View source for PACT Centre for Emerging Artists

{{Short description|Australian performing arts organisation}}
{{use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{use Australian English|date=May 2022}}
The '''PACT Centre for Emerging Artists''' (short for "Producers Artists Curators Technicians Centre for Emerging Artists"), formerly '''Producers Authors Composers and Talent''' and '''PACT Youth Theatre''', is an Australian [[performing arts]] organisation and [[theatre company]] located in [[Sydney]], [[New South Wales]], catering for new and emerging artists. Its theatre is known as the '''PACT Theatre'''.
==History==
PACT is one of Australia's longest-running arts organisations, having been established in 1964<ref name=ar2020>{{cite web | title=PACT Centre for Emerging Artists facing an uncertain future | website=Australian Arts Review | date=25 August 2020 | url=https://artsreview.com.au/pact-centre-for-emerging-artists-facing-an-uncertain-future/ | access-date=10 May 2022}}</ref> by Robert Allnutt, [[Jack Mannix]] and Patrick Milligan,<ref name=smh2014/> with intention of creating more Australian work in the performing arts. It was originally Producers Authors Composers and Talent, in 1974 becoming PACT Youth Theatre until 2009, when it adopted the name PACT (Producers Artists Curators Technicians) Centre for Emerging Artists.<ref name=dos>{{cite web | title=PACT | website=[[The Dictionary of Sydney]]| url=https://dictionaryofsydney.org/organisation/pact | access-date=10 May 2022}}</ref>
Its home was in the [[Corn Exchange, Sydney|Corn Exchange building]] on [[Sussex Street, Sydney]] until January 1988, when it moved to a converted [[warehouse]] at 107 Railway Parade, [[Erskineville]], which became the PACT Theatre.<ref name=dos/>
In the early years, PACT focussed on environmental issues, [[Indigenous Australians| Indigenous]] stories and [[experimental film]]s.<ref name=smh2014>{{cite web | last=Blake | first=Elissa | title=PACT Centre for Emerging Artists celebrates 50 years | website=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] | date=14 October 2014 | url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/theatre/pact-centre-for-emerging-artists-celebrates-50-years-20141014-115npv.html | access-date=10 May 2022}}</ref>
At the same time as the move to Erskineville, PACT started focussing on young people, aged 6 to 25. It produced the world premiere of the play ''Looking for Alibrandi'' in 1995, based on the 1992 [[Looking for Alibrandi (novel)|novel of the same name]],<ref name=ar2020/> which sold out for three seasons, leading to the making of the film ''[[Looking for Alibrandi (film)|Looking for Alibrandi]]'' and also large [[pantomime]]s with "hundreds of kids".<ref name=smh2014/>
In the late '90s it returned to an emerging artist model.
The theatre was renovated in 2019.<ref name=ar2020/>
==Governance and funding==
In 2014 PACT's artistic director was Katrina Douglas.<ref name=smh2014/>
In February 2020 the company was restructured, in a pioneering move supported by [[Create NSW]], the arts funding body of the [[NSW Government]]. An Artistic Directorate of five practising mid-career artists was appointed: [[Amrita Hepi]], [[Sarah Houbolt]], Tulleah Pearce, [[Natalie Randall]] and Malcolm Whittaker, who cover the fields of dance, theatre, performance, interdisciplinary practices, curating and creative producing.<ref name=ar2020/>
However, the impact of the new structure was affected by the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Australia]], and then Create NSW failed to renew multi-year funding from January 2021.<ref name=ar2020/>
==Function==
PACT provides support for over 100 emerging artists each year, providing a pathway for professional development that they may not otherwise have. It also assists new curators, and has partnered with Powerhouse Youth Theatre in [[Fairfield, New South Wales|Fairfield]] to allow young [[Western Sydney]] artists to perform in the [[Inner West]] of the city.<ref name=ar2020/>
==Resident artists==
In 2020, PACT's resident artists were:<ref name=ar2020/>
*Lost All Sorts collective, a dance group who are all recent graduates of [[NAISDA]]
* Riana Head-Toussaint, a multidisciplinary artist with disability
* Emma McManus, writer, performer, and co-founder of the Applespiel collective
==Alumni==
Apart from a number of lesser-known people working in theatre around Australia in various roles, alumni of PACT include:<ref name=ar2020/>
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
*[[Geoffrey Atherden]]<ref name=smh2014/>
*[[Peter Weir]]<ref name=ar2020/>
*[[Jack Thompson (actor)|Jack Thompson]]<ref name=ar2020/>
*[[Leonard Teale]]<ref name=ar2020/>
*[[Grahame Bond]]<ref name=smh2014/><ref name=ar2020/>
*[[Alex Buzo]]<ref name=ar2020/>
*[[Dorothy Hewett]]<ref name=ar2020/>
*[[Zoe Carides]]<ref name=ar2020/>
*[[Eryn Jean Norvill]]<ref>{{cite web | last=Jefferson | first=Dee | title=Portrait of an artist: The making, unravelling and reinvention of Eryn Jean Norvill| website= ABC News| publisher = [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] | date=7 May 2022 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-05-07/eryn-jean-norvill-picture-of-dorian-gray-stc/101030946 | access-date=9 May 2022}}</ref>
*[[Donna Abela]]<ref name=smh2014/>
* [[Lally Katz]]<ref name=smh2014/>
{{div col end}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Theatres in Sydney}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:1964 establishments in Australia]]
[[Category:Theatre companies in Australia]]
[[Category:Theatre in Sydney]]
[[Category:Drama schools in Australia]]
[[Category:Youth theatre companies]]