Magdalena Australia 2003

Themed Theatre - Women - Travelling, and based at the Brisbane Powerhouse, the first Magdalena Australia Festival aimed to counter the tyranny of distance that many Australian women theatre artists experienced in the late twentieth century. As Brisbane-based theatre director Sue Rider has written, "We all know, but sometimes forget, how large Australia is. That many many countries can fit into our land mass and yet our population is as tiny as one large city...at the Magdalena Australia Festival, overseas visitors were continually astonished that the Australian artists did not know each other, had never met and often had not even heard of each other's work." The Australian creative and communications landscape has changed in the ten years since, and artists around Australia are increasingly connected, both physically and virtually. Those of us who contributed to the success of Magdalena Australia are proud of the role this signature event played in supporting greater awareness and deeper connectedness between Australian women theatre-makers. 

As this website develops we will be adding documentation from this festival that brought together over 200 women from 14 countries. Download one of the newsletters (March 2002) below, and watch this space as images, and links to reviews and articles will be added as we have time ...