CRCA is an arts company with a performing arts focus.
The company will create new works. It will also bring its production skills to support other people to create new works, plus assist with advice, planning and strategy.
Sketch of the new Headland Theatre near the Tathra Hotel that is expected to open around winter/spring of 2025. Photo: Supplied.
Mr Wallis is a longstanding patron of the arts and the concept of a theatre attached to a pub appeals.
Before he bought Tathra Hotel in 2015, he had considered buying the Old Fitz in Sydney’s Woolloomooloo, a pub with a theatre space. He had also run a small theatre restaurant in Manly and a pub with a theatre in Kiama.
He has been paying musicians to perform at the Tathra Hotel for years. It has been a key contributor to the Bega Valley’s vibrant live music scene.
Mr Wallis was also a key partner in establishing the annual Headland Writers Festival, which was first held in 2021.
“I thought Headland was a good name for a writers festival, so we are going to take on that name for the theatre space as well,” he said.
He said Dr Hume and Mr Gray were taking on a lot of the theatre-type programming and had been building partnerships with theatre groups in Sydney, Melbourne and beyond that would potentially create and perform at Headland Theatre.
The 80- to 100-seat Headland Theatre will enable Mr Wallis to present theatre, screen arthouse films, and host talks, discussions, and workshops.
“It is continuing the work that Cliff has been doing, establishing a creative hub and cultural development space,” Mr Gray said.
In early February 2025, percussionist David Hewitt turned the new Headland Theatre construction site into a performance play-space. Photo: David Rogers Photography.
CRCA will focus on creating an annual spring program, to start this year.
“That will be when the CRCA program really ramps up, as well as using the theatre ourselves in winter as a creative development space,” Mr Gray said.
Fittingly, the second Barstool Conversation on 25 February is with Suzie Miller, an internationally renowned Australian playwright who specialises in small spaces.
“Her work, Prima Facie, is a one-woman show that has been presented in London’s West End, winning an Olivier award and Tony nominations, so we are excited to talk with her about presenting big ideas in small spaces,” Mr Gray said.
Further conversations with playwrights, performers and directors will follow.
“It is an unusual story for a regional hotel to be doing this as most regional theatre venues are owned and run by councils or community not-for-profit groups,” Mr Gray said.
“There are not many examples of someone from a business point of view taking on this sort of initiative.”
Mr Wallis said being part of the community was important to a hotel’s success, and he was confident the theatre would be well used.
“I feel like the space is a bit of a gift to the community,” Mr Wallis said.
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