New company Echo Theatre at the Q will focus on plays by women

The Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre, the Queanbeyan-Palarang Regional Council and Canberra actor and director Jordan Best have teamed up to create Echo Theatre. It was launched on Tuesday.

Best says, "The Q approached me because they wanted to start producing professional work at the Q. That was very exciting."

She is the artistic director of the new company, which she says will produce work only by female playwrights. The name Echo comes from the character in Greek mythology whose voice was taken away by Hera, queen of the gods, after Echo tried to protect Hera's husband Zeus, who had consorted with the beautiful nymph.

"Obviously I'm very passionate about women in the arts," Best says.

She says while Australia does better than many countries, only 25 per cent of theatre presented is by women. The new company will do its part to remedy this and to challenge the idea that "plays are written by men", she says.

Best is not averse to male writers and their work - "There are a lot of classic plays I'd like to do - Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller."

But she would like to see much more gender parity in the works that get produced and have the opportunity to attain classic status.

"I've made it my mission to find the new classics ... Plays by women are not done," she says.

"There's something nice about giving Echo back her voice."

Best says the new company will be "starting small" with its debut production in the second half of next year.

The first play to be presented by Echo will be the Australian professional premiere of Jaki McCarnick's Belfast Girls. Auditions will be coming up in the next few weeks - keep an eye on theq.net.au.

This 2011 play is set on board a ship travelling to Australia in 1850. It's about five young women who are among those leaving famine-ravaged Ireland as part of Earl Gray's "orphan scheme". Thousands of orphaned, destitute young women left in the hope of a fresh start and a better life. But leaving the past behind may not be as easy as they had hoped and the future may not be as rosy as they anticipated.

"It's funny and challenging in parts - it's an incredible play," Best says.

McCarnick, she says, has been very helpful and is excited by the prospect of the play having its professional Australia premiere.

"She's going to try to come out to the premiere."

Best says some of the women came to the Yass and Queanbeyan region and she hopes to track down their descendants before the play opens.

Best was the co-founder - with Liz Bradley and Karen Vickery - of Pigeonhole Theatre, which was formed to provide greater opportunities for women on, and off, the stage.

Pigeonhole's productions of April de Angelis's Playhouse Creatures and Ray Lawler's Summer of the Seventeenth Doll at the Q were successful and Playhouse Creatures was selected to be performed at the 16th Mondial du Théâtre, the World Festival of Theatre, in Monaco, in August last year. It had an Australian tour this year and will embark on a second leg in 2019 in NSW and Victoria.

"It's very exciting," Best says.

It was all this - as well as her long previous experience acting and directing - that led to her being asked to be artistic director of Echo, which will be run by the Q.

Council manager community choice, Queanbeyan-Palarang Regional Council Jacquelyn Richards says, "One of my areas is recreation and cultural and the Q is in that area. It just celebrated its 10th birthday last year."

She says they were looking for something new and different that could take them into the next 10 years and when she met with Best the idea of a professional theatre company was proposed.

Echo she says, will begin by drawing on the work of underrepresented female playwrights.

"We'll see how that works - it's a trial phase," she says.

"We'll suck it and see."

If the new venture is a success Echo might present two plays at the Q in 2020.

Echo will draw on the large pool of talent in the Canberra region and, Richards hopes, will keep people from leaving altogether in search of better prospects.

"People will have opportunities to stay in their own region and work," she says.

"It will paid via the Q by the council. It won't actually cost the council any more. Generally we buy new shows from interstate so rather than buy one or two shows we'll be redirecting that budget into the budget for Echo."

Best says, "If Echo takes off and is huge I'd love to devote a lot of time to that" but adds that Pigeonhole will continue. Its upcoming tour means other activities will be curtailed in 2019 but there's always 2020.

And having two female-oriented theatre companies in the Canberra region will add to the diversity of stories being told on stage.