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St Martins Youth Arts Centre is a youth-focused performing arts centre in South Yarra in inner Melbourne. It is a non-profit organisation that makes contemporary theatre works for adult audiences and runs weekly drama workshops for young people.

History

Founding

In 1934, Brett Randall and Hal Percy founded the Melbourne Little Theatre and, in 1956, opened a theatre on the present site of St Martins. Irene Mitchell, an established actress, joined "between engagements" during the Great Depression, and there accumulated directorial skills till she became a major force in Melbourne theatre. Operation of the theatre continued until 1977, when the Victorian Government purchased the site with the intent to establish a youth arts centre. In 1978, an organisation, then known as St Martins, took up residence, and on 18 March 1980, St Martins Youth Arts Centre was established as a company and charitable institution. Finally, on 28 April 1982, The Hon. Race Mathews, MLA, Minister for the Arts opened the completed arts centre.

Alumni

St Martins alumni include:

Julian Day
Matt Day
Amanda Douge
Geire Kami
Barrie Kosky
Colin Lane
Catherine McClements
Ben Mendelsohn
Jonathan Messer
Gina Riley
Noah Taylor
Mark Trevorrow (Bob Downe)
Tripod (Scott Edgar, Simon Hall and Steven Gates)
Jane Turner
Madeleine West
Frank Woodley
Julia Zemiro
Matt Scholten

Locations

South Yarra

St Martins administers three buildings in South Yarra: a theatre complex and an administration building (on St Martins Lane) and a converted church (on Millswyn St).

Theatres

St Martins theatre complex contains two theatres: the Randall Theatre and the Irene Mitchell Studio. The Randall Theatre is a traditional rectangular theatre, with rows of fixed ascending seats and a standard lighting fixture. The Studio, by contrast, is a "black box" space, with no permanent stage or seating, though materials are kept that can be assembled into a seating area. The complex also has a box office and dressing rooms.

Administration Building

The Administration building's only rented space is the rehearsal room.

Church Hall

The Church Hall is a rehearsal room particularly suited to dance.

Northcote

St Martins regularly uses a room in Northcote Town Hall for its Northcote workshops.

Workshops

St Martins holds drama workshops for young people at its South Yarra and Northcote locations.

Workshop age groups are 5-8s, 9-12s, Teens and cross-age. St Martins has a strong focus on access and inclusion.

Recent Projects and Productions

St Martins presents works created with children for adult audiences under a model of 'Large Interactions' and 'Small interruptions'. Large Interactions are mainstage works, presented at major festivals and venues and Small Interruptions are small-scale site specific works often involving one to one audience interaction with children.

Small Interruptions

Fitter. Faster. Better.

Paired one-on-one with a ‘personal trainer’ between 6 and 10 years old, Fitter. Faster. Better. is a boot camp for adults run by children. It was initially presented as part of Dance Massive festival in 2015. It has been subsequently presented at Junction Arts Festival in Launceston and the Commonwealth Games on the 2018 Gold Coast.

Soundtracks

Soundtracks is audio commentary of artistic works by children. It can be presented with live or installed works. It has been shown as an accompaniment to the Australian Ballet's La Sylphide, as an audio tour alongside Crossing Paths with Vivian Maier for the 2014 Melbourne Festival; and as live accompaniment to Christophe Bertrand's Quator No. 1 for Bendigo International Festival of Exploratory Music.

16 Girls

16 Girls is a promenade work that presents the image of a large group of pregnant teenagers engaging in regular everyday activities. It was initially performed in 2015 at Castlemaine State Festival. The work takes inspiration from a real event in 2008, a group of teenagers at Gloucester High School, Massachusetts made a pact to become pregnant and raise the children collectively.

Large Interactions

I Saw the Second One Hit

I saw the second one hit is a theatre work developed in collaboration with twin girls born on September 11, 2011. It explores the world that these twins, now teenagers, inhabit through their beliefs, their fears, their politics. It was first presented at the Malthouse Theatre in 2015.

The Bacchae

The Bacchae is a theatre work directed by Adena Jacobs, made collaboratively with the female ensemble cast of teenagers.

Gonzo

Gonzo is a theatre work directed by Clare Watson, about teenage boys and porn – specifically, how often they watch it, who they watch it with, and why. Gonzo was performed at Malthouse Theatre in 2016.

Genius

Genius is a theatre work that creates "an intimate hour with six young performers from a neurological minority, encountered on their own terms.".

For The Ones Who Walk Away

For The Ones Who Walk Away was called a "piece of collaborative brilliance". The work invites audiences to roam its many rooms in search of the traces of the ones who walked away.

• The pepper tree behind St Martins Theatre
• Memorial to Irene Mitchell
• Chris Thompson's memorial to Mitchell

References

1. "Current details for ABN 15 005 633 750 | ABN Lookup". www.abr.business.gov.au. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
2. "Turning the tables: youth theatre for adult audiences". ArtsHub Australia. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
3. "Rites of passage theme shapes new program for Malthouse theatre season". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
4. "AusStage". www.ausstage.edu.au. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
5. "Irene Mitchell 3". liveperformance.com.au. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
6. "Arts Flashback 1970s: St Martins Youth Arts Centre begins". Arts Victoria. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
7. "ACRAS (Australian Commercial Radio Awards) Winners 2012". Retrieved 10 November 2015.
8. "Kosky, Barrie". collections.artscentremelbourne.com.au. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
9. "ENOUGH ROPE with Andrew Denton - episode 98: Lano and Woodley (10/04/2006)". www.abc.net.au. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
10. Pountney, Michelle (20 January 2013). "Catherine McClements' Change of Place". Herald Sun. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
11. Perth Revelation International Film Festival https://www.revelationfilmfest.org/jonathan-messer.php
12. "ENOUGH ROPE with Andrew Denton - episode 20: Jane Turner and Gina Riley (Kath and Kim) (28/07/2003)". www.abc.net.au. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
13. "Stars of Stage & Teen - The Weekly Review". The Weekly Review. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
14. "ENOUGH ROPE with Andrew Denton - episode 20: Jane Turner and Gina Riley (Kath and Kim) (28/07/2003)". www.abc.net.au. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
15. "AusStage". www.ausstage.edu.au. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
16. ^ "St Martins Youth Arts Centre". www.onlymelbourne.com.au. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
17. "Workshops". St Martins Youth Arts Centre. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
18. "Arts Access Australia - Access Case Study: St Martins". www.artsaccessaustralia.org. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
19. "Fitter. Faster. Better: personal training brought to you... by children". Radio National. 19 March 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
20. ^ "Fitter. Faster. Better. | Junction Arts Festival | Launceston Tasmania". Junction Arts Festival. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
21. "Fitter. Faster. Better. | St Martins Youth Arts Centre | Gold Coast Commonwealth Games". Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
22. "BIFEM: Argonaut String Quartet, 4x4x4". Partial Durations. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
23. "16 GIRLS". 2015 Castlemaine State Festival. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
24. York, Ed Pilkington in New (20 June 2008). "17 pregnancies at US school after girls make baby pact". the Guardian. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
25. "I saw the second one hit review: Powerful views of post-9/11 generation". The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 September 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
26. "I Saw the Second One Hit explores a generation growing up in the shadow of 9/11". The Sydney Morning Herald. 28 August 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
27. "I saw the second one hit · Malthouse Theatre". malthousetheatre.com.au. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
28. "The Bacchae | Melbourne Festival". Melbourne Festival. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
29. "Gonzo - St Martins". St Martins. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
30. "Malthouse Theatre Season 2016". Malthouse Theatre. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
31. "Genius Review: Play celebrating 'neurodiversity' a brilliant corrective". Sydney Morning Herald. 13 March 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
32. "For the Ones Who Walked Away". ArtsHub. October 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
33. "For the Ones Who Walked Away - St Martins". St Martins Youth. Retrieved 26 April 2018.

External links

• http://www.stmartinsyouth.com.au/
• http://www.stmartinsyouth.com.au/love-letters-project/

• Performing arts in Melbourne
• Theatres in Melbourne
• Buildings and structures in the City of Melbourne (LGA)
• 1982 establishments in Australia
• Buildings and structures completed in 1982