Queensland festival organiser gives old spiegeltent a makeover
While the live entertainment industry has been struggling, creative teams haven't lost hope. An ambitious project launched by a southeast Queensland festival organiser has resulted in an old theatre getting a major makeover. It all happened through a remarkable set of coincidences and a large dose of determination.
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00:00Hundreds of kilometres west of Brisbane, there's a tiny town of just over 300 people with a
00:11unique theatre, a corrugated iron spiegel tent.
00:15This is the first Australian designed spiegel tent in the world.
00:20It's made of tin, historically they're made of wood, and it was based around an Aussie
00:24shearing shed.
00:26Its original purpose was as a mobile venue for Queensland's 150th birthday celebrations,
00:32but for the past decade it's been lying idle in Augurthala, until Tom Oliver saw its potential.
00:39My folks were driving through Augurthala, they sent me a photo of it, I called the council.
00:44He was desperate for a new theatre space for his Fringe Festival in Wynnum, on Brisbane's
00:48bayside.
00:49Get out of here man.
00:51The Mirrway Shire Council was happy to oblige.
00:53It's really fantastic to be able to see something like the spiegel tent, which hasn't been used
00:58since 2013, take on a new life and also take on a new life that still acknowledges its
01:06history here in Augurthala.
01:10What followed was a painstaking but eager dismantling.
01:14We had seven of the best spiegel tent builders in the world come and gather on this project
01:20and they were so excited because there's less than 100 of these that exist in the world.
01:24The wind, heat, dust and rain have taken their toll and bits have gone missing.
01:30We've actually had to manufacture some of our own spare parts.
01:33And Tom is waiting for it to rain to see how much the roof leaks.
01:38A crowdfunding campaign financed the complicated move and it now sits proudly in Wynnum.
01:44Design wise my head is going crazy.
01:46I think I'd like to equally represent European circus tradition and modern First Nations
01:51art in the same structure.
01:53That's never been done before and I think a huge opportunity for us.
01:57As the fundraising continues, the first performance is slated for September 26.
02:03There's a lot to do, we better get cracking.