The light at the end of the tunnel is now shining for Northern Rivers Performing Arts (NORPA) artistic director Julian Louis.

Yesterday, he announced that for the first time, NORPA had been successful in securing a coveted and competitive four year funding grant of $1,295,000 from the Australia Council for the Arts.

“It’s carnage out there,” Julian said.

“There were 49 major companies across Australia who applied and were not funded. We are lucky and have articulated our body of work so well and connected theatre to community, that it stood out.”

Julian said coronavirus restrictions had severely impacted on the whole arts sector, but for him, knowing that NORPA would be able to use the funding to generate new creative works gave him hope for the future.

“The funding is a game changer and means NORPA can create more new works that tell stories inspired by place, expand our youth theatre program, employ local artists and create new audiences for regional theatre,” he said.

“Recently, it’s been a difficult time and we are all still reeling from the show cancellations and the loss of revenue.

Scene from NORPA's production Wildskin.

“The biggest concern was maintaining staff and I’ve been working hard at maintaining jobs and advocating for our industry.

“We have improvement works going on in the Lismore City Hall venue by individual staff, and we are still working on writing and developing projects so we can get going again later this year.

“Our industry not only contributes over $110 billion of value to the Australian economy each year, it keeps our communities connected, resilient and healthy.

"We're acutely aware of our role in fostering these qualities in our community through our art."

NORPA’s previous works include placed based works such as Railway Wonderland, presented on the disused Lismore Railway Station; Dreamland presented in the Eureka Hall and Bangalow A&I Hall and Open House, set in a residential house starring The Pitts Family Circus; along with Djurra, meaning ‘lore’ in Bundjalung; and Wildskin.

NORPA, based in Lismore, was founded in 1993 and is one of a small number of theatre companies creating professional contemporary theatre from regional Australia.

“Our body of work, created with associate artists, creative and production personnel, have all made this a reality,” Julian said.

“This is a huge win for our area and is a reflection of the creative energy and talent in our region.

“We intend to make the most of this opportunity, to tell great stories, to push the art form, and to surprise and delight our community with great theatre.”

For information about NORPA, visit http://www.norpa.org.au

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