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This was published 3 years ago
From the pandemic, a new stage of laughter and music for Melbourne
By Nick Miller
In January Melbourne gets a new stage, purpose-built to help lift the performing arts out of their pandemic slump. It will become a permanent addition to the city's reborn cultural scene.
Putting 2020 behind them: Lano (right) and Woodley at the site of the Malthouse Outdoor Stage.Credit: Luis Ascui
The Malthouse Outdoor Stage, funded by $300,000 from the Sidney Myer Fund and $1.95 million from the state government, will be a 300-seat cabaret-style venue nestled into the grand courtyard between Malthouse, Chunky Move and the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art in Southbank. It will run up to six months a year and launch straight into action in early 2021 with music, comedy, dance, cabaret, talks and theatre.
Malthouse artistic director Matt Lutton is relieved and overjoyed.
Seeing the space come to life will be a "really emotional moment", he said. "It will feel a bit like coming home. Like being able to hug someone again. It will be something so valuable that we didn't know its value until it was denied. It will be really ecstatic to feel we can share stories, and laugh, and cry, as a group of people again."
2020 has been exhausting, Lutton said. "You want to provide artists and audiences with goals to look forward to, markers into the future. But we had to constantly change [plans]."
The outdoor move makes the most of pandemic restrictions and helps audiences feel comfortable back at a performance – they're thrilled philanthropy and the state government came to the party (Malthouse also got a slice of the federal government's RISE fund to kickstart an outdoor theatre season in late 2021).
A sketch by Zoe Atkinson of the new planned outdoor stage at Malthouse Theatre.Credit: Malthouse Theatre / Zoe Atkinson
Music touring company Penny Drop will open the stage with local artists including Kaiit and Mildlife. Comedy producer Token will put up Eddie Perfect, Judith Lucy, Denise Scott and more. The Melbourne International Festival will use it, as will ACCA, Chunky Move, Midsumma, Yirramboi, RISING and the Wheeler Centre.
Comedians Lano and Woodley will present a show of new and old material. They had been planning a big tour for 2021 but "we decided not to do that", Colin Lane jokes.
He hopes that in two months' time when they hit the stage Melbourne will still be basking in its post-pandemic glow.
"There's a feeling of goodwill, of celebration, of positivity," he said. "The people that come out they'll be even more excited to be out, which hopefully makes our job a little easier. They might not even be listening to what we say, they might just be saying 'ooh, look at the lights in the trees'.
"And hopefully by then it won't feel so weird to be out."
This is the longest break the pair have ever had from a live audience. They have done Zoom shows, and recently started recording new 'bits' for Facebook. But they desperately miss their comedy tennis partner that sends laughter bouncing back and tells them what's funny, and lifts their game to a new level. They're craving that experience.
Frank Woodley wants to emphasise they're a lot luckier than others. It's not like they had to sack 20 staff or pay rent on an empty office. But he wonders how 2020 has changed the "reflexes" of both performers and audiences. He feels not quite "match fit".
"I don't even know if I'm allowed to touch [Lane] yet," he said. "I should know that."
It's going to feel strange being on a stage again.
"It'll be a bit like when a conversation just dies and then nobody talks for just a bit too long. And then if you're the next person to talk, you can feel it taking on significance, exponentially. The intensity!
"We're in that weird zone. We're all about to go – 'OK what's the first thing we're going to say?'"
Victoria's arts minister Danny Pearson said the stage would be a fantastic addition to the arts precinct and would help the creative sector adapt to the pandemic and get back to work.
"[It will] will provide a platform for Victoria’s inimitable creative talent and a brand-new destination and experience for audiences," he said.
Andrew Myer AM, chair of the Sidney Myer Fund, said they were thrilled to support the stage, which will "be a landmark performance hub for Melburnians to enjoy live performance under the stars in our city’s centre".
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