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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-09-24 Daily Xml
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Windmill Theatre

Ms LUETHEN (King) (15:08): My question is to the Minister for Education. Can the minister update the house on the work being done for South Australian families and children by Windmill Theatre?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (15:09): I am very pleased to be able to provide some information to the house and to the member for King whom I know cares deeply about children and families in South Australia. It's a great privilege for me to be the minister responsible for Windmill Theatre and I am very pleased to update the house that the long-term funding arrangements that have been provided to Windmill Theatre have given them the sort of long-term support from a government that they have never had before and which they were very grateful for.

Ms Stinson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Badcoe!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: In fact, the extra complementarity—

Ms Stinson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Badcoe!

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: —between the education department and Windmill Theatre has seen funding and support like they have never had before, and they are extremely grateful for it.

Ms Stinson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Badcoe is warned for a second time.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER: And that funding has enabled Windmill Theatre to do some very good work which I am very pleased to provide some further information about to the house. Anyone who is a parent of any child between the ages of two and eight in Australia over the last year and a half would be familiar with a television show called Bluey. It is without doubt, unequivocally and, I think, on any possible objective basis the best show on television. Telling stories for young children in a way that is educational and informative for parents has seen Bluey win a 2020 international Emmy Award, it has seen Bluey win a Logie award for children's television and it has seen Bluey become the number one show of all time on ABC iview.

The stage production of Bluey's Big Play—the Stage Show is coming to South Australia. It is not just coming to South Australia; the world premiere of this show is coming to South Australia in December. It is a production presented by HVK Productions, BBC Studios, Queensland Performing Arts Centre and Windmill Theatre Co. It is directed by Rosemary Myers from Windmill and designed by Windmill's resident designer in South Australia, Jonathan Oxlade.

Bluey's Big Play was originally scheduled for release in Melbourne, with rehearsals to start in March, followed by a 60-venue national tour that would have commenced in May. Obviously, they have suffered some challenges because of COVID, as indeed has the entire arts industry, as the Premier outlined earlier. Windmill Theatre, of course, is amongst the many arts institutions that are very grateful for the new support, totalling millions of dollars, announced by the Premier earlier as well.

At any rate, due to Windmill's involvement with the show and the outstanding public health outcomes here in South Australia, the relocation of that production for its world premiere has come to Adelaide, as indeed have the rehearsals, as indeed has the construction of the staging, now being commissioned by the State Theatre Company of South Australia at a value of close to $100,000.

South Australian performers are also benefiting from Windmill's involvement. We are talking about South Australian actors getting long-term sustained work at a time when they have needed it the most. Two final year dance students at TAFE SA have also benefited by being cast in the play as a result—as a direct result—of the government's support for Windmill Theatre to be able to relocate within the AC Arts building, presenting many opportunities for AC Arts students to engage with the creatives at Windmill.

The world premiere of this live adaptation of the iconic television show Bluey, which if you are not familiar with it, do yourself a favour and get on iview. I tell you right now that your weekend will be the better for it, and if you have children, even the better for it—but even without children. It is going to have social, it is going to have economic and it is going to have cultural benefits for South Australia.

It will be the most extensive tour of a children's show ever undertaken in Australia, and it will contribute greatly to the reactivation of live theatre around our nation. The world premiere previews will be here at the Festival Centre, there will be a season in Queensland and then it is coming back in January to Her Majesty's Theatre. It is an extraordinary opportunity for Australia, for South Australia and, most importantly, for parents right around Australia.

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