The Forum is a theatre work telling the story of organising the first Pride March in a small fictional regional community. Loosely inspired by lead artist Alysha Herrmann’s real-life experiences working with queer young people (and once upon a time being a closeted queer young person) in regional communities, The Forum celebrates queer joy, hope, love and the complexity of small communities.
The Forum is a regional multi-year multi-artform community arts and cultural development project, intended to eventually culminate in a theatre work and song cycle for smaller venues. Keeping an eye to the unexpected connections that grow from community and collaborator networks, other things may grow too!
The project will unfold in Alysha’s core communities of practice in regional South Australia, inviting trusted collaborators and community to connect, create, and respond together over time.
Why this team? (from Alysha’s POV)
Alysha
This is my story and my community’s story.
Because I grew up thinking that being gay was the worst thing I could be and it took half my life to undo that internalised homophobia and accept my own queerness as a bi/pansexual woman.
Because young people in general, and the young people I’ve had the privilege to work with are leaders in so many ways. They’ve taught me to be braver than I thought I could be. They’ve taught me and reminded me that anything is possible. That everything is made up and that means we can remake it.
Because my kid is queer. My best friends are queer. My family are queer.
Because the Riverland had one of the highest percentage of ‘No’ votes during the Gay Marriage postal vote.
Because 150 people (and a handful of pets) turned up to the first ever Riverland Pride March in 2021 anyway.
Because people still ask why we need Pride Marches (“can’t gay people just stop complaining about everything”).
Because being ‘gay’ is still a slur.
Because I’m full of rage.
Because I’m full of hope.
Because the future can be different.
*
A snapshot of my creative and community work:
The song playing over this snapshot was co-written by Christopher Sindos (young person) and I during a workshop facilitated by Nancy Bates in 2021, which I organised as part of a larger youth arts project I produced across 2021-2022. This recording was produced in 2024 by Annie Siegmann and mentored by Nancy, with vocals by me, and guitar by Joey Haenen (young person).
More detail about my work can be found at bottom of this page.
Annabel
Annabel is a fierce, nurturing, community-minded producer, actor, intimacy coordinator and director and it is an incredible joy to have her working alongside me to produce The Forum. The realities of developing my career/arts practice in the regions have meant that I have largely been a self-producing artist but this project demands a greater sharing of the load to protect and support community (and the creative team), and ensure that I can bring the best version of myself creatively to the project. Developed and honed through her work with respected SA companies, including ActNow Theatre and Theatre Republic, Annabel brings a highly sophisticated understanding of the dual-responsibility to artistic and community outcome, and the skills to balance both. Annabel’s experience of working with diverse communities as a facilitator and providing pastoral support also makes her a critical support person on the ground during every stage of the project. Annabel brings her networks, a queer sensibility, and a commitment to making art in a healthy and nurturing (and sustainable) way.
Examples of Annabel’s work:
As Associate Artist of Queer Programs, and Associate Producer at ActNow Theatre, Annavel has co-cordinated a range of projects with diverse community, including the development of Drag Troupe with Arran Beattie (AKA Marion Westfield).
Annabel was a key creative and member of RUMPUS, a community of professional independent theatre makers that took over a disused warehouse space and brought it to life with fierce, thrilling and innovative theatre in Adelaide.
Kultar
I knew of Kultar’s work facilitating community workshops, gatherings, and community music making long before we met in person because of our shared connection to the Onkaparinga community. He’s a trusted and sought-after community arts worker, and he creates absolute bangers as a hip hop artist in his own right. I knew I wanted a hip hop artist on The Forum and exploring possible collaborators with Annabel, she mentioned a workshop Kultar had facilitated for ActNow Theatre and how he’d made even the most nervous non-music people feel brave. It was a sign and I quickly jumped on a call with Kultar to discuss The Forum. Immediately he just “got it”, and was able to identify how we could use spoken word and poetry over beats as a soft entry point. He also shared his excitement at the chance to spend some time in the Riverland connecting with the Punjabi (one of his cultural ancestries) community there, and this kind of deeper ripple effect that a single project can foster is important to me in everything I do. This will be the first time we have directly collaborated and I am absolutely thrilled to have Kultar’s skills and insight on the team. Kultar will collaborate with Nancy and I to lead the process of co-creating songs with community.
Examples of Kultar’s work:
Listen to Kultar’s track Floaties here.
Kultar is one of the lead artists for ActNow Theatre’s Everything I Was Told Not To Be – a large scale, community driven theatre work currently in development.
The work explores breaking cycles, transformation, belonging, and resistance within young adult (18-35) Global Majority (BIPOC) artists and communities.
Nancy
Nancy is a Barkindji songwoman, composer, comedian, educator, mental health advocate and powerhouse. There is no-one I trust more to work in and with my communities. Her work in communiy embodies what it means to truly listen and collaborate to create outcomes that neither community or artist could achieve without the other. Nancy was mentored by the legendary Uncle Archie Roach, and she brings this same generousity to mentoring and uplifting others. Working with Nancy is always life-changing, and alongside Kultar, Nancy will lead the process of co-creating songs with community. Throughout this process, Nancy will mentor me to build my confidence and courage in working with music as material, building on the seed planted during a community songwriting workshop Nancy facilitated back in 2021.
Examples of Nancy’s work:
Songs Inside is a feature-length documentary following Nancy’s six-month process of writing songs together with women in the Adelaide Women’s Prison, culminating in a performance with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
Nancy’s song For Your Love was written for her nephew and his partner to support the Gay Marriage postal vote. Listen to For Your Love here.
Georgina (Gina/George)
Gina is a highly respected and experienced Adelaide based comics creator, author, illustrator and facilitator. Bringing Gina into the project supports multiple entry points for community to engage with the project right from the start by inviting visual responses and exploration (ie. there is an invitation beyond, and outside of, the songwriting to connect with!). Gina will bring her warmth and experience creating DIY mini-comics and zines to actively document the process with community collaborators, leaving behind tactile artefacts (zines/comics) to swap, share, and savour. Gina’s gentle and quirky approach brings another voice and perspective to hold and support community through the process. She’s a gem and one of those amazing artists that sees and creates connections beyond the obvious.
Examples of Gina’s work:
Gina ran Inky Fingers Comic Gang – a monthly comics workshop for teens – for five years across four different communities, finishing up last year only because of the huge workload of her debut novel! Gina continues to run a broad range of comics, zine-making, and illustration workshops, including previous visits to the Riverland.
Gina creates fun and usable resources to nurture the creativity of others, such as these downloadable resources on their website. Gina will share and leave behind similar resources in community as part of The Forum.
Meet The Team
Clicking on images below will take you to artist websites.
See left column for support material specific to The Forum.
Credit: Photos by Jamois
Credit: Paul Charles Bartlett
Credit: Razan Fakouri
Credit: Rosina Possingham
A handful of Alysha’s creative projects reflecting the breadth and ethos of practice:
Writing the River Rising (2024) was a digital poetry experience responding to the 2022/2023 Riverland flood. Each day over a month-long period audience members could access a daily poem and question using their mobile phone. Over the course of the month each of the daily poems and reader responses to the daily questions fed into a web-based artwork, slowly filling the screen with text. At the end of the month the website text slowly disintegrated revealing one final poem. The final poem then also receded, just as the flood waters did. Alysha conceived and wrote Writing the River Rising, and the project was commissioned and produced by Country Arts SA. The public outcome was presented in Feb – March 2024.
The Memory Shelf as part of FELTlive 2021 was a live-writing experiment exploring the frustration and gaps in Alysha’s family history and the responsibility she feels to create new histories for the future to inherit. Alysha invited the audience to interrupt, ask questions, make comments and (gently) handle items contributed to the performance by the three most significant women in her life: her nana, mother and daughter. Over the course of two hours Alysha wrote and rewrote a series of memories, fictional and factual, in response to the items. All of the writing created during the performance was hand-written in lead pencil and erased as the conclusion of the work.
2018 – 2020 project Art Squad was a two-year state-wide mentoring and development program for young creative practitioners aged 18-23. Building small business and freelance skills, project management skills, personal development and creative practice. Nine participants were selected through a competitive selection process and worked together through a combination of video-link, email, phone and online project management software. Squad members developed and drove creative outcomes in their own communities, including murals, exhibitions and festivals. Alysha was the Creative Producer and primary mentor of the Squad.
2017 project Losing Faith in Unicorns was a finalist for an Arts South Australia Ruby Award in the Community Impact category. Losing Faith in Unicorns was an immersive performance presented promenade style in a suburban house in southern Adelaide for 30 audience members at a time. Audience members could touch, listen, watch, open doors and explore the house in any order they chose. Losing Faith in Unicorns was an experience co-created by eleven teenagers and eight professional artists to spark dialogue and advocacy in relation to young people’s experiences of mental illness, grief, suicide, bullying and alcohol addiction. Alysha was the Creative Producer.
Another Elusive Maybe (2016) was a performance experiment presented as part of the Adelaide Fringe 2016. Each show was hosted by an audience member in their own lounge-room for friends and strangers, with a maximum of 8 people per show. The performance incorporated poetry & soundscape (via silent disco headsets), live text message conversations (with each individual audience member) and expressing breast milk (yes, really). Alysha wrote, directed, produced and performed Another Elusive Maybe.
“Amidst all the rabble about the true meaning of Fringe, I can tell you that this is it. Real art that pushes the boundaries – art that is completely different to anything you’ve experienced before. Another Elusive Maybe is truly special. It’s an intimate and absorbing experience that cuts you off but leaves you wanting more.”
Jen St Jack, Great Scott ★★★★½
Some of Alysha’s other work:
Clicking on images will take you to further information about each project.
Alysha Herrmann 