SLASH AND EARN: THE BENEFITS OF MULTISKILLING
Being a slashie increases your opportunities to work as a creative artist — and earn a living from it, writes Stuart Halusz. He’s well placed to make that assertion — the broad experience gained in youth theatre led him to diversify from acting into directing and, ultimately, to help create an innovative performance genre, CinemaStage.
Opportunity is a wonderful thing. But opportunities come and go, and part of a creative mindset is about being able to recognise the golden ones and throw everything you have at them. It requires decisiveness, commitment and an unwavering belief that, with great people around you, you can do it.
In today’s ever-changing landscape, many performers are expanding their ability to work as slashies, incorporating other skill sets and talents to build their potential to fill the gaps between gigs, and continue to earn an income as a creative artist. Being a slashie also provides an incredibly enriching experience, which flows through to all areas of your practice. It adds to a sense of belonging and connects you to your peers across the country in ways which can sometimes be lost in the hustle of the gig economy.
When I was involved in youth theatre, I was fortunate to gain experience across stage management, lighting, sound and set construction. This provided me at an early age with the knowledge and appreciation of what other people contribute. It has made me a collaborative artist, who enjoys welcoming the skills and experience others bring to a project. I’m constantly reminded of this when assembling a team — I love nothing more than helping to bring out the creative potential in others. I often look around the rehearsal room and think, “Wow! I’m surrounded by the most amazing, imaginative and creative people — what can’t we achieve if we work towards a shared vision?”
When working as an actor with Roger Hodgman at Black Swan in 2009, he recognised something I hadn’t seen in myself, and gave me the opportunity to be his assistant director, as well as a performer in another show the following year. While I had always thought of myself as an actor first, I quickly realised what was being offered, and by whom, and of course I jumped at it. This led to more AD work with Kate Cherry, an associate director role for Black Swan, and suddenly I found myself pursuing a new artistic pathway.
In 2018, I had the opportunity to pivot a 25-year-old company, Agelink Theatre, into THEATRE 180 as artistic director. When regional cinema owner Ron Siemiginowski approached us to discuss how we could work together to activate his cinemas with live performance, THEATRE 180 producer and actor Rebecca Davis had a brilliant idea. She suggested we reimagine our intended adaptation of A.B. Facey’s A Fortunate Life from a more traditional offering and combine the immediacy of theatre with the visual impact of cinema — and so we created a new genre, CinemaStage.
When the pandemic struck, we were on tour in Busselton and, like many theatre companies around the country, closed our show down before restrictions came into place. As a director, as producers and certainly for our actors, it was an incredibly difficult decision, but an obvious one. Fortunately, due to our show being able to pack down into a single trailer, we could mothball it fairly easily and, more importantly, were in a position to get back on the road immediately restrictions lifted.
In late August last year, we were one of the first companies in Australia to be able to perform in front of audiences again. A Fortunate Life will have its 100th performance late this year, and our second CinemaStage production, SYDNEY II: Lost and Found, has notched up 36 performances at the half-way point of its first metro and regional tour.
THEATRE 180’s motto is ‘Great Stories, Well Told’, and by always choosing stories with heart we make an emotional connection with our audiences. Having cinemas as venues means we play right in the heart of communities and are attracting audiences who aren’t regular theatregoers.
This is an opportunity for them to experience a unique live event, but also for us as theatre-makers to connect with new audiences.
While we still produce works in mainstage theatres, found spaces and other more traditional venues, one of my greatest joys is being able to greet audience members on the way into the cinema and then chat to them on the way out, and witness the transformational nature of theatre.
When fighting for our rights at work, for better conditions and pay commensurate with our skills, let’s not forget that what we do changes people’s lives and enriches society beyond measure. And who would pass up an opportunity to do that?
As a professional actor for 30 years, Stuart Halusz has worked for major and independent theatre companies around Australia, appearing in more than 60 plays. He also has extensive experience in film, television and radio, as a presenter, MC, workshop leader, in corporate role-play theatre, as a judge on awards panels and performer in charity fundraisers. Stuart has been a board member of THEATRE 180 (formerly Agelink Theatre) since 2005 and FutureNow — Creative and Leisure Industries Training Council since 2018. He is president of Equity WA and is on National Performers’ Committee.
