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[0:00] Justin Clarke: In the spirit of reconciliation, the Theatre Thoughts Podcast acknowledges the traditional custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all traditional custodians of the land on which our episodes are recorded.

[0:30] Justin Clarke: You're listening to the Theatre Thoughts Podcast, your backstage pass to the world of theatre in Australia and beyond. I'm Justin, your guide to the drama, comedy and pure magic of the stage from the heart of Australia to the grandest stages worldwide. Join us here for enlightening conversations, reviews and behind-the-scenes stories from the artists themselves. Subscribe for your regular dose of theatre inspiration and consider supporting us on Patreon for exclusive content. Follow us on Instagram at theatrethoughtsaus and @ttpod_official, and discover even more over on our TikTok Theatre Thoughts Australia. So join us as we rise the curtain on a brand new episode of the Theatre Thoughts Podcast.

[1:40] Justin Clarke: Welcome everyone to a brand new episode of the Theatre Thoughts Podcast. I have two brilliant creatives with me today to talk about a brand new production, The Lost Boys, which is coming to the Seymour Centre in November. So let me introduce them first of all. So first of all, we have a multidisciplinary performer, writer, director and producer who's the current artistic director of the award-winning devising group, The Little Eggs Collective. She studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Past credits include The Real Thing for STC, Wherever She Wanders for Griffin and she's directed productions for Little Eggs including Pinocchio in 2018 and most recently Metropolis at the Hayes Theatre in 2023. To Julia Robertson, thank you so much for joining us.

[2:20] Julia Robertson: Thank you for having me, very happy to be here.

[2:24] Justin Clarke: Yes, sorry I don't know why I said yes for you. That was really weird. And then secondly we have an interdisciplinary, that's a mouthful, artist working across performance, drag, sound and dance. Their practice investigates the use of movement, improvisation and sound in live performance to explore themes of perception, identity, connection and gender glitches. Their recent credits include The Tenant of Wildfell for STC in 2022, Pollen at KXT in 2021 and Petite Suite for Brand X in 2021 and they're the current recipient of the Martin Bequest Scholarship. It's Eliza Scott.

[2:59] Eliza Scott: Hello. Thank you for joining us.

[3:01] Justin Clarke: Thank you, so great to be here. So now I've done my embarrassing little bio and camera now I can just get straight into that because that's the worst part of the podcast episode.

[3:08] Julia Robertson: It was perfect, I loved it.

[3:10] Justin Clarke: Well I'm so excited to have you both here to talk about Little Eggs because you guys have taken off in recent years, you know, with so many amazing shows under your belt. And now you're coming with The Lost Boys as well. Is it sort of like a new sort of venture for you with the immersive sort of element?

[3:26] Julia Robertson: Absolutely, I think that every project that we do is a new venture for us. It's kind of become a prerequisite to do something that we haven't done before and something that is fiercely ambitious. This was a project that has sort of been in the back of the Little Eggs mind for a couple of years and then bringing Eliza and Craig on board and saying, hey why don't we make this a thing where everyone could be a Lost Boy and you can get lost in it and what does that look like? And my eyes just went, yeah we have never done that before, perfect, let's do that. So yeah, it's one of those things that is incredibly stressful but ambitious as hell and that makes it worth doing.

[4:07] Justin Clarke: I love that, ambitious is what we're looking for really. Eliza, so what's your role in the production?

[4:13] Eliza Scott: I am co-directing and performing in the production.

[4:19] Justin Clarke: And it's not your first encounter with Little Eggs, you've kind of worked with them kind of recently before?

[4:24] Eliza Scott: Yes, yeah, I was lucky enough to have Little Eggs produce a show at KXT in 2021 and then I also teach and facilitate workshops with Little Eggs which is honestly a treat and a pleasure. And yeah, we've developed stuff before and I just think best theatre company in town.

[4:49] Justin Clarke: Look at that. Throwing it out there. It's happening. Well I guess before we get too far into it, I'd love to know like for audiences who don't really know you or are aware of Little Eggs and yourselves, the best thing to know about the two of you. So what's the top things you need to know about, you know, Julia and Eliza?

[5:03] Julia Robertson: Oh gosh, top things. Maybe I should do you and you do me?

[5:13] Eliza Scott: Did I put too much stress on you?

[5:16] Julia Robertson: No, I love it, I love it. Okay, maybe do you want to go one for one?

[5:21] Eliza Scott: Yeah, sure. Three top things. Three top things. Okay, top thing about Julia, I'm looking into the camera, top thing about Julia Robertson is incredible performer, incredible singer-songwriter and writer, and you said one for one but I'm jumping in.

[5:32] Julia Robertson: Okay, sure. There are no rules.

[5:34] Eliza Scott: Just like brings her whole self and like commitment and passion to everything that she does. So like when you know that she's involved in something, you know it's going to be good.

[5:48] Julia Robertson: Oh, that's so nice. Okay, three things about Eliza Scott.

[5:54] Eliza Scott: Yeah, Eliza is someone who I've been super obsessed with both from afar and up close for a long time. They are, again, an amazing actor just as a base and then once I learned that they made their own work and stuff was like, that's even better. And just also an amazing musician, the lyricism of their work is so good. And then also just one of those human beings where I absolutely knew belonged in Little Eggs because of their soul and heart and spirit and yeah, immense, immense heart for people and immense capacity for people and community.

[6:39] Julia Robertson: And that's really important to us and to me.

[6:45] Eliza Scott: That was very, very wholesome. I loved that idea. Well done. That was great. I'm going to keep that for future podcasts.

[6:51] Justin Clarke: Well, before, as we get too far into it, I'd love to ask you, first of all, our theatre thoughts questions to kind of delve into your mind and kind of pick apart little bits of theatre, if that's okay. So because there's two of you, we'll do one for one. So I'll ask like one question. These ones are rules. I'll ask one question and then like one answer, one answer, and then we'll go to the next question. First question is what has been your favourite production you've seen recently?

[7:04] Eliza Scott: I saw a show last night called Big Dance.

[7:17] Justin Clarke: Okay.

[7:18] Eliza Scott: Yeah. There's a company called Dance Makers Collective and they are an incredible dance company, but they have a whole ensemble, a whole collective of dancers that they work with. And this one is like within their company, they've done all of, they've all choreographed different works using each company member. So you see all of these different shows by incredible people. And yeah, I love dance. So I would recommend, and Emma Harrison is also a Lost Boy.

[7:49] Justin Clarke: Oh, there you go.

[7:50] Eliza Scott: She's doing it as well. But yeah, that would be, that would be the one that I've seen.

[7:53] Justin Clarke: Great answer. I like it. Julia?

[8:02] Julia Robertson: I just saw Slanted Theatre's production of Boom.

[8:04] Eliza Scott: Yes, I went the other night.

[8:06] Julia Robertson: Yeah. I thought Tiffany did a really lovely job and it was just so great to see so many new faces on stage that I haven't seen before. All of them just bubbling with stuff. I want to see more from every single one of them. And yeah, I just thought it was a really beautiful, cohesive ensemble and full of, you know, yeah, things that I want to see more of from everyone. So it was, it was really nice to be there. And also, I think it's like, it's one of those things when you're really, really busy in life and you're really tired all the time and you're sort of going, oh, do I have time to do that? And I was really glad that I made time for it.

[8:42] Eliza Scott: That's great. Yeah, it was lovely.

[8:45] Justin Clarke: I think great for y'all to cut that in a snippet and send it to them. I love that. What role haven't you played yet that you'd still want to?

[8:48] Eliza Scott: Hamlet.

[8:50] Julia Robertson: That's mine.

[8:52] Eliza Scott: Hamlet is like, I want to play Hamlet so badly.

[8:54] Julia Robertson: Same.

[8:56] Eliza Scott: I can't tell you.

[8:58] Julia Robertson: How much?

[9:00] Eliza Scott: I want to play Hamlet.

[9:02] Julia Robertson: I want to play Julius Caesar.

[9:04] Eliza Scott: Oh, we're such nerds. I want to say Shakespeare once too.

[9:06] Julia Robertson: And I'm like, now I have to think of something that's not Shakespeare.

[9:08] Eliza Scott: Nice.

[9:10] Eliza Scott: Mark Antony. Hamlet and Mark Antony are like my two.

[9:12] Julia Robertson: Wow. Great choices. Great choices. Very epic.

[9:16] Eliza Scott: A friend of mine actually did a production of Julius Caesar down in Wollongong recently, and they turned it into a beauty pageant.

[9:20] Julia Robertson: So it was like a murderous beauty pageant.

[9:22] Eliza Scott: Going after Julius Caesar, I guess, was like the beauty queen of it. And it was a comment on feminism and like pulling women down and stuff like that. And they got rave reviews.

[9:28] Julia Robertson: Cool.

[9:30] Eliza Scott: That sounds wild.

[9:32] Justin Clarke: Yeah.

[10:49] Eliza Scott: Lot of there are so many other texts that I would want to do. I just I think I would love to do more Tom Stoppard's. Oh, yeah. I'm like just the writing. It's just so yummy.

[11:04] Julia Robertson: Name a play or a production that left you speechless. I saw a piece recently in Avignon called Le Jardin des Delicaces.

[11:10] Eliza Scott: Let's say the Avignon Avignon in France.

[11:12] Julia Robertson: Yes in France. I know where that is.

[11:17] Eliza Scott: Yeah, it's like one of the biggest theatre festivals in Europe. Wow, and it's like they mainly can commission new work and it was an adaptation of Hieronymus Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights and it was yeah.

[11:30] Julia Robertson: I know that because I don't know why I look mighty wasn't it. That was my second year uni show we did a production really based on that.

[11:35] Eliza Scott: Yeah.

[11:35] Julia Robertson: And it was like set in this giant quarry outside it was just like about like the end of the world and it was the most absurd thing that I've ever seen in my life and I was like shaking with how much I loved it.

[11:50] Eliza Scott: Um, and it was so funny. And yeah incredible.

[11:57] Julia Robertson: That's great. I love that. So good. Very good.

[11:58] Eliza Scott: Yeah.

[11:58] Julia Robertson: I'm just going through like times in my life because I feel like there are certain shows that shook me then that probably wouldn't shake me now, but were really important in like informing who I am and the artist that I am.

[12:10] Eliza Scott: Yeah, and I think I think one of the first ones that I can remember really shaking me and me loving was when I had to write a review of when I was 16 called on a bound.

[12:21] Julia Robertson: Okay, and I think it was an international touring show and it was about like prisoners of war and they hung people upside down naked with like bags on their heads.

[12:30] Eliza Scott: I remember my mom sitting next to me being like I should not have brought you.

[12:33] Julia Robertson: I was so it was also a physical theater piece. And I remember they had a big grate at the back.

[12:40] Eliza Scott: Yeah, and maybe it was Australian. I don't know but it was it was one that just changed me.

[12:45] Julia Robertson: And then I think in uni I saw a Dina Jacobs was of Oz at Bellevue.

[12:50] Eliza Scott: Ah, and it was the first thing that I'd seen on a main stage. That wasn't a play or wasn't like traditional theater.

[12:56] Julia Robertson: Okay, and the design rocked my world and the fact that you could just do things with design or with soundscape and like not make a play.

[13:04] Eliza Scott: Yeah, I was like, that's so cool.

[13:07] Julia Robertson: But then I think one of the most recent things that really shook me was a Christmas carol that I saw in London.

[13:14] Eliza Scott: Yeah at the Old Vic and it was like the most I have ever experienced Christmas spirit and like it snowed over the audience and there were like kids in the front like catching the snow and I just bawled my eyes out.

[13:25] Julia Robertson: Like they pass food through the audience and stuff and that was like so traditional storytelling and ensemble based theater and the words are so beautiful but that one I was like.

[13:38] Eliza Scott: It's funny how like different moments of my life just really rocked me but they're so vastly different in their kind of presentation of style, right?

[13:48] Julia Robertson: Sorry, there's three.

[13:50] Eliza Scott: I love it all. What is your pre-show ritual? What do you have a pre-show ritual?

[13:57] Julia Robertson: I usually arrive and like do a long physical warm-up do just like physical improvisation and things like that because and then just like.

[14:09] Eliza Scott: But um, yeah, I mean my ritual varies depending on what kind of show I'm doing.

[14:15] Julia Robertson: Yeah, um recently it's been a lot more dance work, so it's has been more along that line.

[14:20] Eliza Scott: But um, I don't really have a ritual actually.

[14:25] Julia Robertson: Yeah, I think every show that I do I watch what the other actors are doing and I go and I just do what they do for a while and then I'm not ready but yeah, I think warm-ups have never been my strong suit.

[14:40] Eliza Scott: I always just want people to be together. I'm like, let's do it together. Let's like hang out together.

[14:43] Julia Robertson: Yeah, because I think my pre-show ritual is like making sure that we're all in the same play arriving with my ensemble.

[14:50] Eliza Scott: Yeah, it's always so important to and I hug everyone and just make sure I'm like connected to everybody in the show and that we've all got each other out there. That's probably the one thing that I would do.

[15:02] Julia Robertson: Yeah, and the last question was which production would you most want to see coming to Australia?

[15:08] Eliza Scott: Christmas Carol did come.

[15:10] Julia Robertson: It did, it's coming back.

[15:10] Eliza Scott: Vanya, it's on at the moment. Andrew Scott.

[15:17] Julia Robertson: Yes.

[15:17] Eliza Scott: Yeah, Andrew Scott, Simon Stevens one-person show I was meant to see it and I had to come home early and it just looks like the most incredible thing that I've ever seen.

[15:25] Julia Robertson: Yeah, that's what I want to tour here.

[15:28] Eliza Scott: But they just announced that they're doing a National Theatre live version of it and it's coming out in February.

[15:33] Julia Robertson: So great. Thank you. I'm ready to watch it.

[15:37] Eliza Scott: Love that.

[15:37] Julia Robertson: You will be there. Very specific. I'll be there like, yes, Andrew, speak to me.

[15:42] Eliza Scott: I'll come back to Andrew in a second actually. I'm trying to think of like a big musical that I'd really love to see here.

[15:47] Julia Robertson: Oh, yeah.

[15:47] Eliza Scott: I think because some of the stagecraft in the musicals that you get to see overseas where you're just like it's the monumental like mechanisms.

[15:53] Julia Robertson: Yeah, that is super awesome that we just don't really have even room for here.

[16:01] Eliza Scott: Yeah, maybe it's Beetlejuice. Is Beetlejuice coming?

[16:07] Julia Robertson: It's coming. Yeah, it's coming. It's definitely coming.

[16:07] Eliza Scott: Oklahoma.

[16:07] Julia Robertson: Oklahoma!

[16:09] Eliza Scott: Oh, well, the new one. I was talking to one of our previous guests today about that. I saw that. It's incredible.

[16:15] Julia Robertson: And I cannot stop thinking about it.

[16:21] Eliza Scott: Yeah, one of the best shows I've ever seen.

[16:21] Julia Robertson: Yeah, it's in my brain.

[16:23] Eliza Scott: Well, maybe it's that one for me. I'd love to see that.

[16:23] Julia Robertson: It's so good.

[16:28] Eliza Scott: You know, the funny thing about it was at the time it wasn't I was like, what am I what what's going on? Do I like this? Do I not like this?

[16:31] Julia Robertson: And I swear to you, there is not a day that has gone past that I haven't thought about it.

[16:35] Eliza Scott: Me too.

[16:35] Julia Robertson: I like those shows though as well where you're just like there's so much and it takes you like a while to be like, yeah.

[16:40] Eliza Scott: Yeah.

[16:40] Julia Robertson: Yeah. And then and those are the shows that you want to go back and see and that means that they've done a really good job.

[16:46] Eliza Scott: Do you know what I mean? Where you're like now I'm hooked. It's like it's so good.

[16:51] Julia Robertson: I would actually I'd love to have Asleep No More here.

[16:57] Eliza Scott: Oh, yeah.

[16:57] Julia Robertson: Yeah, I'd love to have like.

[17:03] Eliza Scott: Yeah, but I think the extent of the experience right is just so monumental but describing it to people who haven't been able to travel overseas and see it is you can't even begin.

[17:10] Julia Robertson: I'm always trying to describe it and I'm like you have to experience it to sense the scale.

[17:15] Eliza Scott: Yeah of a work like that where I'm like, it's an entire building.

[17:22] Julia Robertson: It really is.

[17:22] Eliza Scott: Yeah, and I don't I don't you yeah I'd love that to happen, but that's the most expensive version.

[17:28] Julia Robertson: Yeah.

[17:28] Eliza Scott: I was saying about lies at not a license.

[17:35] Julia Robertson: Oh, you're a lice guy.

[17:37] Eliza Scott: I had the privilege of seeing him play Hamlet.

[17:41] Julia Robertson: It is oh my god it is hands-down the best production of Hamlet I've seen and I and I saw the National Theatre live of Benedict.

[17:50] Eliza Scott: My brother.

[17:53] Julia Robertson: Yeah.

[17:53] Eliza Scott: Yeah, I think Andrew did a better job.

[17:56] Julia Robertson: I've seen clips of that of that one and like I cry watching it.

[18:01] Eliza Scott: Yeah, his Hamlet is like the way that it's like, yeah.

[18:06] Julia Robertson: It's just that nerdy thing where it's like, oh, I've never heard this before but when he's like to be or not to be and I'm like.

[18:13] Eliza Scott: The way they did and the way he speaks Hamlet.

[18:17] Julia Robertson: It sounded like English if that makes sense it sounded like not Elizabethan English it just sounded like he was speaking plain English and I was like, I understand every single word you're saying right now.

[18:27] Eliza Scott: Yeah, and that to me was just like incredible consolidated Hamlet for me.

[18:34] Julia Robertson: Yeah.

[18:34] Eliza Scott: Well, thank you so much for answering those they were great it was probably my favorite so far they were awesome.

[18:40] Julia Robertson: Well, we'll take a quick little break and then we'll talk about.

[18:46] Eliza Scott: Okay, well let's talk about the Lost Boys then.

[18:48] Julia Robertson: Okay, because I keep getting the Lost Boys and Lord of the Flies confused in my head and I go they're not the same thing.

[18:54] Eliza Scott: So let's talk about the Lost Boys. So I want to talk about the immersive theater aspect because I'm so excited by immersive theater.

[19:01] Julia Robertson: I've got a massive love for it recently because I had the pleasure of seeing The Guys and Dolls immersive experience in London when I went over there because somebody recommended it to us and I was like, I have to go and see that it blew my mind.

[19:19] Eliza Scott: I was fascinated by it because it was the entire space the stages rose up and down and you were in the crowd and then the stage managers were the policemen who were moving you around and then at the end the actors stayed around and just did a dance party with the audience. It was like what is theater?

[19:36] Julia Robertson: So I'd love to know how you approaching that. Well, first of all, what are you doing with the text and how are you approaching it?

[19:42] Eliza Scott: Yeah.

[19:44] Julia Robertson: Well, I suppose how are we approaching it? The text is very much source materials. So we've got Peter and Wendy by J.M. Barrie. That's how what we're kind of loosely adapting from slash source materials. So all the text that you will hear is brand new and the script is very much new and filled with physical dance song and text and spoken word.

[20:12] Eliza Scott: So that's how we're approaching the text but in terms of the space and the immersive nature of it I think it will be almost similar to something that you may have experienced really because I think a lot of people have been asking us as soon as we announced it was immersive everyone's sort of like how many rooms are you gonna have? Is it like a haunted house?

[20:27] Julia Robertson: Like that but I don't give too much away but I think it is that kind of like existing in a space that is liminal and changing.

[20:43] Eliza Scott: Yeah that that kind of immersive where you are being invited but you can move if you choose you probably don't have to if you don't want that you will be sort of guided attention wise but it's not gonna be dragging people up under the stage.

[20:59] Julia Robertson: Yeah.

[21:03] Eliza Scott: Nothing like that like you're at I think the vibe we're going for is like you're at a really fun like gig or like party like warehouse II ravey sort of vibe and then it just so happens that alongside that these other elements are going on.

[21:21] Julia Robertson: Yeah.

[21:22] Eliza Scott: And there'll be moments of like you know, you may feel caught up in it and then you may just want to watch from a really far distance and sort of it may be something that you can, you know, talk to your friends about and whisper in the moment.

[22:07] Eliza Scott: Really feel like you're part of something and you're attending something and like yeah. Yeah, you're allowed to do that.

[22:14] Julia Robertson: Yeah, I love that.

[22:20] Justin Clarke: I'd love to know why "The Lost Boys." Where did this idea come from?

[22:25] Julia Robertson: I think it's been with me for a while and I think it's because to me that story is one of the best and I think it's because it's dark, but it has so much, it brings so much light out of the dark and imagination out of the dark. And I feel like as we're getting older, so much of our life is full of darkness and reclaiming that light gets harder and reclaiming that imaginative and that flexibility and that elasticity in our minds and how we see each other in the world. And that's exactly what "The Lost Boys" is for me. It's also a place of just absolute unrelenting ferocity and freedom. And I think as your body changes as you get older, you feel more restricted and like you can't do certain things.

And I think one thing that I've promised myself is that I'm always gonna say I'm gonna learn how to do it. You know, I always want to find new things that are challenging me and this show is a challenge, which is great and I, and that's what I live for. It's just like how can we, and then I think the pride in that post-show as well means that you can do anything.

[23:42] Justin Clarke: Yeah, and I think we want to present our audience with that feeling and say, yeah, like things get dark and like the story is dark and the concepts are really dark, but what joy you can get out of there and like pure elation and freedom and everything that comes from being a Lost Boy and the Lost Boys community that gives it to you.

[24:02] Eliza Scott: Yeah, right. It's so reliant on every other person in the community and I think that's what Little Eggs gives me. You know, when I have that community of people around me who, you know, everything that we do is built on love and trust and urging each other to be brave and it requires so much kindness to do that and to make people comfortable enough to take those risks. And we're so good at taking risks now, but that's what the Lost Boys do, you know, they like take that risk, do that jump, like fly that high. And I think that kind of energy is something that we all really need right now.

[24:40] Justin Clarke: And you do, I think Little Eggs and what you guys become known for is taking those risks, you know, like "Metropolis," making a brand new musical, you know, out of this really old film that people might have studied or might not have even heard of. And what I heard from it was, you know, nothing but positive reviews from it. So congratulations. But then also, yeah, is that something that you feel is at the heart of Little Eggs, you know, being, taking those leaps, taking those chances?

[25:02] Julia Robertson: Definitely, and I think the exciting thing is that there are a lot more young people wanting to devise work than I experienced when I was first leaving uni. And you know, I started devising work because no one was doing it at uni and I was like, oh, we get, you get money, you got like 250 bucks to put on a show and you don't have to pay it back. Like that's great, it's risk-free. But there was so much social pressure that I wanted everyone to just burst out of. I was like, you know, you don't have to do the best Hamlet in your drama society. You can do anything or you can try to be the best Hamlet. It doesn't matter if you suck actually because no one's seeing this and you can take risks. And then I think that feeling became a bit addictive.

So there are a lot more people doing it now, which is exciting to me because it is a way of working that doesn't rely on you alone at your computer writing or very lonely processes of or hierarchical and divided processes of creation.

[26:04] Eliza Scott: Okay, I think it relies solely on community and that's the coolest thing ever. And I think my main thing for Little Eggs is that we can take the risks that we do because of kindness, respect, generosity, and trust. And I think that that culture, generating that culture is the most important thing that you can do in generating new work.

[26:24] Julia Robertson: Yeah, because it's a scary thing to do. It's like you're burying your soul every day.

[26:37] Eliza Scott: And that's really important, yeah, a really important thing to do. I think art is so exposing generally no matter what you're doing, if you are doing Hamlet or something that's written really beautifully, tried and tested for 10,000 years, or you're doing something that you made up last night, it's equally as terrifying and as important.

[26:55] Justin Clarke: Thank you so much. That was great.

[26:57] Eliza Scott: Yeah, this production sounds so cool and I love immersive theater. Like I said, I can't wait to see what you do with it, to be honest. Before we wrap up, I'd love to ask you the question I've been asking all our guests and I'd love to see your responses to it. So I'd love to know how you think the theater industry has changed over the years and how those changes have impacted the work that you do and the work that you create and take part in.

[27:11] Julia Robertson: I mean, it's funny because like I feel like as a touchstone I go back to Belvoir when Simon Stone was doing a bunch of stuff there and when Adina Jacobs had that year there. And for me, that was like when I was just kind of like seeing stuff and being like, I want to do that, I want to do that, I want to do that. And that's like what I've been striving for. So I have to put it out of myself and then back in to understand how it's changed. And then I feel like it's gotten progressively safer over like the past decade maybe.

[28:06] Eliza Scott: Yeah, right.

[28:13] Julia Robertson: I think it's a difficult question in terms of like the, yeah, all these sort of different industries within our industry. Like I feel like independent work, as I said, a lot more people are devising and seeing that as a place of creation and that's really cool to me because I don't remember that being like available to everyone. And it's great that, you know, places like Shopfront exist and they're supporting young people to do stuff like that.

[28:32] Eliza Scott: Yeah, and because I also think that's the fastest way to learn about yourself as a creator.

[28:39] Julia Robertson: Yeah, young people are just so smart these days. So all of the stuff that they're bringing in is so cool and like I learn so much from the Gen Z's that are coming up and from my students because they're learning at such a fast rate. So that's exciting and people pushing form a lot more in the independent sector certainly, which is really cool and in the professional sector to some point, mainstage I should call it.

[29:09] Eliza Scott: But I think it's nice when you have things like 25A attached to Belvoir, like that is something that didn't exist.

[29:19] Julia Robertson: Yeah, and programs like that, that's just so important in supporting artists, not even young artists, just any artist, any artist to start generating and being seen. And I think it's, I'm looking for more reach out from the main stage companies to audition in places like Paramount or like going out and doing more of that is always beneficial to our ecology.

[29:44] Eliza Scott: Yeah, and I think that's, that's something like 25A is good at, that inviting applications in to be seen in that theater space, just in the building is a really great thing to have people, different people in the building all the time.

[29:58] Julia Robertson: Yeah, definitely.

[30:02] Eliza Scott: That's so much of funding.

[30:02] Julia Robertson: Yeah, it comes from like a higher place.

[30:10] Eliza Scott: Yeah, and also like a funnel down and for writers too, you know, we've lost writers to places like London because they have development time. Yeah, they have people who are going, this is a really great script, we're gonna spend the next year working on it. It's so good, isn't it? And it's like, that's what it should be here, but we don't have the resources so they have to go up quickly and whether or not they stand the test of time, it's like, yeah, it was a good show, but will it be part of?

[30:30] Julia Robertson: Yeah.

[30:31] Eliza Scott: And I always want more Australian work to be part of the canon.

[30:37] Julia Robertson: Yeah, so yeah, I mean it's exciting that Griffin's getting development as well. I think that's really cool.

[30:43] Eliza Scott: The fact that they have their own rehearsal space as well.

[30:45] Julia Robertson: Oh yeah, it's gonna be so good because yeah, it's about like the architecture of living in that theater space and knowing that this room is just below the theater that you'll be performing in and it's the same shape and like that's invaluable, those kind of experiences. It affects you and how you create theater.

[31:00] Justin Clarke: Thank you so much for those answers. That was great. I'm always fascinated to hear what people think about the industry and where the perspectives are because every single person has a different answer.

[31:13] Eliza Scott: Yeah, every, no one's had the same answer, which I love.

[31:17] Justin Clarke: Well, thank you so much for coming on and joining us and talking about "The Lost Boys." And I'm very excited to come and check it out and get a little bit lost myself.

[31:30] Justin Clarke: Thank you so much to Julia and Eliza for joining us as our guests on the podcast. "The Lost Boys" from Little Eggs Collective and Seymour Centre runs from the 10th of November to the 1st of December 2023. Tickets can be booked at seymourcentre.com or by following the link in this episode's description. This episode was produced by Kidna Audio. Follow them on Instagram at Kidna Audio for all their audio services. Once again, if you enjoyed our podcast, leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts and head to the link in this episode's description for our Instagram account, TikTok, YouTube, and Patreon. My name is Justin Clarke and I'll see you next time here on The Theatre Thoughts Podcast.