A scene from the work Ear to the Edge of Time (2018) by Alana Valentine. Actors l- r: Tim Walter and Gabrielle Scawthorn. Photo Kate Williams Photography.
Go back 20 years, to 2001. WA-based independent performing arts director and producer Sally Richardson (then in her early thirties) has just launched her new company Steamworks Arts. She wants to stage Sydney playwright Alana Valentine’s new work Savage Grace – a hard-hitting play about ethics and religion with HIV AIDs as its backdrop.
‘It’s pretty typical for previous generations to look backwards and say – it was better then!’ the ever-optimistic Richardson laughed.
ArtsHub's Arts Feature Writer Jo Pickup is based in Perth. An arts writer and manager, she has worked as a journalist and broadcaster for media such as the ABC, RTRFM and The West Australian newspaper, contributing media content and commentary on art, culture and design. She has also worked for arts organisations such as Fremantle Arts Centre, STRUT dance, and the Aboriginal Arts Centre Hub of WA, as well as being a sessional arts lecturer at The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).
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