Bringing the show to town - is your theatre ready?

It's a great way of working out what you have, what you need, and what you can do with what you've got. It's called Measure Up and it's being run by Country Arts WA to help small towns across Western Australia work out how to make best use of their halls and theatres.

Measure Up began three years ago and will continue at least through 2008 to meet the demand from towns keen to take up the service. Under the program, a Country Arts WA consultant visits venues, teaches local users how to make the most of their existing equipment and offers advice on how the hall or theatre could be upgraded.

"What Measure Up effectively does is make buildings erected many years ago ready for the 21st century," says Andy Farrant, CEO of Country Arts WA. "The town halls and mechanics institutes in small towns are used for all kinds of things - farmers' meetings with the wheat board, community forums and for entertainment, whether locally created or brought in. They really are one-stop-shops - many things to many people."

"But because the buildings are so old, their use is limited. Measure Up is a great first step - an audit of exactly what they have and what they need to do to bring their facility up to scratch. Importantly, the consultant also checks safety. Sometimes they've found risky things such as lighting bars suspended by frayed rope."

"And once the theatres and halls reach a certain standard, they can take shows such as those toured by Country Arts WA and other commercial productions. Many of these small towns have drama groups so an improved theatre means they can put on better quality shows by locals for locals," Mr Farrant says.

The consultant measures and documents the technical facilities of each venue and makes recommendations for improvements which can then be used to support funding applications for government building grants.

Further information: www.countryartswa.asn.au



Bringing the show to town - is your theatre ready? It's a great way of working out what you have, what you need, and what you can do with what you've got. It's called Measure Up and it's being run by Country Arts WA to help small towns across Western Australia work out how to make best use of their halls and theatres. Measure Up began three years ago and will continue at least through 2008 to meet the demand from towns keen to take up the service. Under the program, a Country Arts WA consultant visits venues, teaches local users how to make the most of their existing equipment and offers advice on how the hall or theatre could be upgraded. "What Measure Up effectively does is make buildings erected many years ago ready for the 21st century," says Andy Farrant, CEO of Country Arts WA. "The town halls and mechanics institutes in small towns are used for all kinds of things - farmers' meetings with the wheat board, community forums and for entertainment, whether locally created or brought in. They really are one-stop-shops - many things to many people." "But because the buildings are so old, their use is limited. Measure Up is a great first step - an audit of exactly what they have and what they need to do to bring their facility up to scratch. Importantly, the consultant also checks safety. Sometimes they've found risky things such as lighting bars suspended by frayed rope." "And once the theatres and halls reach a certain standard, they can take shows such as those toured by Country Arts WA and other commercial productions. Many of these small towns have drama groups so an improved theatre means they can put on better quality shows by locals for locals," Mr Farrant says. The consultant measures and documents the technical facilities of each venue and makes recommendations for improvements which can then be used to support funding applications for government building grants. Further information: www.countryartswa.asn.au	Back to main newsletter