Kenneth Myer Asian Theatre Series 2010 Program launched

The Kenneth Myer Asian Theatre Series is an initiative of the Arts Centre, and is supported by a gift of $2 million from The Myer Foundation, as part of the 2009 Commemorative Grants Program.

This gift is towards an endowment fund to support the Kenneth Myer Asian Theater Series in perpetuity.

The Kenneth Myer Asian Theatre Series brings together some of the best examples of contemporary performance from across Asia, the aim being to present to Arts centre audiences the broadest possible performance, and to grow future audiences from among Australia’s culturally diverse community.

The Kenneth Myer Asian Theatre Series includes not only exciting performance, but a program of outreach and education. New learning programs are being developed for secondary and tertiary students to engage with Asian literacy and the performing arts. A series of artists’ talks and audience presentations will take place around each performance, and Australian performing arts companies will be matched with the touring companies for master classes and workshops.

The Artistic Director Rosie Hinde has developed a program for 2010 which includes touring companies and productions from China, India, Cambodia, Korea and Japan. The program opens with Shanghai Beauty, a groundbreaking dance work performed by the Jin Xing Dance Theatre, China’s first ever major independent dance company, on 4 March 2010, followed by a free screening of Mother India 21st Century Remix outside the Arts Centre. In September the Kenneth Myer Asian Theatre Series for 2010 continues, presenting A Midsummer Nights Dream performed in Korean by the Yohangza theatre company of Korea; The Continuum: Beyond the Killing Fields, produced by TheatreWorks Singapore and based on the massacre of the royal dancers of the Cambodian court by the Khmer Rouge; and Five Days in March, theatre from Japan’s Chelfitsch Theatre Company.

The Kenneth Myer Asian Theatre Series and Endowment Fund was established with a grant from The Myer Foundation through the 2009 Commemorative Grants Program and founding gifts from Mrs Neilma Gantner, Mr Carrillo Gantner AO and Mrs ZiYin Gantner and Mr Baillieu Myer AC and Mrs Sarah Myer. It is named for the late Kenneth Myer AC, who, with his brother Baillieu established The Myer Foundation in 1959. It honours Kenneth Myer's pivotal role in the building and governance of the Arts Centre over a 31 year period, and his leadership in Australia-Asia relations.

To find out more, go to the Arts Centre website www.theartscentre.com.au/